Effects of cue prominence and palatability on the drinking behavior of obese and normal humans.

This study examines the effects of cue salience and palatability (water temperature) on the water drinking of obese and normal subjects. Obese subjects drink more than do normal subjects when the water cue is prominent but do not do so when this cue is remote. Palatability does not differentially affect the drinking behavior of obese and normal subjects. These results support the extension to nonfood stimuli of the hypothesis of the hyperreactivity of the obese to prominent cues.