Myriad Relationships Among Food, Drink and Human Behavior

Newswise — With obesity quickly replacing smoking as the nation's number-one avoidable cause of death, Dr. Alexandra Logue's book The Psychology of Eating and Drinking (Brunner-Routledge, N.Y., 01 Sep 2004 -- $29.95 -- 368 pages -- ISBN #04159500090) is a well-timed addition to the growing literature about America's eating and drinking habits. "We are what we eat," goes common wisdom. And eating and drinking are two of the nation's biggest pastimes.

"We are a society obsessed with what goes into our bodies as much as we are concerned with staying in shape," notes Logue. "Food and drink and how we respond to them both as individuals and as a culture are major concerns as we come to grips with diets, overeating, eating disorders and the myriad of health and emotional issues connected to food." The Harvard-trained behavioral psychologist and vice president for academic affairs at NYIT (New York Institute of Technology) identifies and clarifies recent scientific research on consumption behaviors and makes the data accessible to the general reader.

"My book provides the lay reader with a broad, scientific understanding of how and why we eat and drink in the ways that we do," continues Logue. "The book covers both material on basic eating and drinking processes such as hunger and thirst, as well as special, applied topics such as overeating, alcoholism and cuisine."

Although written to be understandable to the general reader and executed in a lively, personal style, the material is solidly grounded in laboratory research aiming to provide a wide audience with the most accurate available scientific information.

Dr. Logue grounds her investigation into the complex interactions between our physiology, our surroundings and our eating and drinking habits in laboratory research and up-to-date scientific studies.

The chapters move from the general -- hunger and thirst, taste and smell, and eating preferences -- to the more specialized -- overeating, anorexia and bulimia, alcohol use and even cuisine. A unique chapter covers the topic of female reproduction and eating and drinking. In each chapter, Logue provides a brief synopsis of the most historically influential scientific research, and then relates this history to the most up-to-date advances. This method provides the reader with a general introduction to the physiology of sensations related to eating and drinking and how these sensations are influenced by the individual's surroundings. Logue provides the general reader with a biological and psychological framework to understand his or her eating behaviors.

Dr. Alexandra W. Logue joined NYIT in May 2001 as vice president for academic affairs. She came to NYIT from the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences at Baruch College of the City University of New York, where she served as dean. After receiving her A.B. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University, Logue joined the faculty of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she rose to become associate dean of social and behavioral sciences and chair of the department of psychology. In 1995, she began her six-year tenure at Baruch College, where she oversaw the receipt of several landmark gifts, significantly increased external funding for faculty research and instituted an annual conference on teaching and technology that has grown to serve the entire CUNY system. At NYIT, she oversees NYIT's academic schools, libraries, academic computing, research centers and initiatives in teaching and learning with technology. She also serves as the chief liaison and facilitator to the faculty and their labor representatives.

Dr. Logue is also well known in scientific circles. She has published more that 100 articles and chapters, primarily on quantitative models of choice behavior, and has served on the editorial boards of many prestigious journals. She also authored Self-Control: Waiting Until Tomorrow for What You Want Today (Prentice Hall, 1995). The National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Mental Health have funded her research. The recipient of the 1995 American Psychological Association's Hake Award for excellence in bridging basic and applied research, Logue is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

NYIT is an independent, comprehensive college that offers, through eight schools, more than 100 courses of study leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. NYIT currently educates approximately 11,000 students on three metro-New York campuses -- in Old Westbury and Central Islip, Long Island, and Manhattan, near Lincoln Center -- as well as online and at international locations across the globe. More than 64,000 alumni have received degrees from NYIT.