Brainstorm about food marketing, for example a social media post touting the benefit of a specific superfood.
Ask students if claims around health and nutrition catch their eye. How do they evaluate the veracity of these claim?
Students in pairs or small groups brainstorm examples of superfoods
Next, ask them how they came up with these? What were their defining criteria? How did they know these food items had special powers?
Advertisements will likely be one source of information, as will conventional wisdom
What is the process for a food producer to make a claim about their product? How rigorously are these claims tested?
While the answer to this question depends on the guidelines within the country, in many cases, there is no rigorous process for label and advertising claims (beyond safety)
Students then identify potential benefits and consequences of this (lack of process) for food producers and for consumers
Chapter 2 Learning Objectives
Describe methods of inquiry in the psychology of eating:
Demonstrate appropriate use of the terminology and principles of the scientific method
Diagram the scientific method for a research question
Evaluate characteristics of research design
Appraise the design of a study to identify strengths and limitations
Identify the limitations of WEIRD samples
Summarize research ethics and define scientific fraud
Define the scientific attitude:
Differentiate the process of science from other ways of knowing, such as authority, logic, and pseudoscience
Explain the roles of curiosity, collaboration, skepticism, and humility to the process of research
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