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      1 What is a galvanic skin response?

      2 What are the advantages of fMRI?

      3 Why is it important to use multiple methods for studying the brain?

      Social Neuroscience And The Fundamental Questions

      By now the importance of the studying the brain for understanding social behavior should be clear. As appealing and important as social neuroscience is, one can, however, be easily seduced by the ahhh! factor and captivated by the beauty and power of these powerful technologies (Satel & Lilienfeld, 2013). In fact, we may even be tempted to reduce social behavior to its brain biology and point to a particularly vivid region on a multicolored, three-dimensional brain image and claim there it is, the root of prejudice (or some other social behavior)! However, the brain processes that occur during social behavior are just one component of a much larger social psychological explanatory framework with multiple levels of analysis. In other words, we cannot even come close to an adequate understanding of social behavior if we engage in such reductivism—which is the assumption that we need only study the brain to understand the causes of social behavior. Many prominent social neuroscientists have argued instead the importance of examining social behavior from multiple perspectives (Decety & Cacioppo, 2011; Lieberman, 2010). The unique contributions of social neuroscience to our understanding of specific social behaviors are important, but they are only part of the story. Indeed, social neuroscience, in addition to deepening our understanding of social behaviors, is highly relevant to the six fundamental questions of human existence.

      Free Will

      Research in social neuroscience is probably most relevant for the question of free will. In fact, a number of prominent research programs have challenged the notion that humans are in conscious control of our mental and behavioral processes (Baer, Kaufman, & Baumeister, 2008; Gazzaniga, 2011). If scientists can pinpoint the biology of nonconscious processes, and if these processes can predict social behavior without needing to factor in the conscious mind, then does it make any sense for us to talk about free will (Bargh, 2008; Baumeister, 2008)? For many social psychologists, the answer is yes: Even if we do not actually have free will, both the experience of free will and the reasons people believe in it are important for understanding social behavior (Baumeister, 2008). For example, a person who believes that he has the free will to shape his future is more likely to persist in the face of failure than is someone who thinks that he is powerless and that his fate has already been decided (Dweck, 1999).

      Applying Social Neuroscience to Law

      Can fMRI Detect Lies?

      As you’ll see in the remainder of this text, social neuroscience has wide applications in social psychology and beyond. Recently, researchers have been studying whether or not fMRI can be used in law enforcement and the courts, specifically to detect deception in suspects and witnesses (Langleben & Moriarty, 2013). Given the challenges people face in detecting lies on their own (which are discussed in Chapter 5), law enforcement has sought a foolproof, technological solution. How might an fMRI identify lies? Briefly, it has been proposed that there are discernable differences in brain processes when people tell the truth versus when they do not (Bizzi et al., 2009). The short answer is that neuroscientists largely agree, at least at this time, the fMRI is unable to identify such differences (Bizzi et al., 2009; Ganis, Kosslyn, Stose, Thompson, & Yurgelun-Todd, 2003; Langleben & Moriarty, 2013). Some of the criticisms include the following:

       Different types of lies may show different brain activation patterns, and therefore no single brain “signature” for deception exists.

       Existing research has involved only very small samples.

       Lying in a laboratory setting is artificial and not reflective of real-world conditions, and consequently, generalizability to non-experimental situations is low.

       In addition to the scientific concerns, questions have been raised regarding the ethics of using an fMRI for lie detection: Would it violate the Fifth Amendment prohibition of forced self-incriminating testimony? Would it violate the Fourth Amendment protection from warrantless search?

      Figure 2.9 fMRI as a Lie Detector

      Source: Barry Blitt, The New Yorker (July 2, 2007).

      Reductivism: Idea that we need only study the brain to fully understand the causes of social behavior

      Independence

      As of this writing, social neuroscience has not really focused on the physiological bases of independent versus conformist or obedient behavior (but see Berns et al., 2005). As more research is conducted and we learn about the direct effects that outside pressures (e.g., from peers or authorities) can have on our biological states, our understanding of independent versus conformist responding will surely deepen.

      Rationality

      The explosion of social neuroscience has provided ample empirical evidence of the ways that emotion and motivation impact so-called rational thinking. We will devote more time to the emotion-reason connection in Chapter 3 on social cognition.

      Self

      Social neuroscientific research, by demonstrating patterns of brain activation when we think about the self or engage in behaviors that are closely tied to our sense of self, can lead to improved understanding. Moreover, such research shows the fallacy of Cartesian dualism—thinking that the mind is separate from the body. However, a critical aspect of the self is our experience of the self, and it seems to me that, as I suggested with regard to the experience of free will, social neuroscience will likely have less to say about this.

      Sociality

      The human need for sociality is fundamental to our emotional and physical health and, of course, essential for the propagation of our species. Social neuroscience has already provided substantial research supporting the biological underpinnings of our mental health, and it is worth noting that one of our most prominent social neuroscientists, John Cacioppo, is also one of our leading researchers in the psychology of affiliation and loneliness (Cacioppo & Patrick, 2008). Among the many insights that this body of research has provided is the way in which brain activation associated with the pain of social rejection resembles that related to physical pain (see Chapter 9).

      Morality

      One of the core components of moral behavior is the extent to which we help or harm others. Empathic feelings play a key role in decisions to help others. As mentioned earlier, social neuroscience has shown how the mirror neuron system is central to empathy and has opened up an entirely new way of thinking about altruistic behavior (Decety & Ickes, 2009). The neural basis for empathy and altruism will be discussed at greater length in Chapter 8.

      Think Again!

      1 What is reductivism?

      2 How might social neuroscience illuminate the free will debate?

      Final Thoughts: Evolution, Brain Plasticity, and Culture

      One of the threads woven throughout this text is the evolutionary basis of social behavior. According to evolutionary theory, universal social behavior either is or must have been adaptive; otherwise, it would likely have been

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