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Neuroscience of Social Psychology
Social psychology is all about learning how people are influence and are influenced by their physical and social environments, ones social behavior. Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system but according to psychologists, it is just the study of the brain. Psychologists use neuroscience techniques to understand the human behavior. How the brain can affect a persons behavior and intelligence. The use of neuroscience in social psychology is referred to as social neuroscience. The most important part of social neuroscience is to explain the brain mechanisms that advocate for social thoughts and behavior.
Electroencephalography
(ERP), is a method used by psychologists, provides information about some
social behaviors like knowing ones friends or some people in a group. It also
gives information about a person’s attitude and self-regulation (Baumister and Eli
581). Brain imaging methods are also used by tracking differences in the flow
of blood as it goes to stimulate brain regions. The methods follow the
circulation of the blood so that they know which regions are active for a given
task. First imaging method that was established was the positron emission tomography
(PET). It follows the brains metabolic activity by a PET scanner (Baumister and
Eli 582). Neuroimaging shows how some regions are responsible of giving social
information. For example, the medial prefrontal cortex is responsible for a
person’s judgment about people. The best example of neuroimaging is the study
of oneself. The brain could remember anything about oneself and forget
everything else. Even those found with amnesia remembered information about
oneself first. Neuroscience has helped psychologists prove that the brain is
the root of all actions and behaviors of a person to its social surroundings.
Work cited.
Baumeister, Roy F, and Eli J. Finkel. Advanced Social Psychology: The State of the Science. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.