social cognition: mirror neuron system Flashcards
what were Rizzolatti et. al. studying before they made their discovery?
electrical activity in a monkey’s motor cortex
what happened to the monkey when one researcher reached for his lunch?
its motor cortex became activated in exactly the same way as it did when the animal itself reached for food
why do ‘mirror neurons’ have this name?
they mirror motor activity in another individual
what did Gallese + Goldman suggest that?
mirror neurons respond not just to observed actions but also to intentions behind behaviour
how may mirror neurons help us experience/understand others’ perspectives?
when they fire in response to others’ actions/intentions, this may give us a neural mechanism for experiencing others’ perspectives/emotional states
what can we interpret by simulating intention with our own motor responses?
others’ thoughts/feelings
what did Ramachandran suggest that?
mirror neurons are so important that they have shaped human evolution
what cognitive abilities are involved in our brain system + mirror neurons?
~ intention
~ emotion
~ perspective
what couldn’t we do without our cognitive abilities?
we would not be able to live in large groups with complex social roles + rules (humanity)
what theory did Ramachandran + Oberman propose?
broken mirror theory of autism
what is the broken mirror theory of autism?
the idea that neurological deficits (e.g. dysfunction in mirror neuron system) prevent a child from imitating/understanding social behaviour
true or false?:
autistic children typically mimic adult behaviour more than others
false - they mimic it less
what can problems with the mirror neuron system lead to?
challenges in social communication as children do not fully develop the usual abilities to read intention/emotion in others
what are 2 strengths of this research?
~ research support
~ explanation for autism
what is 1 limitation of this research?
mirror neurons are hard to research
what was Haker et. al.’s procedure?
they showed participants a film of people yawning, whilst scanning their brains
what did Haker et. al. find + conclude?
~ levels of activity in Brodmann’s 9 (an area thought to be rich in mirror neurons) increased when participants yawned in response to film
~ shows that mirror neurons may play an active role in empathy, as contagious yawning is thought to reflect this
why are mirror neurons hard to research?
fMRIs are used to measure human brain activity but these only measure general brain activity, not the individual neurons - therefore fMRIs aren’t specific enough
why can’t we rely on methods used in animal studies?
~ animal studies do not reliably reflect the human brain
~ methods are unethical
what have brain scans shown as an explanation for autism?
a smaller thickness of one area of the brain (thought to be rich in mirror neurons) in autistic people compared to neurotypical people
as a counterpoint to ‘explanation for autism’, what did a systematic review by Hamilton conclude that?
evidence from brain scans was highly inconsistent + results were hard to interpret
list 3 issues/debates involved in this research
~ biological reductionism
~ nature/nurture
~ social sensitivity
why may this research be seen as biologically reductionist?
it may oversimplify the relation between human behaviour + social cognition
why is this research socially sensitive?
individuals with autism may feel helpless to change their behaviour
what is the nature/nurture debate in this research?
nature = are mirror neurons an innate mechanism for empathy + imitation in social cognition?
nurture = could mirror neurons be shaped by learning through social interaction?
