Self-reflection Flashcards
What is the self
A collection of schema’s on one’s own abilities, traits, attitudes, which guides behaviour. May start as episodic memories, later unlinked to become semantic knowledge.
What is the benefit of a self schema according to simulation theory? (Mitchell, 2005) What other theories support this idea?
To mentalize about other people, people think about what they would do themselves (according to their self concept), IF the other person is similar enough to you.
False consensus effect supports this = seeing own beliefs as representative of the population + overestimating what others know based on what you know
How does the Kelley study test if self-processing is special? method + hypothesis?
Hint: 3 conditions: self-other-case
Trait word: - does this describe you?
- does this describe eg the president?
- is this in case letters?
Hypothesis: left inferior frontal assoc. depth of processing. If more activity here for self than for other, may be depth of processing that is important.
What early result of trait adjectives hinted that self processing is special? And what are 2 conflicting explanations of the result?
Traits like “honest”, when high in self-relevance, are recalled better than when the same words are just processed for meaning.
- depth of processing effect
- different type of processing entirely
What are the results of the Kelley study into whether self processing is special or not?
Self-other-case questions
Left inferior frontal cortex the same for self vs other.
mpfc greater activation (i.e., less deactivation bc DMN) for self vs other/case.
Greater recall for self relevant traits was not mediated by greater inferofrontal activation.
What are the implications of the Kelley study into whether self processing is special or not
Support the “special processing” explanation but not depth of processing.
But: self effect reduced the more well known the other person is.
What is the default mode network, what does it do(+evidence for this function?), which areas? (Raichle, 2001)
In eg Moran (2013)
Relative to baseline, this network shows decreased activations when engaging in a goal directed task and is implicated in self processing.
(v) MPFC, PCC.
i) Active during self reflection (when thinking about self, current state, attention to stream of consciousness, generation internal stimuli.)
ii) Active during rest
iii) During rest, people engage in self-reflection spontaneously
Why is emotional valence often confounded with self-relevance in studies? (Moran, 2006)
Positive statements are more often seen as self relevant and negative statements are often seen as not self relevant, meaning the MPFC activation may not be about self relevance but about valence.
How did Moran (2006) try to disentangle the role of self relevance and emotional valence in mpfc activation? (Aka delineating affective vs cognitive components)
Method?
Event related fmri
pps rate how well several pos and neg traits describe them
afterwards traits can then be categorized as pos-relevant, pos-irrelevant, neg-relevant, neg-irrelevant and correlated with activation.
What were the results of Moran’s study to disentangle the affective vs cognitive components of self processing in the brain?
main effect MPFC and PCC of relevance (high vs low) -> cognitive
interaction vACC of relevance X valence -> emotional
Why does Mitchell think self processing related activity in VMPFC may be similar to mentalizing about others? Results earlier studies
VMPFC activation is also seen in theory of mind tasks, such as:
- making inferences about mental states of characters
- playing games that requires second guessing the honesty of the opponent (eg prisoners dilemma?)
- judging anothers personality
- judging whether a historical character is able to use certain equipment
How did Mitchell test if self processing is used for mentalizing about others when the other person is similar to you? Methods of the face picture study (3 questions asked)
Event related study (post hoc categorization of high vs low similarity)
Pps shown pictures of others and answer:
- how pleased is this person to have their picture taken?
- how similar is this person to you?
- how symmetric is their face?
Results of Mitchell face picture study? Does it support simulation theory?
VMPC correlated with mentalizing trials IF the person in the picture was judged similar, but NOT if they were not similar OR for nonmentalizing trials when pps judged appearance -> supports simulation theory
What is the “theory” theory of mentalizing about others states?
- people mentalize by using combinations of basic social rules
- people explicitly form theories and test hypotheses about other people’s behaviour
- according to Mitchell not exclusive with simulation theory
What does the PCC do?
multimodal association cortex, that integrates external with self-generated stimuli, through its connections with mpfc.
- complex visual representations such as third perspective type thinking about others (through connections with visual areas), imagery, emotion
