College 4: Social decision making in peers Flashcards
mentalizing network
mentalizing is the ability to interpret mental states, the feeling and the action of others.
The mentalizing network consist of different brain regions all working together
PC, TPJ, pSTS, ATC
peer influences and social evaluation
as people grow older their peer relationships become increasingly more important.
adolescents feel more self-conscious when observed by peers (peak 17)
it can be positively (more prosocial) or negatively influenced (risk-taking, social exclusion)
affective network
consist of the amygdala, insula and nACC
social brain network
relates back to week 3 of the social brain, is the network of brain regions that underlie these social processes, which consist of the:
dmPFC
Precuneus
pSTS
TPJ
ATC
cognitive brain network
consists of the cognitive regulatory brain regions existing out of oa:
- ACC
- mPFC
- dlPFC
social context
when being in social context they saw that the mentalizing network, the affective and cognitive network were all active when seeing peers.
-the effects of social evaluation (expectation) involves activation of the mPFC which increases with age across adolescence (adolescent-emergent
- social context of familiar peers involves increased spontaneous activation of the social brain networks
- social context of friends involves increased activation in the striatum and vmPFC
risk-taking and reward sensitivity
when faced with a risky situation and a peer present the reward system is getting more actively used in adolescents
- during decision making in risky contexts there is a higher activation of the dlPFC in adults than in adolescents, regardless of the social context
- risk-taking behaviour in adolescence is related to increased ventral striatum activation in adolescents
- reward sensitivity of the adolescents brain (ventral striatum) in the social context, coupled with lower activation in the regulatory brain regions (iPFC) can explain risk-taking by adolescents in the presence of friends
pro-social behaviour
behaviour intended to benefit others.
As seen in week 3 this can be measured by the dictator game, the trial of van Hoorn also measures this.
the behavioural results were when being watched they got more prosocial, and when being evaluated a bit more. There was a significant age effect, the social context increased social behaviour.
higher activation in the TPJ results in more pro-social behaviour
evaluation by peers related to larger effects on behaviour and dmPFC and STS activation in younger adolescents
pro-social behaviour becomes increasingly more context sensitive.
age related increase in prosocial giving towards friends can be explained by increasing perspective-taking skills
social exclusion
when feeling lonely at a young age there is an increased risk at feeling depressed in your adolescents years.
they used the cyberball test to measure this.
In other studies they found that the dACC and the anterior insula are active during social exclusions, however newer studies didn’t support this. The IFG and vACC were related to enhanced feeling of stress.
braintime study
In the Braintime study they used reward experiment and measured the reward activity in the brain (nACC). They used the dictator game in which they could win money for their mother or best friend and an antagonist who played the game before them unfairly.
Outcome: when playing for self there is a higher activity in winning than losing, same counts for playing for your best friend but when playing for an antagonist there is a decrease in activity.
Did the same for playing with family and found higher activity when playing for family than for strangers.
somerville study
This study studied social evaluation by peers.
they did this through putting a camera in the scanner where peers could see you and are asked afterwards how they felt during.
Adolescents (peak 17) feel more self-conscious when observed by peers
The mPFC was more active when being self-conscious
guroglu study
This study did a sociometric study in a closed peer group (who do you (dis)like and who are your friends)
asked to imagine they were in the middle of their repitition and saw a picture of someone if they want to approach or go away or stay neutral. They used a control setting (celebrities).
Outcome: mentalizing network, affective network and cognitive network were all active when seeing peers
when looking at friends they saw an increase in the amygdala and hippocampus but also the nACC. Associated they found the vmPFC (emotion-regulation/reward)
van Hoorn Study
This study researched pro-social behaviour
peer group of 3 anonymous players:
- keep tokens for themselves
- or contribute to society and is dubbeled
Optimal results
group level: each person donates their tokens
individual: keeps all the tokens and their peers donate all their token
feedback conditions:
- spectators (no feedback)
- evaluation (prosocial feedback)
alone (no feedback)
outcome: when being watched more prosocial, when evaluated a bit more.
Significant age effect.
Mentalizing regions were lightened up.
higher activity in TPJ resulted in more pro-social behaviour
stoplight task
Chein study for risk-taking.
Participants were told to make it to a party and you’re in a hurry and with doing so you encounter a stoplight and you’re asked if you would run through a red light or not.
And then when they had a peer next to it.
outcome: no distinction between adolescents, ya and adults, however there was a higher risk-taking when being with peers for adolescents
iPFC was more activated in adolescents and activity in OFC and ventral striatum
so when faced with a risky situation and a peer present the reward system is getting more actively used in adolescents.
dictator game
researched the motivations to being prosocial
more on the giving and sharing side of the game:
- classmates
- friends
- disliked peers
- neutral peers
- unfamiliar peers
9 yo treat all groups the same, 12 yo too but don’t give more to disliked and unfamiliar. Increased up until 18
- increasing differentiation between interaction partners in prosocial behaviour
- increasingly prosociakl towards friends
hypothesized that this is because of increasing perspective-taking
