Module 12: The Social Mind

Social Cognition

The branch of social psychology that studies how people process, store, and apply information about other people and social situations.

Eusociality

A high level of social organization found in some animal species, characterized by cooperative brood care, overlapping generations within a colony, and a division of labor.

Wason Selection Task

A classic logic puzzle used to study reasoning and the confirmation bias, involving determining rule violation with four cards.

Social Contract Theory

The idea in evolutionary psychology that humans evolved cognitive mechanisms for reasoning about social contracts and detecting cheaters.

Cheater Detection Algorithm

A hypothesized cognitive mechanism that helps individuals detect those who violate social contracts by taking benefits without reciprocating.

Cooperation

Behavior where two or more individuals work together for mutual benefit, fundamental to social interaction.

Direct Reciprocity

A form of cooperation where individuals help others who have previously helped them, motivated by the expectation of future reciprocation.

Indirect Reciprocity

A form of cooperation where individuals help others based on observed behavior and reputation, motivated by future help from others in the social network.

Theory of Mind (ToM)

The ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others and to understand that these mental states can differ and predict behavior.

False Belief Task

An experimental paradigm to assess Theory of Mind in children, testing their understanding of others having different beliefs.

Cultural Intelligence Hypothesis

The theory that primate intelligence evolved primarily due to complex social environments and the need for cooperation and social navigation.

Distributed Cognition

The idea that cognitive processes are distributed across individuals, tools, artifacts, and the environment, involving interactions between these elements.