An illusion of ingestion

Three experiments were conducted to find out why subjects ingest substantially more liquid than required when asked to match a visually displayed volume. All three experiments replicated the basic illusion phenomenon, and Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that it was attributable to the subjects’ underestimating the volume of liquid in their mouths. Experiment 3 revealed that the illusion was not present with solid substances, but it was evident with liquids when a quite different measurement procedure was employed.