AQA A Level Psychology
AQA A Level Psychology 3.3.6 Eating Behaviour Exam Questions
Free AQA A Level Psychology exam questions for 3.3.6 Eating Behaviour, with a mark scheme for every pack. Covers food preferences, neural and hormonal control of eating, explanations of anorexia nervosa and obesity, and why Diets succeed or fail.
3.3.6 Eating Behaviour exam questions
4 question packs of real past exam questions, each with its mark scheme. Do not stop after a few: answer as many as you can without notes, then mark every answer with the mark scheme. The more questions you do, the more quickly you will spot how examiners ask about each idea.
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About AQA A Level Psychology 3.3.6 Eating Behaviour
Eating Behaviour is an Option 2 topic on AQA A Level Paper 3, Issues and Options. It looks at why we prefer certain foods, how eating is controlled by the brain and hormones, and why some people develop anorexia nervosa or obesity. You study evolutionary explanations such as neophobia and taste aversion, social learning and culture, the hypothalamus with ghrelin and leptin, genetic and neural explanations of anorexia, family systems theory, social learning and cognitive explanations, and both biological and psychological explanations of obesity including restraint theory and the boundary model. It applies the biological, learning and cognitive approaches and supports nature-nurture evaluation.
What you need to know
- Food preferences Evolutionary explanations include a preference for sweet and fatty foods, food neophobia and taste aversion (Garcia et al.). The role of learning includes social learning from parents and peers, cultural influences and media.
- Neural and hormonal mechanisms The lateral hypothalamus acts as a feeding centre and the ventromedial hypothalamus as a satiety centre. Ghrelin, released by the stomach, stimulates hunger; leptin, released by fat cells, signals satiety.
- Anorexia nervosa: biological Genetic explanations are supported by twin studies; neural explanations include serotonin and dopamine abnormalities.
- Anorexia nervosa: psychological Family systems theory (Minuchin) emphasises enmeshment, autonomy and control. Social learning theory focuses on modelling, reinforcement and the media; cognitive theory focuses on distortions and irrational beliefs about body shape.
- Obesity Biological explanations include genetic and neural factors. Psychological explanations include restraint theory (Herman and Mack, 1975), disinhibition and the boundary model (Herman and Polivy, 1984), which proposes dieters have a larger zone of biological indifference and a self-imposed diet boundary.
- Success and failure of dieting Diets often fail because restriction increases preoccupation with food (the 'what the hell' effect) and denial can make forbidden foods more attractive; successful dieting is linked to anchoring and realistic goals.
Common mistakes in 3.3.6 Eating Behaviour
- Mixing up ghrelin and leptin; ghrelin increases hunger, leptin reduces it.
- Getting the hypothalamus regions wrong: damage to the VMH leads to overeating, damage to the LH leads to undereating.
- Describing family systems theory as simply 'bad parenting' without its key concepts of enmeshment, autonomy and control.
- Explaining taste aversion as social learning; it is a form of classical conditioning with an evolutionary basis.
- Writing that restraint theory says dieting always works; it predicts restrained eaters often overeat when restraint breaks down.
Try three 3.3.6 Eating Behaviour exam-style questions
1. Outline the role of leptin and ghrelin in controlling eating behaviour. (4 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
Ghrelin is released by the stomach when it is empty; it travels to the hypothalamus and stimulates appetite, increasing hunger; leptin is released by adipose (fat) tissue after eating; it acts on the hypothalamus to inhibit hunger and produce satiety.
2. Outline family systems theory as an explanation of anorexia nervosa. (6 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
Minuchin et al. proposed anorexia develops within families with certain patterns; enmeshment, where family members are over-involved and lack boundaries; autonomy, as anorexia may be an attempt by an adolescent to gain independence from the family; control, as the child cannot control their life so controls their food intake; parents, often the mother, may be overprotective; this explains why anorexia often begins in adolescence.
3. Explain what is meant by the boundary model of obesity. (3 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
Herman and Polivy proposed that hunger keeps intake above a minimum and satiety keeps it below a maximum; between these is a zone of biological indifference; restrained eaters have a larger zone and set a lower diet boundary, so if they exceed it they continue eating until satiety.
3.3.6 Eating Behaviour FAQs
What does AQA A Level Psychology Eating Behaviour cover?
It covers evolutionary and learning explanations of food preferences, neural and hormonal control of eating, biological and psychological explanations of anorexia nervosa and obesity, and explanations for the success and failure of dieting.
Which paper is Eating Behaviour examined in?
Eating Behaviour is an option in Section C (Option 2) of AQA A Level Paper 3, Issues and Options in Psychology.
What key terms should I know for Eating Behaviour?
Learn food neophobia, taste aversion, lateral and ventromedial hypothalamus, ghrelin, leptin, enmeshment, restraint theory, disinhibition and the boundary model.
