Does the mere suggestion of looking at pictures of coffee - especially
in the morning - is all that is needed to make us feel more awake?
By: Ringo Bones
I thought that the news story is just another April Fool’s
Joke when I first saw it back in the beginning of April, but an actual
scientific study had shown results that the mere act of looking at pictures of
cups and mugs of coffee is all that is needed to make us feel more awake,
especially early in the morning. The findings were first published in
Consciousness and Cognition and the findings came from four studies involving
hundreds of people across Western and Eastern cultures.
The effect, which can even be sparked by just thinking of
anything that reminds us of a latte or espresso, is more pronounced than with
tea. Based on the result, the observed effect is thought to spring from our
ingrained belief, especially in the West, that coffee gets us up and running.
Researcher Sam Maglio said: “We have this image of a prototypical executive
rushing off to an important meeting with a triple espresso in their hand”. “There’s
this connection between drinking caffeine and arousal that may not exist in
other cultures.”
Participants of the study were given tasks after being shown
coffee-or tea-related cues. Those exposed to thoughts of coffee perceived time
as shorter and thought in more concrete, precise terms, researchers from the
University of Toronto said. But for those who grew up in Eastern cultures,
where coffee was less important than tea, the effect was less marked.
Researcher Sam Maglio believes that the study reveals how subtle cues affect
our decision making and how that might be used in marketing food and drink.
