Development and validation of Japanese version of alternative food neophobia scale (J-FNS-A): association with willingness to eat alternative protein foods.

Introduction: Food neophobia (FN) is a psychological trait that inhibits one's willingness to eat unfamiliar foods. It is related to the acceptance of insect foods and cultured meat, which are major protein alternatives to conventional meat, and is an important personality trait for understanding the near-future food industry. However, the factor structure of Pliner and Hobden's FN scale (FNS) is unstable due to respondents' cultural backgrounds. Thus, we aimed to develop a Japanese version based on the alternative FNS (FNS-A), the most recent revised version, and to examine its validity. Methods: Four online surveys (preliminary 1: n = 202; preliminary 2: n = 207; main: n = 1,079; follow-up: n = 500) were conducted on the FNS-A. For the main survey, Japanese respondents (aged 20-69 years) answered the Japanese version of the FNS-A (J-FNS-A), their willingness to eat (WTE), and their familiarity with hamburgers containing regular protein foods (ground beef, tofu) and alternative protein foods (soy meat, cultured meat, cricket powder, algae powder, and mealworm powder). Results: Consistent with the FNS-A, confirmatory factor analysis assuming a two-dimensional structure (approach and avoidance) showed satisfactory model fit indices. The mean J-FNS-A score (Cronbach's α for 8 items = 0.83) was 4.15 [standard deviation (SD) = 0.93]. J-FNS-A scores were not associated with age and gender, whereas a greater than moderate association was found with WTE hamburgers containing alternative protein foods (rs = -0.42 to -0.33). The strength of these negative associations increased as food familiarity decreased (r = 0.94). The test-retest reliability at 1 month was also satisfactory (r = 0.79). Discussion: The validity of the J-FNS-A was confirmed. Higher J-FNS-A scores (mean = 41.51, SD = 9.25, converted to Pliner and Hobden's FNS score) of the respondents suggest that Japanese people prefer conservative foods. This scale could predict the negative attitudes toward foods with low familiarity, such as alternative proteins. The J-FNS-A appears to be a useful psychological tool for assessing Japanese food neophobia tendencies and predicting novel food choices of Japanese individuals.

Inhibition of Ironic Errors and Facilitation of Overcompensation Errors Under Pressure: An Investigation Including Perceived Weakness.

The conflicting predictions of ironic process theory and the implicit overcompensation hypothesis have been presented as a framework to explain the characteristics of errors that occur when a certain behavior is prohibited. The former predicts that instructions prohibiting a particular behavior will increase the likelihood of an outcome that should be avoided (ironic error), whereas the latter predicts that the likelihood of an outcome opposite of that to be avoided (overcompensation error) will increase. We examined how these errors, which negatively affect performance, are influenced by pressure and perceived weakness. Participants performed a tennis-stroke task, aiming to hit a ball toward a target zone while avoiding a discouraged zone. The results indicate that pressure decreases the ironic errors but increases the overcompensation errors that occur when a particular behavior is discouraged, while an increase in perceived weakness induces random errors.

Effect of texture preference on food texture perception: Exploring the role of matching food texture and preference.

This study aimed to investigate the influence of smooth texture preference on smoothness perception. An online questionnaire (Study 1, n = 464) and a sensory evaluation test (Study 2, n = 65) were administered to Japanese elderly participants (65-74 years), with common Japanese confectionery (Daifuku) as test foods. Through the online questionnaire, four distinct texture preference groups were formed based on the factors of preference for smoothness and firmness of the inner bean paste layer. Analysis of the food preference scale for imbalanced diet (FPSID) revealed that smooth-texture likers were more likely to be picky eaters than firm-texture likers. Furthermore, high (HiSm) and low smoothness preference groups (LoSm) were selected for the food sensory evaluation test to compare perceived textures (smoothness and firmness). Only the HiSm group exhibited a positive association between perceived smoothness and overall texture liking, perceiving smoothness significantly more intense than the LoSm group in situations where overall texture liking was high. This finding indicates that smooth texture preference does not act independently but rather interacts with food texture matching to affect perception. Our findings suggest that when food texture aligns with individuals' preferences, it elicits hedonic emotions and dynamically enhances food texture perception. This preference-involved perceptual process may contribute to the development of more explicit texture preferences.

The Effect of a Pseudo Winning or Losing Streak on Mental Attitudes and the Evaluation of Results.

Although human motivation has been well studied, studies manipulating human motivation are scarce. The present study aimed to induce the hot-hand phenomenon using a pseudo success situation. Under the framework of the two-factor theory of emotion, we investigated the effect of a deviant situation, such as continuously winning or losing, on mental attitudes and the evaluation of the results using the contingent-negative variation (CNV) and feedback-locked P3 (FB-P3). The CNV is a neural activity that reflects emotional expectations and motoric preparation. The FB-P3 is a neural activity that is induced by external feedback. Fifteen participants performed an S1-S2 reaction time task with an opponent in the following three competitive conditions: actual feedback (feedback is contingent on performance), winning streak (WS; tendency to win regardless of performance), and losing streak (LS; tendency to lose regardless of performance). Each condition was characterized by the winning rate (49.26%, 80%, and 20%). Moreover, a principal component analysis was performed on the CNV data to determine the distinct temporal neural activity. The principal component analysis identified three components (auditory P2, early CNV, and late CNV) in the original CNV. The auditory P2 and the occurrence of pleasant emotions were higher in the WS condition than in the LS condition. However, the early CNV, late CNV, and FB-P3 were higher in the LS condition than in the WS condition. These findings confirmed that the losing streak situation induced an unpleasant emotion. However, the losing streak situation appeared to improve the mental attitude to prepare for faster responses and enhance the interest in the results.

Preparing for saliencies: Emotional expectations under probabilistically and aversively salient situations.

In humans, the expectation process in decision making has not been as thoroughly investigated as the evaluation process. The present study focused on the interaction between probabilistic saliency and motivational saliency during expectation and evaluation periods using stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN) and reward positivity (RewP). Twenty healthy participants performed a modified monetary-incentive delay task under reward-approach and punishment-avoidance conditions. Each condition was characterized by the likely outcome (reward only, punishment only) to manipulate motivational saliency. The task difficulty was regulated to control for probabilistic saliency, and the error trial was set as a probabilistically salient event (75% correct, 25% error). The results demonstrated that there was a larger SPN in the 25%-error trial than the 75%-correct trial and that it was left hemisphere predominant. Furthermore, there was an interaction between probabilistic and motivational saliency such that the SPN in the error trial was larger in the punishment-avoidance than in the reward-approach condition at Fz and at the right hemisphere. In contrast, RewP was only significantly different from zero in the 75%-correct trial in the reward-approach condition. These results confirm that the SPN increases with probabilistic saliency and that probabilistically salient events may intervene in the motivational saliency of the outcome; furthermore, that RewP reflects the weighted positive value of the outcome for reward but not the weighted negative value of the outcome for punishment. We discuss the interaction between probabilistic saliency and motivational saliency on SPN and its left hemisphere predominance based on the functions of the insular cortex.