BU student wins national essay prize

9 April 2009

Competition winner and BU student Gaby Pfeifer

A BU student’s essay on food psychology has taken top prize in a national writing competition.

BU Psychology student Gaby Pfeifer has won a national writing competition run by The Psychologist for her essay on food psychology.

Gaby, 31 from Heidenheim, Germany, is in the second year of her BSc (Hons) Psychology degree and entered the undergraduate section of The Psychologist’s Annual Student Writer Competition.

The Psychologist is the official monthly publication of the British Psychological Society.

Her innovative essay, ‘The Psychology of Food Choice – Between Sensory Stimulation and Savoir-Vivre’, describes the factors that contribute to the variety of people’s food choices, such as innate taste differences and evolutionary factors.

Gaby explained: “Our sensitivity to bitter tastes is genetically determined, which explains why people who are born with a more sensitive taste for bitter substances dislike coffee, beer and dark green vegetables.

“From an evolutionary viewpoint, practically everyone loves sweet tastes. This is because they indicate ripeness and stand for food high in carbohydrates which has at all times signalised high nutritional value and thus some form of ‘survival' value.”

Gaby’s winning essay also discusses the cognitive processes: “Even just thinking positively or negatively about a particular food starts triggering digestion processes accordingly.

“I loved writing the essay, and combining my interest in psychology and food. Psychology can be found everywhere, even in the most ordinary events of our daily lives, which makes it such an interesting science.”

The full version of Gaby’s essay will appear in the July issue of The Psychologist. She hopes to undertake postgraduate study upon completion of her first degree.

BU’s Professor of Psychology, Siné McDougall, said: “We are very proud of Gaby's achievement in winning this national essay prize. Gaby is a talented and hard-working student, and the Psychology team at BU are delighted that she has received this recognition from the British Psychological Society.”