On being led into temptation: "counterregulation" of dieters after smelling a "preload".

In the present study, it was found that dieters lost control over their food intake and "counterregulated" after merely smelling a "preload," while dieters without a "preload" were able to maintain control over their food intake. Nondieters, however, even ate marginally less after smelling a "preload" than they did in a no-preload condition. Apparently, actually breaking one's diet and such subsequent thoughts as "I've blown my diet, I might as well continue to eat" is not necessary for counterregulation to occur. The observation that merely smelling a "preload" is sufficient to produce "counterregulation" in dieters but not in nondieters challenges the explanatory power of the widely held cognitive explanation of experimental counterregulation in preloaded dieters. An explantation in terms of conditioning is put forward.