social attention Flashcards
Flashcards
Card 1: Social Attention Definition
Q: What is social attention?
A: Attention guided by others’ focus, using cues like eye-gaze, head orientation, and body orientation to infer goals, intentions, and actions.
Card 2: Social Brain Hypothesis
Q: What is the “social brain” hypothesis proposed by Brothers (1990)?
A: The primate brain contains specialized circuits for social perception and action, emphasizing its role as a social brain
Card 1: Social Cues for Attention
Q: What are the three key social cues used to guide attention?
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A:
Eye-gaze – Indicates the direction of focus.
Head Orientation – Refines the direction of attention.
Body Orientation – Provides additional context for focus
Card 2: Inferences from Social Attention
Q: What three types of inferences can be made based on social attention cues?
A:
Goals – Understanding what someone is trying to achieve.
Intentions – Interpreting the reasons behind their focus.
Actions – Predicting behaviors based on their attention focus
Flashcards:
Card 1: Salience of the Human Eye
Q: Why is the human eye particularly salient in guiding attention?
A: Its unique features, like sclera contrast and directionality, make it highly effective for detecting gaze and inferring focus.
Card 2: Eye-Gaze and Social Attention
Q: How does eye-gaze contribute to social attention?
A: Eye-gaze serves as a nonverbal cue for sharing attention, predicting actions, and understanding social intentions.
Card 3: Evolutionary Role of Eye Salience
Q: What is the evolutionary significance of the human eye’s salience?
A: It enhances cooperative behavior and social bonding by enabling clear communication of attention and intentions
Card 1: Evolutionary Importance of Social Attention
Q: Why is social attention evolutionarily important?
A: It enhances survival by detecting threats and opportunities, and it supports group living through cooperation and cohesion.
Card 2: Developmental Role of Social Attention
Q: How does social attention support development?
A: It aids in learning (e.g., language), understanding others’ intentions, and developing Theory of Mind, as seen in gaze-following behavior.
Card 3: Social Networks and Brain Structure
Q: What brain regions are linked to social network size in Sallet et al.’s (2011) study?
A: Superior Temporal Sulcus (STS), amygdala, and dorsal/anterior prefrontal cortex.
Card 4: Social Brain Hypothesis
Q: What developmental behaviors support the social brain hypothesis?
A: Infants spend more time viewing eyes by 2 months and exhibit gaze-following behavior by 14-18 months.
Flashcards:
Card 1: Superior Temporal Sulcus (STS) Function
Q: What are the main functions of the STS in social cognition?
A: Perception of faces, human motion, understanding others’ actions and mental states (ToM), and language processing.
Card 2: Gaze Sensitivity and STS
Q: How does the STS contribute to gaze sensitivity?
A: Specialized cells in the STS detect small deviations in eye-gaze, crucial for understanding focus and intentions.
Card 3: STS and Prosopagnosia
Q: What STS-related impairment is observed in prosopagnosic patients?
A: Difficulty detecting small deviations in eye-gaze, affecting social perception.
Flashcards:
Card 1: Role of Gaze Direction in Social Attention
Q: How does gaze direction function as a cue in social attention?
A: Gaze direction indicates where an individual’s attention is focused, as people tend to look at what they are attending to.
Card 2: Social Understanding through Gaze
Q: How does attending to another person’s gaze facilitate social understanding?
A: It helps us infer what they are thinking, feeling, and intending, enhancing our social perception.
Card 1: Theory of Mind (ToM)
Q: What is Theory of Mind and how does it develop?
A: Theory of Mind is the ability to understand that others have beliefs, intentions, and desires different from one’s own. It develops in children, but is delayed in those with autism
Card 2: Social Brain Modules
Q: What are the key modules in the brain responsible for social understanding?
A:
Eye Direction Detector (EDD) – Detects eye gaze and attention.
Intentionality Detector (ID) – Recognizes goals and desires.
Shared Attention Module (SAM) – Tracks joint attention between self and others.
Card 4: Cognitive Mechanisms for Mindreading
Q: What are the three cognitive mechanisms for mindreading as described by Baron-Cohen?
A:
Eye Direction Detector (EDD): Detects where another person’s attention is focused.
Intentionality Detector (ID): Recognizes others’ goals and desires.
Shared Attention Module (SAM): Tracks joint attention, determining if two individuals are focused on the same object or event.
Card 5: Eye Direction Detector (EDD)
Q: What is the role of the Eye Direction Detector (EDD) in mindreading?
A: The EDD helps detect the direction of someone’s gaze, providing cues about what they are attending to and indicating their focus or intentions.
Card 6: Intentionality Detector (ID)
Q: What is the function of the Intentionality Detector (ID) in social cognition?
A: The ID helps in recognizing others’ goals and desires, enabling us to understand their intentions and actions based on what they want to achieve.
Card 7: Shared Attention Module (SAM)
Q: How does the Shared Attention Module (SAM) contribute to mindreading?
A: The SAM helps identify when two individuals are attending to the same event or object, facilitating joint attention and shared understanding.
Card 8: Mindreading Development in Children
Q: How does mindreading develop in children?
A: Mindreading develops as children grow, enabling them to attribute mental states to others. However, children with autism may experience delays in developing this ability.
Card 10: Social Implications of Mindreading
Q: Why is mindreading crucial for social interaction?
A: Mindreading allows individuals to predict others’ behaviors, understand intentions, and form meaningful social connections, which is essential for navigating social contexts.