Research paper
Rolls BJ, Rowe EA, Rolls ET, Kingston B, Megson A, Gunary R. Variety in a meal enhances food intake in man. Physiol Behav. 1981 Feb;26(2):215-221. doi:10.1016/0031-9384(81)90014-7
Why we cite it
Paper reporting that food variety within a meal enhances total intake through sensory-specific satiety — the declining pleasantness of a food as it is eaten, while other foods remain pleasant. Experiment 3 found no enhancement of intake when three yogurt flavours differed in taste only (same colour and texture) — n = 24. That is a null, and the record previously read it as a necessity: ”variety must differ across multiple sensory dimensions… taste differences alone are insufficient.” A single null in 24 people does not establish that a dimension is required; it shows that this manipulation, at this size, did not produce the effect. The project applies it to buffets, multi-course meals and mixed snack packs; the paper’s three experiments tested sandwiches and yogurts, so that application is the library’s (corrected 2026-09-10 from ”This underpins the project’s understanding of why buffets, multi-course meals, and mixed snack packs lead to overconsumption”).
”Seminal” removed and “establishing” softened to “reporting” (2026-09-06, card E1AWST). The ranking is unsurveyable; *and establishing overstates a single paper’s standing on a question this record itself shows is qualified — its own Experiment 3 found no* enhancement from taste-only variety at n = 24, a null this section already corrected once for having been read as a necessity.