social cognition Flashcards
(43 cards)
social brain hypothesis
the primate brain evolved to be disproportionately large in order to support the social cognition necessary for successful group living
as the group size increases, so does the number of relationships. this increases the cognitive demand
requires expanded social skills, such as cooperation
remembering who did something, did this monkey give me a banana or did they poke me with a stick - determines your actions toward them
what does cooperation require
communication (language and nonverbal communication skills)
memory of past encounters
conflict resolution
social influence
suggests our thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, and actions are influenced by other people
conforming to fit in
can be through social media, auditory and visual stimuli we see around us
our individual judgements are shaped by other’s opinions
we understand and abide by often unwritten rules of etiguette that govern social behaviour
conformity
the tendency for people to shift their own opinions, beliefs, and actions such that they are in agreement with other people
even simple things people conform to
following and going with a group
two reasons people conform: informational conformity and normative conformity
informational conformity
in uncertain situations, we rely on the opinions of others as a source of information
ie/ running from smt because other people are
normative conformity
people may conform to be liked by others
especially when there is no right answer
classic studies of social conformity by solomun asch
people do not want to stand out or be different
everyone says A’s, then the 6th person who the experiment was being done one knows B is the closest, they are still conformed to say A
line matching task after hearing answers from other people
conformity and fMRI results
activity in the rostral cingulate zone (RCz) increased when participants received feedback that their ratings differed from group ratings= similar to a “conflict”
- perceived as an error
activity in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) increased when participants received feedback that their rating agreed with group ratings = similar to a “reward”
- perceived as a positive outcome
social norms
written (laws) and unwritten (what to wear to a funeral) rules that govern social behaviour
- regulate how to function in a group setting
“socially inappropriate” behaviour is associated with:
- traumatic brain injury, especially when frontal lobe damage is implicated
- some kinds of dementia, especially frontatemporal dementia
- people with autism who can have difficulty understanding social norms and expectations
economic games and social norms
neuroimaging studies of social norm compliance have focused on economic games in which social norms of fairness are critical in the game
ie/ ultimatum game
the ultimatum game
take it or leave it game
one player (the giver) decides how to split a reward between themselves and another player (the receiver)
findings from the ultimatum game
offer acceptance decreases as it becomes less fair
unfair offers less accepted when giver is human as opposed to a computer program
increasing unfairness of offer increases activity of insula, ACC and DLPFC
insula: stronger response to unfair offers from humans than a computer
ACC and DLPFC: Potentially due to greater demands on cognitive control for decision making
activity in anterior insula
associated with feeling disgust
this increases with increasing unfairness of an offer
activity in anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
important in cognitive control and conflict resolution
higher in receivers when they receive an unfair vs fair offer
damage to orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)
most strongly associated with alterations in social behaviour and judgements
lateral OFC in important in integrating emotional cues with decision making
conclusions about neural basis of social norm hypothesis
the frontal including OFC, DLPFC and ACC are critically involved (needed to comply w/ social norms
these regions are essential for cognitive control and decision making (executive functions) which are necessary for social norm compliance
consistant with the social brain hypothesis: the frontal cortex expanded over evolutionary time to support social cognition
what are the two main theories of understanding other’s thoughts and feeling
simulation theory
theory of mind
two theories are not mutually exclusive, each likely to operate in different circumstances
simulation theory
we understand the mental states of others through simulation, imitation, mimicry, or acting “as if” we are them
ie/ seeing someone cry may make us cry
theory of mind
we have a cognitive representation of other people’s mental states, including their feelings and their knowledge
ie/ professor knowing something, but knows this is the first time student is seeing it
mirror neurons
neural mechanisms of imitation likely depends on this
fire both when taking an action and when observing the same action performed by another
stimulation theory: imitation
can be conscious and unconscious
can contribute to social cohesion, as people tend to mimic friends more than strangers, and likeable strangers more than unlikable stranger
more likely to be when they are primed with pro-social words affiliate, friend, together if we do not mimic - may not like that person as much - or after experiencing social exclusion and have a desire for inclusion
direct eye contact enhances the tendency to mimic another person
neuroimaging demonstrated that superior temporal gyrus (important coding gaze direction) dorsal medial prefrontal cortex , and inferior frontal gyrus showed greater activity when direct gaze was paired with congruent hand
theory of mind
mentalizing
capacity to cognitively represent another person’s mental states and understand that they may be different than one’s own
can be assessed with the false belief task, which activates both the temporoparietal junction and the medial prefrontal cortex
involves thinking about another person’s thoughts
necessary for lying , teachers evaluating a students knowledge
heider-simmel illusion
demonstrated that we attribute mental states to objects when they move in certain ways
mind-in-the-eyes task
participants view pictures of eyes cropped out of a face, and must decide what emotion the person is feeling
