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EVENT-RELATED BRAIN POTENTIALS AND SOCIAL COGNITION: ON USING PHYSIOLOGICAL INFORMATION TO CONSTRAIN SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORIES
Journal article   Peer reviewed

EVENT-RELATED BRAIN POTENTIALS AND SOCIAL COGNITION: ON USING PHYSIOLOGICAL INFORMATION TO CONSTRAIN SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORIES

Bruce D. Bartholow
Social cognition, Vol.28(6), pp.723-747
12/01/2010
DOI: 10.1521/soco.2010.28.6.723

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Abstract

Recent years have witnessed a surge of interest in using various psychophysiological methods to study a wide range of social psychological phenomena. This article reviews research in which a particular psychophysiological measure-the event-related brain potential (ERP)-has been used to augment traditional behavioral measures of social cognition, thereby providing more comprehensive assessment of underlying brain processes that give rise to observed behavioral effects. More specifically, the aim of this article is to outline a particular approach to using ERPs in social cognition aimed at using information derived from neurocognitive responses to limit the theoretical mechanisms that can be said to account for overt behaviors. In other words, as with all physiological measures, the ERP technique should be used in social cognition as a tool for understanding the psychological mechanisms driving behavioral outcomes, not as an end unto itself.
Psychology Psychology, Social Social Sciences

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