Social Neuroscience PDF

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Class by dr. Bowler...

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Mind Body Debate  Is the mind part of the body, or the body part of the mind? If they are distinct, then how do they interact? And which of the two is in charge? Idiographic (id·i·o·graph·ic) vs. Nomothetic (nom·o·thet·ic)  Nomothetic psychologists are mainly concerned with studying what we individuals have in common with others  Idiographic psychologists are mainly concerned with studying what makes each unique individual Free-will vs. Determinism  The determinist approach proposes that all behavior is determined before it occurs  The free will approach assumes that we are free to choose our behavior Nature vs. Nurture  This debate within psychology is concerned with the extent to which particular aspects of behavior are a product of either inherited (i.e. genetics) or acquired (i.e. learned) characteristics. o Nature is that which is inherited /biological o Nurture which refers to all environmental influences after conception Social Neuroscience  An interdisciplinary field devoted to understanding how biological systems implement social processes and behavior o How does the brain (i.e., neuroscience) relate to human behavior (i.e., social psychology)? Three (two!) primary questions of social neuroscience 1. What more can we learn about social behavior when we consider neural and physiological responses? 2. What are the actual biological systems that implement social behavior? a. i.e., what specific brain areas get you to engage in specific social activities b. Brain influencing behavior 2. How are biological systems impacted by social processes? a. i.e., what specific social activities change your biological systems b. Behavior impacting the brain What we have known for a long time: There is a direct relationship between your brain and your behavior  In 1948 Phineas Gage had an iron rod shot through his head removing a large part of his frontal lobe o Made him a jerk  In the 1930s Heinrich Kluver and Paul Bucy damaged the amygdala in the brains of rehsus monkeys o Additional lobotomy research with humans o However, we have moved beyond this as a methodology

Three biological means to study social psychology  Electroencephalogram (EEG) o A measure of electrical activity in the brain o Researchers place a set of electrodes on a participant’ s head o EEG is very good at measuring precise differences in the timing of brain activity

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Used to answer questions about how quickly a type of thinking occurs Social Categorization Mentally classifying someone as belonging to a particular social category (e.g., sex, race, age)  Facilitates quick thinking about other people  Cognitive misers: we don't like to think when we don't have to  Not always accurate…  Simply incorrect  Don’t apply to everyone in the group  So studying SC can be difficult because…  …people may not be aware if/when they are doing it  …people may not want to report that they are thinking in this way Method: Participants view pictures of people of different social groups and are asked to categorize them (e.g., males vs. females ) Results: Brain activity looks different when categorizing people into different social groups  Take approximately 200ms  This 200ms is pretty stable even if task is not to categorize someone Automatic processing… > Social categorization  Is spontaneous, involuntary, and unconscious  Gives rise to implicit attitudes and beliefs that can’t be easily controlled by the conscious mind  Often occurs without our awareness Controlled processing… > flip side of Soc. Cat.  Is conscious, systematic, and deliberate  Able to override automatic responses  Results in explicit attitudes and beliefs of which we are aware  Over time controlled becomes automatic processing Controlled thinking can be distinguished from automatic thinking by:  Its occurrence within awareness  being guided by intention  being subject to deliberate control  involving effort  being slow and cumbersome How to test automatic thinking  Stroop test measures effortful control over responses  Requiring participants to identify the color of a word (which may or may not name a different color)  Illustrates automatic thinking and deliberate control.  Stroop effect occurs in the Stroop test  Finding that people have difficulty overriding the automatic tendency to read the word rather than name the ink color.  We think it is hard, but it is not. Nonetheless we stop doing it. Implicit Association test  Computerized test  Participants/test takes can hit one of two buttons

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Typically is comprised of 2 social categories (e.g., Caucasian/AfricanAmerican) and 2 evaluative categories (e.g., mean/nice)  Participants are asked to match different pairings of the social and evaluative categories over several iterations  Trial 1: Match Caucasian with mean and AfricanAmerican with nice  Trial 2: Match Caucasian with nice and African-American with mean  Closely associated categories in your head are easier and quicker to match together…  So faster reaction times show implicit connections Watch this video on the IAT: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=n5Q5FQfXZag You can take the test! https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/ Remember to answer as quickly as you can! More info later.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) o A measure of blood flow to a particular area of the brain  Bringing glucose to active cells o Participant sits in a large machine o The fMRI method is very good at precisely measuring which parts of the brain are used when doing different tasks  Used to answer questions about what part of the brain a type of thinking occurs o Sally-Ann Task  The Sally-Ann task measures how well individuals are able to infer the mental states of others  Participants are told the story of Sally and Ann following the prompts written on the picture  A test of mental state inference because to answer correctly participants must set aside their own knowledge and answer based on the mental state of someone else  Mental state inference

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Testing Stimulation Hypothesis Are the same brain regions used for thinking about our own mental states AND thinking about others?  Method (in fMRI scanner):  The first task involved thinking about their own mental state  The second task involved thinking about other people’s mental states  Results:  fMRI studies have found that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is used when thinking about oneself AND when thinking about the mental states of others  Simulation hypothesis: Imaging what would happen to us in the same situation and then applying our imagined reaction as a best guess to someone else 

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Mentalizing: Inferring someone’s internal feelings. Activates the mPFC but also areas of the brain associated with emotions Kids see this easier: Theory of mind They don’t understand that other people see things different.

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Cortisol is a steroid hormone. Stress is when you think you can't do something, and then you release cortisol.  Produced in humans by the adrenal gland  It is released in response to stress  It increases blood sugar and to aid in the metabolism of fat, protein, and carbohydrates…  …but also suppress the immune system and decreases bone formation Stress is the condition that results when person-environment interactions lead the individual to perceive a discrepancy, whether real or not, between the demands of a situation and the resources of the person's biological, psychological, or social systems  In medical terms, stress is the disruption of homeostasis through physical or psychological stimuli  Causes the release of cortisol  Stress terms:  Stress: The psychological and physical reaction to certain life events or situations. Reaction  Stressor: The life event that causes stress. event  Strain: The consequences of stress  Types of stress:  Eustress  Stress converted to positive energy  Desirable outcome of stress  Motivational results  Optimal level of arousal  Distress  Negative outcome  Results in emotional and physical illness  Too much stress  Sources of stress:  Lack of control/predictability: Individual’s perception of control or predictability determines his/her response to the situation  Interpersonal conflict: Negative interactions w/co-workers, supervisors, clients  Emotional labor: Regulation of one’s emotions to meet expectations  Surface acting: consists of managing or faking one’s expressions or emotions  Deep acting: Consists of managing one’s feelings  Consequences of long term stress: (see slides to calculate your stress > Holmes and Rahe)  Physical • Illness • Headaches • Joint pain  Psychological • Anxiety • Anger • Sleep problems • Depression  Behaviors • Smoking • Drinking • Drug abuse

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Your experiences stress your body

You need to take care of your brain...