Description
Book SynopsisThe field of social cognitive neuroscience has captured the attention of many researchers during the past ten years. Much of the impetus for this new field came from the development of functional neuroimaging methods that made it possible to unobtrusively measure brain activation over time. Using these methods over the last 30 years has allowed psychologists to move from simple validation questions -- would flashing stimuli activate the visual cortex -- to those about the functional specialization of brain regions-- are there regions in the inferior temporal cortex dedicated to face processing-- to questions that, just a decade ago, would have been considered to be intractable at such a level of analysis. These so-called intractable questions are the focus of the chapters in this book, which introduces social cognitive neuroscience research addressing questions of fundamental importance to social psychology: How do we understand and represent other people? How do we represent social gr
Trade ReviewTodorov, Fiske and Prentice have assembled the leading figures of the nascent field of social neuroscience in a volume that is rich with ideas and the data to support them. Using data from brain lesions, EEG, and fMRI, the authors consider how brain systems are organized to support social behavior. The text considers brain systems involved in issues such as racism and dehumanized perception, the distinction between thinking about the self and about others, self-regulation and the symbolic processing of affect, emotional decision making, the components of trustworthiness in face perception, and the fate of the soul. This book is very accessible and will appeal to a broad audience that includes scientists within related fields of psychology and neuroscience, but also non-experts who are interested in how social behavior is organized in the brain. --Gregory McCarthy, Professor of Psychology, Yale University "Social Neuroscience has revolutionized how people think about social behavior. In a collection of compelling rigorous essays, the leading experts lay out the foundations of this exciting new field. This is the cutting edge of science." --Shelley E. Taylor, Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles "Social Neuroscience provides an up-to-date survey of key themes and findings, focusing on cognitive neuroscience studies in humans. Contributions from many of the major players in the field cover topics ranging from face perception, to stereotyping and bias, to regulation, decision-making and moral judgment. Especially valuable are brief synthetic commentaries at the end of each section. The volume will be an accessible introduction for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students, and a valuable reference source for all investigating human social cognition. Importantly, the contributions all convey the excitement of the field and point to future studies, fuel for motivating the next generation of young scientists in social neuroscience." --Ralph Adolphs, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, California Institute of Technology "Social Neuroscience: Toward Understanding the Underpinnings of the Social Mind is an informative and valuable resource for a diverse audience and various professional fields- including social psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, medicine, political science, economics, and philosophy- as well as for laymen with an ardent interest in biophilosophical inquiry." -- Sigmund Hough, PhD, ABPP, Assistant Professor, Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School; Maggi Budd, PhD, MPH, ABPP, Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; PsychCRITIQUES
Table of ContentsIntroduction - A. Todorov, S. T. Fiske, and D. Prentice I. Understanding and representing other people 1. How has cognitive neuroscience contributed to social psychological theory? - Adrianna C. Jenkins & Jason P. Mitchell (Harvard University) 2. You, me, and my brain: Self and other representations in social cognitive neuroscience - Jamil Zaki and Kevin Ochsner (Columbia University) 3. Distributed processes for retrieval of person knowledge - M. Ida Gobbini (University of Bologna, Italy) 4. Evaluating faces on social dimensions - Alexander Todorov (Princeton University) 5. Commentary: Social neuroscience and the representation of others - James V. Haxby (Princeton University) II. Understanding and representing social groups 6. Perceiving social category information from faces: Using ERPs to study person perception - Tiffany A. Ito (University of Colorado, Boulder) 7. Multiple mechanisms for regulating of intergroup bias: Contributions from social neuroscience - David M. Amodio (New York University) 8. Perceiving humanity - Lasana T. Harris and Susan Fiske (Princeton University) 9. Commentary: Us versus them: The social neuroscience of perceiving outgroups - Nalini Ambady & Reginald Adams(Tufts University) III. Regulation of social behavior 10. Self-regulation and evaluative processing - Dominic J. Packer, Amanda Kesek (University of Toronto) & William A. Cunningham (The Ohio State University) 11. The neural basis of emotional decision-making - Jennifer S. Beer & Jamil P. Bhanji (University of California, Davis) 12. Social neuroscience of asymmetrical frontal cortical activity: Considering anger and approach motivation - Eddie Harmon-Jones & Cindy Harmon-Jones (Texas A&M University) 13. Why symbolic processing of affect can disrupt negative affect: Social cognitive and affective neuroscience investigations - Matthew D. Lieberman (University of California, Los Angeles) 14. Commentary: Emotion in social neuroscience - Liz Phelps (New York University) IV. Navigating social life 15. The social brain in interactive games - James Rilling (Emory University) 16. Social pain: Experiential, neurocognitive, and genetic correlates - Naomi I. Eisenberger (University of California, Los Angeles) 17. Could an aging brain contribute to subjective well-being?: The value added by a social neuroscience perspective - John T. Cacioppo, Gary G. Berntson, Antoine Bechara, Daniel Tranel, Hanna Damasio & Louise C. Hawkley 18. Social neuroscience and the soul's last stand - Joshua D. Greene (Harvard University) 19. Commentary: Building a social brain General commentary: Hanging with social neuroscientists - Marcia Johnson (Yale University) Index
