This paper is exploring how plate size and color suggestibility determine how much food an individual will serve themselves in a meal. Using the Delbouef illusion showed that individuals often had difficulty estimating a serving size when presented with different plate sizes, and this paper performed five separate studies to determine at which conditions the plate size and color influenced the serving behaviors by individuals. The fifth study is particularly interesting for the "Diner Beware" article because it evaulates how the food's aesthetic similarities to the plate affect the serving behavior in individuals.

60 participants (30 female) go to a buffet in Upstate New York at a college reunion. They are randomly directed to one of two buffet tables. One buffet table only offered pasta with white cream sauce and the other one only offered a red based. Participants are randomly given either a red plate or a white plate. They were expected that participants who would eat the most were the ones that were randomly given food and a plate that shared the same color.

Study 5: The two-way interaction ANOVA showed that lunch goers would overserve themselves to a significantly more at a 0.05 significance level when they were given food and a plate that shared the same color (both for white and red).