Week 10 Flashcards
How is identity personal?
Identity is related to one’s personality, experiences, autobiographical memory, and self-appraisals.
How is identity social?
Identity involves defining relationships with others, political orientation, group memberships, and social cohesion.
What is social cohesion in identity?
It’s finding people who are similar to us, creating in-group cohesion and sometimes out-group tension.
What is self-concept?
Self-concept is answering “Who am I?” and requires distinguishing between self and others.
What is the rouge test?
A self-recognition test where infants recognize themselves in a mirror, typically by 21-24 months.
How does self-recognition in infants develop?
Infants recognize themselves by linking “me” with the mirror reflection, a sign of self-concept.
What is pretend play and how is it related to self-concept?
Pretend play, such as playing school or family, shows developing self-concepts in young children.
How does self-concept evolve with age in early childhood?
From 3-4 years, children describe themselves concretely; by 5-6 years, they predict behaviors based on traits.
What self-concept abilities emerge in children aged 7-9?
Children use traits and social comparisons in self-evaluation.
How do teens develop self-concept?
Reflective self-appraisals (others’ views) begin to influence direct self-appraisals (self-view).
How does the brain represent the self?
Self-representation abilities are associated with brain maturation, especially in areas like the TPJ and mPFC.
What did Lewis and Carmody (2008) study about self-representation?
They found TPJ maturity was linked with self-representation abilities in infants, using personal pronoun use and pretend play as indicators.
What brain areas are active when adults think about themselves?
The mPFC and other cortical midline structures are involved in self-reflection.
What does “rostral” refer to?
The anterior (front) aspect of the head.
What does “caudal” refer to?
The posterior (back) aspect of the head.
Which brain areas are involved in distinguishing self from others?
mPFC, PCC and TPJ
Which brain areas respond preferentially to self or close others?
mPFC
What brain region is linked to recalling autobiographical memories?
PCC
How is self-identity typically viewed in individualistic cultures like the U.S.?
As independent, with clear distinctions between self and others.
How does brain activation differ when Americans think about themselves vs their mom?
Thinking about oneself shows higher activation in self-referential regions while thinking about others activates separate networks.
How is self-identity viewed in collectivistic cultures like China?
As interdependent, closely tied to relationships and group memberships.
How does brain activation differ when thinking about self vs mom in collectivistic cultures?
Similar levels of neural activation, reflecting integrated self and close-other representations
Why is identity more fragile in childhood?
Children need to construct their identity using more neural resources actively.
Which brain regions are activated by both social rejection and physical pain?
ACC and insula
What is an ingroup?
A group we identify with and have a positive preference for.
What does the IAT measure?
Implicit (unconscious) biases and automatic associations between concepts.
How is prejudice measured indirectly?
Using the IAT, EMG for smiles/frowns, and analyzing reaction times.
How does the amygdala respond to outgroup faces?
Higher activation to outgroup faces often correlates with implicit biases
How do famous faces affect the amygdala response?
Familiar faces do not trigger the same heightened activation for outgroup members.
