Encoding Of Social Information Research Articles

Second Person Pronouns as Person Deixis in Bengali and English: Linguistic Forms and Pragmatic Functions

Second person pronouns functioning as person deixis are found to be used in both Bengali and English language to express the role relationships as well as the interpersonal relationships involved between the participants in conversation. However, the expression of these relationships through the use of second person deixis varies significantly in the two languages as it necessarily involves both linguistic as well as social aspects. Being an Asian language, Bengali has a detailed and somewhat complex system of encoding the role relationship of the participants, their interrelationships, their social status, level of formality and politeness involved, and so on by the use of second person deixis. In contrast, English, a European language, exhibits relatively simple and straight forward ways of encoding the aforementioned issues of conversation. Based on the intuitive observation of the utterances of the two languages, the present study intends to make a comparative analysis of the use of second person deixis in Bengali and English with a view to exploring the extent to which the two languages differ linguistically and pragmatically in their encoding of social information with the use of such deictic expressions.

Neuronal Representation of Social Information in the Medial Amygdala of Awake Behaving Mice

The medial amygdala (MeA) plays a critical role in processing species- and sex-specific signals that trigger social and defensive behaviors. However, the principles by which this deep brain structure encodes social information is poorly understood. We used a miniature microscope to image the Ca2+ dynamics of large neural ensembles in awake behaving mice and tracked the responses of MeA neurons over several months. These recordings revealed spatially intermingled subsets of MeA neurons with distinct temporal dynamics. The encoding of social information in the MeA differed between males and females and relied on information from both individual cells and neuronal populations. By performing long-term Ca2+ imaging across different social contexts, we found that sexual experience triggers lasting and sex-specific changes in MeA activity, which, in males, involve signaling by oxytocin. These findings reveal basic principles underlying the brain's representation of social information and its modulation by intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

Social-cognitive processes in preschool boys with and without oppositional defiant disorder.

The social-cognitive characteristics of 88 preschool boys with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and 80 nondisruptive boys were assessed 3 times over a 2-year period. Three questions were addressed: (1) Do social-cognitive processes (encoding, attribution, problem solving, and response evaluation) distinguish clinic-referred preschool boys from peers without behavior problems? (2) What is the relation between preschoolers' social-cognitive processes and observed problem behavior? (3) Are the social-cognitive processes of clinic boys with ODD influenced by comorbidity with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)? Boys were presented hypothetical, peer-oriented social dilemmas to resolve. At all 3 assessments, clinic boys were twice as likely as were comparison group boys to generate aggressive solutions. Relative to comparison boys, clinic boys' encoding of social information was less accurate. The groups did not differ in their attributions or response evaluations. Verbal IQ and language skills were modestly correlated with problem solving and encoding. Within the clinic group, social-cognitive processes were not affected by ADHD comorbidity and they showed little relation to later diagnostic status or severity of behavior problems.

Stereotypes as Source-Monitoring Cues: On the Interaction Between Episodic and Semantic Memory

This research examined the use of stereotypic expectancies as source cues for biographical memories. Participants were more likely to misattribute stereotypical than counterstereotypical behaviors to a target person. However, this was true only when the original source of the behaviors was difficult to assess (there was source confusion) and recollective processes were impaired. Thus, when recollection of episodic details is disrupted, perceivers may still rely on semantic knowledge to interpret memories. These results demonstrate that stereotype use is efficient not only during the encoding of social information, but also during its retrieval. However, there are also significant costs associated with using stereotypes as source cues. Implications of these findings for social perception and eyewitness testimony are discussed.

Discriminative Facility in Social Competence: Conditional Versus Dispositional Encoding and Monitoring-Blunting of Information

Discriminative facility is conceptualized as an aspect of social intelligence and information processing that refers to sensitivity to subtle cues about the psychological meaning of the situation (e.g., about the expectations and motivations of the people in it and the scripts required). Two studies explored the relationship between discriminative facility and social competence, measured by the quality of social interaction. Study 1 assessed individual differences in discriminative facility in the encoding of social information, and Study 2 investigated the individual's discriminative use of a monitoring versus blunting coping strategy in dealing with different types of threatening situations that varied in the utility (instrumental value) of monitoring for threatening information. Discriminativeness both in encoding and in the use of monitoring-blunting strategies significantly predicted the quality of the individual's social interactions. The results supported the theoretical and heuristic utility of the construct of discriminative facility as an aspect of social competence and social intelligence.