NEUR Final Exam - self and social cognition

4 regions involved in self-referential processing

dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventromedial pre frontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, medial/lateral parietal cortex

regions involved in subjective feelings

orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, insula

Some psychologists attribute the risky behavior of adolescents to a mismatch between development of the prefrontal cortex and development of the limbic system. This is based on the fact that one of these two brain regions develops before the other. Which region develops first?

a. The prefrontal cortex

b. The limbic system

c. They develop at the same time

d. The cerebellum

The limbic system

3 multiple choice options

brain region(s) likely to be affected by adverse social events and chronic stress

pre frontal cortex and developing brain regions

perceptions of isolation are correlated with

higher morbidity and mortality, increased vascular resistance, higher blood pressure, fragmented sleep, sedentary lifestyles, decreased immunity, decreased impulse control

describe the case study of phineas gage

was in a railway work accident and sustained damage to his prefrontal cortex

personality changed from respectful to impulsive and reckless

disorders affecting social cognition

anti-social personality disorder, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder

antisocial personality disorder

aware of social norms but may disregard them, may lack empathy, low impulse control, increased aggression, may not care for the welfare for others

schizophrenia and autism

both heterogeneous disorders that lie on a spectrum

deficits in social perception (understanding cues)

difficulties understanding the mental state of others

autoscopic phenoma

person seems to be awake yet sees their body and the world from a location outside the body

Heautoscopic hallucination

see your own body and a view of the world from that location; left temporoparietal cortex

What area of the brain is most involved in body ownership?

a. mPFC

b. OFC

c. ACC

d. Temporoparietal cortex

temporoparietal cortex

3 multiple choice options

temporoparietal junction

involved in self processing and integrating multisensory body related info

xenomelia

rare condition in which able-bodied people experience life long desire for amputation because they feel a limb doesn't belong to their body

often limb on the left side and the right hemisphere is affected

no activation of right superior parietal lobe activation

superior parietal lobe

integration of somatosensory, visual and vestibular converge, critical for sensorimotor integration

self-reference effect

individuals are more likely to recall information if it is personally salient

brain region involved in self-reference effect

medial pre frontal cortex

brain region involved in maintaining positive self image

ventral anterior cingulate cortex

self descriptive personality and memory

self descriptive personality traits are not based on recent episodic memories

default mode network

network active at rest

related to self-referential processing

most active when inwardly focused

connected to memory system

deactivated during active tasks

brain regions in default mode network

prefrontal cortex, inferior parietal lobule, temporal parietal junction, lateral temporal cortex, precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, retrosplenial cortex

sentinel hypothesis

default mode network is a way to ensure we always have some idea of what is going on around us

When people engage in social cognition, their mPFC responses are often

a. Much stronger than when they are resting

b. Not very different from when they are resting

c. Much less activated than when they are resting

d. None of the above

Much stronger than when they are resting

3 multiple choice options

social geometry

knowing your connections to others and how others are connected to each other

Default mode network and social tasks

overlap between areas involved in default mode network and social cognition

specifically left angular gyrus, precuneus, and ventral anterior cingulate cortex

A woman (Nour) gave a vase to her friend (Elena) as a gift. Several years later Nour is visiting Elena and accidentally breaks the vase. Elena says "Don't worry about it, I got that vase as a gift and never liked it much anyway" What do you think is the most likely scenario?

a. Elena is trying to insult Nour's choice in vases

b. Elena is trying to make Nour feel better about breaking the vase

c. Elena no longer wants to be friends with Nour

d. Nour broke the vase intentionally

Elena is trying to make Nour feel better about breaking the vase

3 multiple choice options

brain region important for consideration of social rules and context

orbitofrontal cortex

ventromedial prefrontal cortex and decision making

important for value based decision and stimulus value

individuals with lesions have difficulties with changing/reversing stimulus value

Autoscopic Hallucination

not residing in your body; right parieto-occipital cortex and right temporo-occipital cortex

out of body hallucination

inhabiting another body (usually hovering above); right temporoparietal cortex

Which of the following areas is LEAST involved in social cognition?

a. inferior frontal gyrus

b. anterior cingulate gyrus

c. ventromedial prefrontal cortex

d. dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

3 multiple choice options

The self-referent effect refers to the phenomenon that

a. information processed in relation to the self is distorted in memory.

b. information processed in relation to the self is enhanced in memory.

c. social judgments about oneself tend to be biased

d. social judgments about oneself tend to be highly accurate

information processed in relation to the self is enhanced in memory.

3 multiple choice options

In what way might the self-referent effect and the depth-of-processing effect be related?

a. Information processed in relation to the self may benefit from the wealth of information about the self in memory

b. Information processed in relation to the self may be skewed by our biased representations of our own personalities and traits.

c. The self has elements that promote processing in a way that is distinct from other cognitive systems.

d. The self is a special cognitive structure with unique mnemonic or organizational elements.

Information processed in relation to the self may benefit from the wealth of information about the self in memory

3 multiple choice options

When deciding whether an adjective describes ________, we rely on ________.

a. others; memories of specific behaviors

b. ourselves; memories of specific behaviors

c. others; more global perceptions

d. ourselves AND others; memories of specific behaviors AND more global perceptions

others; memories of specific behaviors

3 multiple choice options

Which brain area seems to be the most important for selectively attending to positive self-relevant information, as opposed to negative self-relevant information?

a. the orbitofrontal cortex

b. the medial prefrontal cortex

c. the anterior cingulate cortex

d. the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

the anterior cingulate cortex

3 multiple choice options

A patient recently had a tumor near his temporoparietal junction (TPJ) removed. Since then, he has been experiencing occasional out-of-body experiences. Which of the following surgical ramifications might explain this?

a. disruption of activity in TPJ

b. disruption of white matter tracts emanating from TPJ

c. removal of a brain region that stimulates TPJ

d. removal of a brain region that inhibits TPJ activity

removal of a brain region that inhibits TPJ activity

3 multiple choice options

In a social faux pas experiment, participants are presented with a scenario in which one character accidentally says something impolite to another character. When people with orbitofrontal damage perform this task

a. they fail to understand that anything impolite has been said.

b. they begin to imitate the impolite comments, not realizing this is inappropriate

c. they believe that the impolite comment was intentional

d. they understand that something impolite has been said but that it wasn't intended

they believe that the impolite comment was intentional

Tasks involving thinking about mental states often engage which region of the brain, in comparison to thinking about social background or life events?

a. the right anterior cingulate

b. the left precentral gyrus

c. the right temporoparietal junction

d. the left inferior frontal lobe

the right temporoparietal junction

3 multiple choice options

Which of the following best supports the idea that the self is a distinct cognitive structure?

a. The medial prefrontal cortex is uniquely activated during self-judgments

b. self-relevant judgments activate multiple, diverse areas of the brain

c. People remember self-relevant adjectives better than adjectives for others

d. People are more confident in judgments about themselves than others

The medial prefrontal cortex is uniquely activated during self-judgments

3 multiple choice options

Damage to the medial prefrontal cortex would most likely impair which of the following?

a. Ability to perform mental math

b. Ability to judge whether traits describe oneself

c. Ability to identify basic emotions from facial expressions

d. Ability to recall detailed autobiographical memories

Ability to judge whether traits describe oneself

3 multiple choice options

Sub-circuitry that modulates social behavior and are thought to encode value and emotional effects.

mPFC-amygdala sub-circuitry