AQA A-level Psychology (7182): Paper 3 — Eating behaviour — Revision Notes

For full explanations and worked paragraphs, use the Eating behaviour study guide first.

These notes cover section 4.3.6 Eating behaviour of the AQA AS and A-level Psychology (7181, 7182) specification, Version 1.4 (1 September 2025), for teaching from September 2025. Eating behaviour sits in Option 2 with Schizophrenia and Stress. It is assessed in Section C of Paper 3: Issues and Options in Psychology (2 hours, 96 marks, 33.3% of the A-level), where you answer on one topic from Option 2 for 24 marks.

Find every unit on the AQA A-level Psychology hub, track progress with the 7182 checklist, and practise with the Eating behaviour practice questions.

Paper 3 rules in one box

• Section A: Issues and debates in Psychology, compulsory, 24 marks.
• Section B: one topic from Option 1 (Relationships, Gender, Cognition and development), 24 marks.
• Section C: one topic from Option 2 (Schizophrenia, Eating behaviour, Stress), 24 marks.
• Section D: one topic from Option 3 (Aggression, Forensic Psychology, Addiction), 24 marks.
• Each section has multiple choice, short answer and extended writing questions.
• Research methods, practical skills and maths skills are also assessed in Paper 3.

Key terms

Term	Definition
Neophobia	Reluctance to eat unfamiliar foods; thought to protect young children from toxins
Taste aversion	Learned avoidance of a food after it has been followed by illness; can form after one pairing
Preparedness	Biological readiness to learn some links (taste and illness) more easily than others
Lateral hypothalamus (LH)	Area linked to starting eating in the dual-centre model
Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)	Area linked to stopping eating (satiety) in the dual-centre model
Arcuate nucleus	Part of the hypothalamus that receives hormone signals about hunger and energy stores
Ghrelin	Hormone released mainly by the stomach when empty; increases hunger
Leptin	Hormone released by fat tissue; signals satiety and reduces appetite
Leptin resistance	The brain responds weakly to leptin despite high levels
Concordance	The rate at which both members of a twin pair share a condition
Enmeshment	Family members over-involved with weak boundaries between them
Autonomy	Independence; the ability to make one’s own decisions
Modelling	Imitating the behaviour of a role model
Vicarious reinforcement	Learning from seeing another person rewarded
Cognitive distortion	Biased or inaccurate thinking, such as seeing one’s body as larger than it is
Irrational belief	An extreme, rigid belief, such as “any weight gain means failure”
Restraint	A deliberate attempt to limit food intake
Disinhibition	Breakdown of restraint, leading to overeating
Boundary model	Intake is set by a hunger boundary and a satiety boundary, with a self-set diet boundary for dieters

Theories and studies at a glance

Who	What	Finding	One evaluation point
Steiner (1979)	Newborn facial reactions to tastes	Positive to sweet, rejection to bitter	Supports innate preferences, but adults learn to like bitter foods
Garcia and Koelling (1966)	Rats: taste or light/sound paired with illness	Taste-illness link learned easily; light/sound-illness not	Shows preparedness; animal study, so generalise with care
Bernstein (1978)	Children having chemotherapy given new ice cream	Those who had it before nausea-causing treatment later avoided it	Human evidence of taste aversion; real-world application
Birch and Marlin (1982)	Two-year-olds given new cheeses or fruits repeatedly	More exposure, more preference	Practical value for reducing neophobia
Birch (1980)	Preschool children eating with peers	Children shifted vegetable choices towards peers’	Supports social learning; short-term lab-style setting
Brown and Ogden (2004)	Parents and children’s eating	Snack intake, motives and body dissatisfaction correlated	Correlation; shared genes not ruled out
Anand and Brobeck (1951)	LH lesions in rats	Rats stopped eating	Lesions also hit passing nerve fibres
Hetherington and Ranson (1940)	VMH lesions in rats	Overeating and obesity	Animal brains differ from human
Cummings et al. (2001)	Ghrelin before and after meals	Rises before meals, falls after	Suggests a role in starting meals
Wren et al. (2001)	Ghrelin given to people	Food intake increased	Experimental, so suggests cause
Montague et al. (1997)	Two related children with congenital leptin deficiency	Severe obesity	Rare cases; most people with obesity have high leptin
Holland et al. (1988)	Twins with AN	Higher concordance in MZ than DZ	MZ concordance well below 100%
Watson et al. (2019)	Genome-wide study of AN	Several gene locations; psychiatric and metabolic links	Each gene adds small risk
Kaye et al. (2009)	Review of brain systems in AN	Serotonin and dopamine differences, even after recovery	Starvation may cause changes
Minuchin et al. (1978)	Clinical work with families	Enmeshment, over-protection, conflict avoidance	Observational; may blame parents
Bruch (1978)	Clinical account of AN	Lack of autonomy; food restriction as control	Based on case material
Becker et al. (2002)	Fijian girls soon after TV arrived and three years later	Share with high-risk eating-attitude scores rose from about 13% to about 29%	Measured attitudes, not diagnosis
Garner and Bemis (1982)	Cognitive account of AN	Irrational beliefs and reasoning errors	Distortions may be effects of AN
Stunkard et al. (1986)	Adopted adults	Weight linked to biological, not adoptive, parents	Separates genes and upbringing
Frayling et al. (2007)	FTO gene variant	Two copies: about 3 kg heavier on average	Small effect; polygenic
Wang et al. (2001)	Brain scans and obesity	Lower dopamine D2 receptor availability	Correlational; direction unclear
Herman and Mack (1975)	Milkshake preload, then ice cream	Restrained eaters ate more after preload	Lab task; low ecological validity
Wardle and Beales (1988)	Women with obesity: diet, exercise, none	Diet group ate more in tests	Supports restraint theory
Herman and Polivy (1984)	Boundary model	Dieters have wider zone and a diet boundary	Hard to measure boundaries
Stunkard and Messick (1985)	Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire	Measures restraint, disinhibition, hunger	Self-report

Must-know distinctions

• Ghrelin vs leptin. Ghrelin: stomach, “go”, rises when empty. Leptin: fat tissue, “stop”, reflects energy stores.
• LH vs VMH. LH damage: stops eating. VMH damage: overeating.
• Neophobia vs taste aversion. Neophobia is avoidance of the new. Taste aversion is avoidance learned after illness.
• Innate vs learned. Evolution explains starting preferences; learning explains how they change.
• Restraint vs disinhibition. Restraint is the attempt; disinhibition is the collapse of the attempt.
• Genetic vs neural. Genetic: inherited risk (twins, adoption, genes). Neural: brain structures and chemicals (hypothalamus, serotonin, dopamine).
• Explanations of AN vs explanations of obesity. Learn them separately; AN is a diagnosed eating disorder, while obesity is a body weight category.

Mini essay plan: “Discuss psychological explanations for obesity.” [16]

1. AO1 (6 marks). Restraint theory: limiting intake can backfire (Herman and Mack, 1975). Disinhibition: stress, alcohol or a broken rule ends restraint. Boundary model: hunger and satiety boundaries; dieters’ diet boundary; once crossed, eating continues to satiety.
2. AO3 point 1. Wardle and Beales (1988) support restraint theory with random allocation, which allows cause and effect.
3. AO3 point 2. Some people restrain successfully, so the theory over-predicts failure.
4. AO3 point 3. Lab taste tests may not reflect daily eating; low ecological validity.
5. AO3 point 4. Psychological explanations ignore genes; an interactionist view combines restraint with genetic risk such as FTO.
6. AO3 point 5. Practical value: helps explain why strict diets often fail.

Keep each AO3 point to: point, evidence, explanation, link back to the question.

Quick self-test

1. What is neophobia?
2. Why is taste aversion called “prepared” learning?
3. Which hormone is released by an empty stomach?
4. Where is leptin produced?
5. What happened to rats with VMH damage?
6. Name one genetic study of anorexia nervosa.
7. Which three ideas does the specification list for family systems theory?
8. What did Becker et al. (2002) measure?
9. Give an example of an irrational belief linked to AN.
10. What did Frayling et al. (2007) find?
11. What is disinhibition?
12. In the boundary model, what happens when a dieter crosses the diet boundary?

Answers

1. A reluctance to eat unfamiliar foods.
2. Animals are biologically ready to link taste with illness, often after one pairing and a delay.
3. Ghrelin.
4. Fat (adipose) tissue.
5. They overate and became obese.
6. Holland et al. (1988), a twin study; or Watson et al. (2019), a genome-wide study.
7. Enmeshment, autonomy and control.
8. Eating attitudes and behaviours in Fijian girls after TV arrived, not diagnosed AN.
9. “If I gain any weight I am a failure”, or all-or-nothing thinking about food.
10. Adults with two copies of a higher-risk FTO variant were about 3 kg heavier on average.
11. The breakdown of restraint, so the person overeats.
12. They keep eating until they reach the satiety boundary.

Where marks are usually lost

• Swapping ghrelin and leptin, or saying both come from the stomach.
• Writing “the hypothalamus controls hunger” without naming LH, VMH or the arcuate nucleus.
• Describing a study without stating what it shows about the explanation.
• Using Becker et al. (2002) as proof of AN cases rather than eating attitudes.
• Listing family systems terms without explaining how enmeshment leads to a struggle for autonomy and control.
• Ignoring the scenario on application questions; marks need its details.
• Evaluating with generic points (“it is reductionist”) without explaining why it matters for this explanation.
• Writing about dieting advice instead of theory, or using stigmatising language.

Next steps

Revisit the Approaches in Psychology study guide for the biological, social learning and cognitive approaches behind these explanations, then try the Eating behaviour practice questions. For reductionism, determinism and gender bias as evaluation points, see the Issues and debates study guide.

Official syllabus

These notes follow section 4.3.6 Eating behaviour and the Paper 3 structure of the AQA AS and A-level Psychology (7181, 7182) specification, Version 1.4 (1 September 2025), for teaching from September 2025.