How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like

Book Notes
  • Supertasters are more likely to dislike whiskey and black coffee, Brussels sprouts and cabbage (1) – page 29
  • Babies preferred the food eaten by the English speaker rather than the French speaker (2) – page 32
  • How you think about food affects how you judge it… Protein bars taste worse if they are described as “soy protein”… orange juice tastes better if it is bright orange… yogur t and ice cream are more flavorful if labeled as “high fat”… apples and milk taste better if they come out of a McDonald’s bag… Coke is rated better if it comes from a cup with a brand logo (3) – page 45
  • Brain activation response was differenct when the odor was labled as “cheddar cheese” rather than “body odor” (4) – page 48
  • The classmates attractiveness ratings were swayed by how much they liked each person (5) – page 70
  • Subjects were presented with a story about somebody who deliberates between a difficult moral dilemma… subjects disapproved of him regardless of what he ulimaintely decided… it taints one to hink about such choices (6) – page 92
  • People like something more after they’ve chosen it… even four year olds and capuchin monkeys behave this way (7) – page 99
  • Reading a fact in a story increases the likelihood that you will believe it to be true (8) – page167
  • Watching HDTVs with a live view of natural scenery did not benefit subjects… what did help was giving people an office with a view overlooking actual greenery (9) – page 211

 

  1. Ptc/prop tasting anatomy psychophsics and sex effects
  2. Social information guides infants’ slection of foods
  3. N/A
  4. Cognitive modulation of olfactory processing
  5. The effect of non physical traits on teh perception of physical attractiveness three naturalistic studies
  6. The four elemenryo forms of sociality framework for a unified theory of social relations, The psychology of the unthinkable: Taboo trade-offs, forbidden base rates, and heretical counterfactuals.
  7. Rationalization and cognitive dissonance: do choices affect or reflect preferences, Is choice a reliable predictor of choice? a comment on sagarin skoronski, The implications of imperfect measurement for free choice carry over effects reply to keith chen
  8. N/A
  9. The human relation with nature and technological nature