Representation Of Social Information Research Articles

Social Information Signaling by Neurons in Primate Striatum

Social decisions depend on reliable information about others. Consequently, social primates are motivated to acquire information about the identity, social status, and reproductive quality of others. Neurophysiological and neuroimaging studies implicate the striatum in the motivational control of behavior. Neuroimaging studies specifically implicate the ventromedial striatum in signaling motivational aspects of social interaction. Despite this evidence, precisely how striatal neurons encode social information remains unknown. Therefore, we probed the activity of single striatal neurons in monkeys choosing between visual social information at the potential expense of fluid reward. We show for the first time that a population of neurons located primarily in medial striatum selectively signals social information. Surprisingly, representation of social information was unrelated to simultaneously expressed social preferences. A largely nonoverlapping population of neurons that was not restricted to the medial striatum signaled information about fluid reward. Our findings demonstrate that information about social context and nutritive reward are maintained largely independently in striatum, even when both influence decisions to execute a single action.

Dynamic Interracial/Intercultural Processes: The Role of Lay Theories of Race

This paper explores how the lay theory approach provides a framework beyond previous stereotype/prejudice research to understand dynamic personality processes in interracial/ethnic contexts. The authors conceptualize theory of race within the Cognitive-Affective Personality System (CAPS), in which lay people's beliefs regarding the essential nature of race sets up a mind-set through which individuals construe and interpret their social experiences. The research findings illustrate that endorsement of the essentialist theory (i.e., that race reflects deep-seated, inalterable essence and is indicative of traits and ability) versus the social constructionist theory (i.e., that race is socially constructed, malleable, and arbitrary) are associated with different encoding and representation of social information, which in turn affect feelings, motivation, and competence in navigating between racial and cultural boundaries. These findings shed light on dynamic interracial/intercultural processes. Relations of this approach to CAPS are discussed.

Repeated testing: A technique for assessing the roles of elaborative and organizational processing in the representation of social knowledge.

A new technique for evaluating the roles of elaborative and organizational processing in the representation of social information is described. Although these concepts have found increasing application in theories of social knowledge, most investigations of elaboration and organization have relied on measures that can lead to interpretive ambiguities. Two studies show how analysis of the item-gain and item-loss components of multitrial free recall provides a means for assessing the contributions of elaborative and organizational processing while avoiding many of the problems found with existing measures

Deficits in social schemata in schizophrenia

Several recent studies have examined the manner in which social information is processed in an attempt to better understand the interpersonal functioning deficits of schizophrenia. In this study, the manner in which schizophrenic subjects represent social information, and the relationships between these social representations and measures of information processing, are examined. Specifically, 30 DSM-IIIR patients with schizophrenia and 15 normal controls were assessed on measures of social schema processing, information processing, and symptomalogy. Results showed that schizophrenic patients earned significantly lower schema processing scores than the normal comparison group. Schema deficits of the schizophrenia group were significantly associated with recall memory and vigilance. These findings suggest that deficits in the representation of social information provides a unique perspective for understanding the interpersonal dysfunctions of schizophrenia.