Social Cognition

Question 1

Social Brain Hypothesis

Answer 1

Our brains evolved to be large in order to support the social cognition needed for successful group living

As group size increases, so does the number of relationships, which increases cognitive demand

Requires expanded social skills, like cooperation

Question 2

Social group size and (neo)cortex size

Answer 2

They correlate
As group size increases, so does the number of relationships, which increases cognitive demand

Question 3

Cooperation requires:

Answer 3

Communication

Memory of past encounters

Conflict resolution

Question 4

Social influence

Answer 4

Includes:
- How our individual are shaped by other’s opinions
- How we understand and abide by unwritten rule of etiquette that govern social behaviour

Question 5

Conformity

Answer 5

Tendency to shift opinions/ beliefs/ actions so they are in agreement with others

Why?
1. Informational conformity: in uncertain situations, we rely on the opinions of others as a source of information
2. Normative conformity: people may conform to be liked by others

Question 6

Conformity in fMRI results

Answer 6

Rostral cingulate zone activity increases when participants received feedback that their rating differed from group ratings (a “conflict”)

Nucleus Accumbens activity increases when the opposite feedback is recieved (a “reward”)

Question 7

Social norms vs. socially inappropriate behaviour

Answer 7

Social norms: written and unwritten rules that govern social behaviour

Socially inappropriate behaviour violates this

Question 8

Socially inappropriate behaviour is associated with:

Answer 8

> Traumatic brain injury
some forms of dementia (like frontotemporal dementia)
People with autism who can have difficulty understanding these social norms

Question 9

Ultimatum game

Question 10

The brain and social norm compliance

Answer 10

– Anterior insula
– anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
– Orbitofrontal cortex
_____
The frontal lobes, including OFC, DLPFC, and ACC, are critically involved.

These regions are essential for cognitive control and decision making (executive functions) which are necessary for social norm compliance.

Consistent with the social brain hypothesis: the frontal cortex expanded over evolutionary time to support social cognition.

Question 11

Anterior insula and social norm compliance

Answer 11

Activity increases when the receiver receives something unfair (ultimatum game)

Question 12

anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and social norms

Answer 12

Activity is higher in receivers when they receive an unfair offer (ultimatum game)

Question 13

OFC and Social Norm Compliance

Answer 13

Damage is most strongly associated with alterations in social behaviour and judgment
»> Lateral OFC is important in integrating emotional cues with decision making.

Question 14

Simulation theory (understanding thoughts and feelings)

Answer 14

We understand other’s mental states through simulation, mimicry, or acting through them

Imitation: can contribute to social cohesion, people are more likely to mimic friends, and likeable people

Neural mechanisms likely depend on mirror neurons

Direct eye contact increaes tendency to mimic

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 movements.

Question 15

Theory of mind

Answer 15

The capacity to cognitively represent another’s mental states and understand they may differ from one’s own

Assessed with false belief task: temporoparietal junction and medial prefrontal cortex

Question 16

Mentalizing (theory of mind)

Answer 16

The ability to understand the mental state – of oneself or others – that underlies overt behaviour
Related regions:
— Inferior frontal cortex
— Temporopatietal Junction
— Medial frontal cortex

Question 17

Empathy

Answer 17

3 major components:
1. Emotional contagion: feel what others feel
2. Cognitive-perspective taking (mentalizing)
3. Pro-social action: targeted to help another in need

Question 18

Empathy, Mentalizing, Mirroring

Answer 18

Those with higher empathic accuracy show greater brain activity in area associated w/ mirroring and mentalizing

Question 19

Self vs. other/ self-empathy

Answer 19

We also make mental-state attributions about ourselves
E.g., reflecting upon our own goals, intentions, feelings, beliefs, etc.
Mentalizing about oneself activates similar regions as when we mentalize about others, suggesting a common basis for mental-state attribution
Greater social closeness is associated with greater self–other overlap in neural activity

Question 20

Autism and Social cognition

Answer 20

Mentalizing affected

Less brain activity when trying to understand other’s mental states, do not activate the common neurotypical brain areas (mPFC and TPJ)
_______
Broken mirror theory: mirror neuron system may not be operating normally in autism

(Mirror neuron deficits seem to be limited to the imitation of facial expressions or other emotional gestures, less evidence that nonemotional actions (such as imitative hand movements) are affected)
___
Social deficits may originate from difficulty perceiving and recognizing expressions in others
— less activation of FFA and related regions

Less fixation of gaze on eye region
— overlooks social cue of gaze direction, which helps in understanding what ppl are attending to/ thinking about

Question 21

Autism and Empathy

Answer 21

Both neural mirroring and mentalizing contribute to empathy

Struggle with cognitive empathy
Cognitive inferences required to represent the feeling states of others or to choose appropriate behavioral responses (cognitive perspective-taking)
Still experience emotional empathy
Feeling what others feel (emotional contagion)

When viewing pictures of people in pain, brain regions involved in vicarious experience of pain are activated
Display affective sharing: When viewing videos of people telling emotional stories, self-reported feelings matched what they believed the storyteller was feeling

Question 22

Perception and Judgement of Social groups

Answer 22

The brain rapidly distinguishes btwn in-group + out-group

ERP methodology is well-suited to determine the speed of categorizing stimuli
—ERP response larger in response to faces of in-group members than out-group members
—Brain imaging shows increased activity in amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, and fusiform gyrus in response to in-group members than out-group members

Question 23

Stereotyping

Answer 23

Tendency to assume that certain characteristics are universally true of group members

mPFC and temporoparietal junction involved (mentalizing)

Activation of a stereotype can lead to underperformance played by the member of a stereotyped group (“stereotype threat”)

Beliefs about a group difference can affect actual cognitive performance

Question 24

Prejudice

Answer 24

Negative attitude about a particular social group
mPFC and temporoparietal junction involved (mentalizing)

Question 25

Discrimination

Answer 25

Behaviour that is biased against a particular social group
mPFC and temporoparietal junction involved (mentalizing)

Question 26

Racial Bias and the brain

Answer 26

Unconscious racial bias is correlated with amygdala activity
— faster fear conditioning towards other-race

anterior cingulate and DLPFC are implicated in cognitive control
— May be activated when participants attempt to control racial biases
— Better executive function performance associated with less implicit racial bias