Exam #2 Flashcards
(83 cards)
1
Q
Theory of Mind
A
Process by which we attribute and reason about the mental states of others
*Domain specific process mediated by LTPJ
2
Q
ToM positive social outcomes (4)
A
- Increased popularity
- Better success when negotiating
- Increased prosocial behavior
- Positive evaluations of perspective-taker
3
Q
ToM negative social outcomes (3)
A
- Friendlessness
- Loneliness and social isolation
- Risk for psychiatric illness
4
Q
How is ToM measured? (6 ways)
A
- False belief attribution
- Trait judgments
- Strategic games with another person or computer
- Social animations
- Reading mind in eyes
- Rational actions
5
Q
False-Belief task
A
Sally-Anne task, kids reliably pass it after 3.5 years of age
6
Q
Problem with reading the mind in eye task
A
RMET may be biased against less education, non-white individuals who do not share race/ethnicity of task’s stimuli (reasons: culture, complex vocab, white faces)
7
Q
Brain regions associated with ToM (7)
A
- DLPFC
- TPJ
- IFG
- STS
- Temporal pole
- PC
- MPFC
8
Q
Cognitive components of ToM (4)
A
- Representing people and social relationships
- Representing representations
- Representing mental representations
- Executive functions
9
Q
LTPJ damage
A
- Necessary for ToM
- Deficit in false-belief understanding
10
Q
Frontal lobe damage
A
- False-belief understanding deficit
- Other cognitive deficits, affects executive functioning
11
Q
Diverse lesion sites
A
Unimpaired
12
Q
What brain regions respond more to beliefs?
A
RTPJ (may be special for belief info), LTPJ, PC, MPFC
13
Q
Which brain regions respond more to thoughts?
A
RTPJ, LTPJ, PC=
respond selectively to mental states
14
Q
Which brain region does not differentiate between thoughts, bodily sensations, and appearances?
A
MPFC=
recruited for any socially-relevant information, false>true beliefs, ToM still ok if damaged
15
Q
Alternative account of RTPJ
A
Attention shifting/exogenous attention account, damage=impairment in reorienting attention
16
Q
Mitchell (2008) interpretations about RTPJ
A
- Not selective for social cognition or mental state attribution
- ToM and attentional reorienting may require similar computation implemented in RTPJ
- Support for process-specific view of RTPJ (not content)
- Invalid>valid
17
Q
Theory-theory (TT)
A
Naive psych or lay theory of psych that’s constructed from observation, inference, and instruction and used to predict or explain another person’s mental state or behavior (ex: apple falling from tree, where to sit), we understand workings of the mind and people
18
Q
Simulation-theory (ST)
A
We can use our own body and mind as model for another person’s mind, simulate their experiences
19
Q
Evidence for ST
A
- You slow down when you know that someone else is performing action incompatible with your own
- You only compute what other people see
- “Mirror system”-action observation
- “Pain matrix”-physical sensations
20
Q
ST evidence-division of labor in MPFC
A
-DMPFC: thinking about others (ToM), dissimilar others
-VMPFC: thinking about self, making mental state inferences about similar others
DOUBLE DISSOCIATION
21
Q
Evidence for TT/Against ST
A
- Systematicity of errors from children and adults suggest we rigidly use rules derived from theories to explain others’ mental states
- RTPJ doesn’t differentiate between culturally familiar vs. foreign or between common-sense beliefs and absurd beliefs
22
Q
Sighted vs blind patients ToM
A
- Same neural network recruited for ToM
- RTPJ equally selective for belief info and seeing and hearing
- THEREFORE: visual experience plays little role in ToM in adults
23
Q
Anchoring and Adjustment
A
We generate a plausible “anchor” value (MPFC) and then serially adjust away from that anchor, use ourselves as anchor, might use underlying TT processes
24
Q
Building a brain
A
NS derived from cells arranged in hollow cylinder called the neural tube, neurons migrate out from tube to regions where they’ll mature
25
What part of the brain undergoes protracted synaptic development that continues well into adolescence?
Prefrontal cortex
26
White vs grey matter in development
- Linear increase in white matter during first 2 decades of life
- Grey matter volume (GMV) decreases between childhood and adulthood (inverted U)
27
Where does GMV loss start in the brain?
Primary sensorimotor areas-->PFC-->parietal cortex-->occipital cortex-->temporal cortex
28
Kids <4 engage in behaviors that imply mental state understanding such as (3)
1. Kids can deceive and lie
2. Imitate intended actions
3. Engage in pretend play
29
Two-Systems Account
1. Cognitively efficient, but limited and inflexible (implicit ToM), intact in infants and allows them to pass looking-time tests
2. Flexible, but demanding of general cognitive resources (explicit ToM), develops more gradually
30
Anatomical changes in brain
- GMV follows cubic trajectory in all regions, peaks at ages 8-12
- Cortical thickness shows linear decrease from ages 8-23 in all regions except ATC
- Relates to synaptic pruning
31
Which developmental possibility is most accurate?
ToM is still developing after 4 years of age
32
TPJ and precuneus for functional changes in brain
Mental>People>Physical
33
MPFC for functional changes in brain
Mental, People>Physical
34
Increasing age and functional changes in brain
Increased specialization (Mental>People) of RTPJ, but not other brain regions
35
Difference between ToM network (mental>physical) in children vs adults
No difference, ToM network present by 6 years of age, but adults have greater mental state selectivity in RTPJ, LTPJ, and PC (increases with age)
36
What is ToM ability related to in older adults?
Social participation, affects mortality, may be at risk for negative effects of social disconnection
37
What is the chance that an older adult will perform worse than a younger adult on ToM tasks?
74%
38
Summary of ToM brain regions overall
- Increased selectivity of TPJ for mental states=better ToM performance
- Later in life, DMPFC has reduced activation
39
Affect
Refers to the general experience of feeling or emotion
40
Emotion
Mind state manifested through physical, cognitive, and behavioral responses to stimuli
41
Feelings
Subjective representation of a(n) emotion(s)
42
Mood
Diffuse affective state, lacking context, lasts longer than the experience of emotion, may be less intense
43
Temperament
Consistent individual differences in physical, cognitive, and behavioral responses to stimuli
44
Describing emotions: valence
Measures pleasure (negative to positive)
45
Describing emotions: arousal
Measures intensity (relaxed to stimulated)
46
Describing emotions: dominance
Measures preference for hierarchy (controlled to controlling)
47
Describing emotions: action-orientation
Measures motivation (avoidance to approach)
48
The Basic (Classical) Theory of Emotion (BET)
- Emotions are evolutionarily acquired: UNIVERSAL and limited core and discrete emotions
- Emotion is an independent faculty
- Triggered by unique pattern of physio/bio responses
49
Theory of Constructed Emotion (TCE)
- Emotions result from context and situation: no discrete emotions
- Core affect shared among cultures
- Aid in allostasis in body
- Emotions are domain-general
50
6 basic biological emotions (Ekman's universal facial emotions)
1. Anger
2. Disgust
3. Fear
4. Happiness
5. Sadness
6. Surprise
51
Plutchick's wheel of emotions
- Expanded on Ekman's emotion theory
- 4 pairs of basic emotions:
1. Joy and Sadness
2. Trust and Disgust
3. Fear and Anger
4. Surprise and Anticipation
52
Appraisal Theories of Emotion
Dependent on evaluation, absence of physiological changes
53
Range of theories
Constructionism (TCE at bottom)-->Faculty Psychology (BET at top)
54
Locationist Hypotheses
- Fear: amygdala
- Disgust: insula
- Anger: OFC
- Sadness: ACC
55
Constructionist Hypotheses
-Core affect
-Conceptualization
-Language
-Executive attention
These are NETWORKS
56
What can we regulate? (4)
1. Cognitions
2. Expressions
3. Behaviors
4. Interactions
57
How do we regulate? (7)
1. Acceptance
2. Avoidance
3. Problem-solving
4. Reappraisal
5. Rumination
6. Suppression
7. Social support
58
When do we regulate?
- Antecedent focused: situation, attention, appraisal
| - Response focused: response
59
Cognitive control networks (4)
1. DLPFC-working memory and selective attention
2. VLPFC-language and response inhibition
3. dorsal ACC-monitoring control processes
4. DMPFC-reflecting upon one's own or someone else's affective states
60
Emotion networks (2)
1. Amygdala-attention and recognition of affective stimuli, encoding of affect into memory
2. MOFC-determining the pleasantness of a stimuli
61
Neural relations interpretation involving brain regions
Reappraisal activates the LPFC to reduce the effects of the amygdala and MOFC
62
Emotion dysregulation (3)
1. Avoidance
2. Rumination
3. Suppression
63
Emotion regulation in practice (3)
1. CBT
2. DBT ("ABC" please)
3. Mindfulness CBT
64
What is one way to assess levels of empathy?
Empathy concern test, part of interpersonal reactivity index
65
Historical view of empathy
- Referred to person's physiological/affective response to witnessing/learning about another's emotion/situation
- Later emphasized cognitive aspects
66
Contemporary view of empathy
Describes empathy as multidimentional
67
There is empathy if...(4)
1. One is in an affective state
2. The state is isomorphic (identical) to another person's affective state
3. This state is elicited by the observation/imagination of another person's affective state
4. One knows that the other person is the source of one's own affective state
68
Empathy is NOT (just)...(3)
1. Perspective-taking/cognitive empathy: representation mental states without being emotionally involved
2. Sympathy/empathic concern: affective state related to another person, but not isomorphic
3. Emotional contagion/experience sharing: affective sharing but not self-other distinction
69
Imitation theory of empathy
- Mirror neuron system (MNS) in ventral premotor cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, area F5
- Human analogue of monkey MNS
- Evidence in humans through surgery (temporal lobe)
- Activates primary/premotor cortex and amygdala
70
Chameleon effect
Nonconscious mimicry of postures, expressions, actions of others such that one's behavior is changed to match that of the other
71
Criticisms of Imitation theory
- Mirror neurons can arise from associative learning
- Mirror neurons may represent consequences of actions but not intended goals
- Monkeys have mirror neurons but can't imitate well
72
Simulation Theory of Empathy
- Possible to have simulation of emotions (and empathy) without having motor/action representations as linking step
- Separate pathways for understanding sensory aspects of emotions (sensory inputs) and subjective feeling states (unpleasantness of sensory inputs)
73
Empathy/pain matrix results with romantic partner
- Sensory-discrimination components (location, quality, intensity of pain): SI, SII, MI
- *Affective (subjective) components: ACC, insula
- If empathy depends on mirror system then we should see neural activity in sensory-discrimination regions while watching other in pain
74
Other models of empathy
Alternate, slightly different conceptualizations, emphasizing emotional, cognitive, and motivational component
75
Other models of empathy: triangle
Mentalizing (cognitive empathy, perspective taking, ToM)-->Experience sharing (affective empathy, shared self-other, representations, emotional contagion)-->Prosocial concern (empathic motivation, sympathy, empathic concern)-->
76
What brain region does social pain activate?
MPFC-mentalizing
| -Contributes to real-world social behavior
77
Great empathy associated with greater neural activity in what brain regions?
Experience sharing regions: AI, anterior cingulate cortex
| -Contributes to real-world social behavior
78
What brain regions does watching a friend being excluded activate?
Affective pain regions: AI, ACC
79
Neural bases of empathy relating to what context is
In women, there is greater neural activity in pain matrix for fair vs unfair players
80
Affective/emotional empathy
- Lower-level, state-matching process involving the MNS (inferior frontal gyrus in humans) and pain network (AI, ACC)
- IFG lesions impaired
81
Cognitive empathy
- Higher-level, perspective-taking (ToM) involving the mentalizing system (TPJ, MPFC)
- VM lesions impaied
82
Bright side of empathy (3)
1. Humans have fundamental need to belong
2. More prosocial helping behavior in children
3. Lack of empathy associated with psychopathy
83
Dark side of empathy (5)
1. Clashes with fairness
2. Personal distress can reduce helping behaviors
3. Can motivate people to harm others
4. Can motivate aggression
5. Can contribute to burnout
