In order to demonstrate that those findings reflected item-specific activity, using event-related fMRI, we compared differences between high and low attractiveness menu items (rated by the subjects as 4 or 3, and 1 or 2, respectively).
For the attractiveness representation analysis, items rated 4 and 3 were modelled together as high rating events, items rated 1 and 2 as low rating events.
Each participant's ratings for individual meal descriptions were modelled using fMRI and to probe the representation of attractiveness, we contrasted items rated high with ones rated low on that criterion.
The tasks conducted in this study include identifying the potential origins of product form attractiveness, generating potential evaluation items, collecting data, and validating the developed multiple-item evaluation scale.
For the attractiveness change analysis, food items were grouped depending on their rating across sessions.
The aim of this search was to single out items whose attractiveness levels are particularly susceptible to increased (or decreased) hunger, and identify the neural activation that characterizes them.
Hospital attractiveness was measured using four items on a seven point Likert scale from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree, with high scores indicating high attractiveness.
The assignment of items to the high attractiveness or low attractiveness group would then occur based on the instant rating, rather than on a previously-expressed general preference.
That mindset will continue to have an impact as the holiday season gets underway, making the attractiveness and affordability of every item more important than usual.
