Chapter 14: Social Cognition

Self Perception and Self Knowledge


Self-referent effect: enhanced memory for information in relation to the self. There are two hypotheses explaining that memory for self is much better.

• the self represents the depth  of processing effect, memory is better as information is processed more deeply.
• processing information about the self is distinct from all other cognitive structures.

we are able to maintain a sense of self even if we have amnesia. R.B. and K.C.s personality judgments are consistent with judgments provided by their family members. But how accurate are our perception of self? We tend to claim more positive traits than negative to describe ourselves. The ventral anterior cingulate cortex was associated with baking positive judgments,

Perception of Other People

Even 4 month old babies show gamma activity in the occipital channels and late gamma activity over the right prefrontal cortex in response to direct eye contact. Premack  and Woodruff came up with the theory of mind, which describes our ability to make inferences about the mental state of others. Our understanding of others starts at a young age. The MPFC and the temporopatietal junction (rTPJ) in the right hemisphere are implicated.

Convergence in the Perception of Self and Others

Simulation theory: theory of mind is based on the ability to put ourselves in the shoes of another person. Empathy is an important trait to have in order to do this. Empathy is purposely putting yourself in another person's shoes in order to understand their thoughts and feelings. Mirror neurons seem to be important for our ability to empathize with others.

Social Knowledge

Utilization behavior is the extreme dependency on prototypical responses for guiding behavior. Patients with damage to the lateral prefrontal lesions used objects in a prototypical manner. Patients with damage to the orbitofrontal would talk about inappropriate topics. Damasio came up with the somatic maker hypothesis, which states that emotional information in the form of physiological arousal is needed o guide decision making. The Iowa Gambling Task is an example of this phenomenon. In this task, there are two piles for the participants to pick from. Normal patients learn to pick from the pile that maximizes winnings, but those with orbitofrontal damage could not learn to do this.

Neuroeconomics

People should make rational decisions: maximize their rewards and minimize their losses. The insula seems to be involved with negative emotions.