biological explanations of social cognition Flashcards
Who discovered mirror neurons ?
Rizzolatti et al.
What experiment did Rizzolatti conduct ?
Macaque monkeys-> neurons in cortex fired when monkeys performed action or observed another monkey perform the same action.
what are mirror neurons ?
provide a system which could explain how an individual imitates another.
why is imitation important ?
important in the acquisition of skills/behaviours. imitation is at the beginning of the development of social cognition.
Gallese and Goldman description of mirror neurons ?
a part of a ‘mind reading’ system allowing us to understand others state of mind. (theory of mind)
what influences how we perceive emotions, feelings and intentions ?
experience
support for mirror neurons ?
Lacoboni et al-> conducted a study on 23 PPT’s to demonstrate that MN’s encode not just what but why -> found the highest levels of MN activity in the inferior frontal cortex from the intention clip.this area f the brain is concerned with why people behave a certain way.
who countered Lacoboni ?
Lamm et al -> found mismatch between MN’s for emotion and brain areas active during emotional processing.
who countered Lamm et al (support)?
Gazzola et al -> high empathy showed greater activity in MN brain regions.
weaknesses ?
- the function and importance of mirror neurons is not fully understood.
- more needs to be learnt about the development of mirror neurons.
IDA ?
nature and nurture debate -> Gopnik –> proposed that MN’s mights arise as a result of experience (nature) rather than being innate (nurture).
