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Xiao F, He FQ, Zhong YH, Deng J, Zhang C. Recursive structures modulate the electrophysiological correlates of visual perspective taking. Neuroreport 2023; 34:781-785. [PMID: 37695600 DOI: 10.1097/wnr.0000000000001954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/12/2023]
Abstract
An increasing number of studies have focused on the neural basis of complex mental inferences, which requires an understanding of the recursive nature of thought; however, the precise electrophysiological response to a recursive structure remains unclear. The present event-related potential (ERP) study investigated the recursive structure effect on the neural correlates of visual perspective taking by modifying a third-person visual perspective-taking task. Participants were required to determine how many dots in the presented scenes could be seen from the cued perspective, including the perspectives in the self, other, and recursive (one avatar's belief of another avatar) conditions. The ERP results showed that the N100 and P200 components specific to the recursive-perspective condition showed greater attentional allocation; the N200 component increased in the recursive condition and was related to the conflict process; and larger late slow waves were found in the other- and recursive-perspective conditions compared with those in the self-perspective condition, which reflected the decoupling mechanism. The results suggested that high-order perspective taking requires more attentional resources and conflict processing for further decoupling from the self-perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Xiao
- Department of Psychology, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang
- Department of Education Science, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan
| | - Feng-Qi He
- Department of Education Science, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan
| | - Yu-Huan Zhong
- Department of Education Science, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan
| | - Jie Deng
- Department of Education Science, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan
- Department of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Chao Zhang
- Department of Education Science, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan
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Wang Y, Siu CTS, Cheung H. P300 as a correlate of false beliefs and false statements. Brain Behav 2023; 13:e3021. [PMID: 37073522 PMCID: PMC10275538 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.3021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 04/20/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION This study investigates P300 as a component for false belief and false statement processing with and without a communicative context. The purpose is to understand why P300 has been shown to be commonly involved in false belief and lie processing. METHODS Participants were presented with a story in which the protagonist holds a true belief and makes a true statement of it (true belief), holds a false belief and makes a true statement (false belief), or holds a true belief and makes a false statement (false statement) while electroencephalograms were recorded. RESULTS In Experiment 1, featuring a solitary protagonist, stronger posterior P300 was shown in the false belief condition than the true belief and false statement condition. With the installation of a communicative context by including a second character listening to the protagonist, Experiment 2 showed enhanced frontal P300 in the false statement condition compared to the true belief and false belief condition. A late slow wave was more prominent in the false belief condition than in the other two conditions in Experiment 2. CONCLUSION The present results suggest a situation-dependent nature of P300. The signal captures the discrepancy between belief and reality more readily than that between belief and words under a noncommunicative context. It becomes more sensitive to the discrepancy between belief and words than that between belief and reality in a communicative situation with an audience, which makes any false statement practically a lie.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Wang
- Department of Behavioural and Social SciencesThe City University of Hong KongHong Kong SARChina
| | - Carrey Tik Sze Siu
- Department of Early Childhood EducationThe Education University of Hong KongHong Kong SARChina
| | - Him Cheung
- Department of Early Childhood EducationThe Education University of Hong KongHong Kong SARChina
- Department of PsychologyThe Education University of Hong KongHong Kong SARChina
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Libsack EJ, Trimber E, Hauschild KM, Hajcak G, McPartland JC, Lerner MD. An Electrocortical Measure Associated with Metarepresentation Mediates the Relationship between Autism Symptoms and Theory of Mind. Clin Psychol Sci 2022; 10:324-339. [PMID: 38736986 PMCID: PMC11086972 DOI: 10.1177/21677026211021975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/14/2024]
Abstract
Impairments in theory of mind (ToM) - long considered common among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) - are in fact highly heterogeneous across this population. While such heterogeneity should be reflected in differential recruitment of neural mechanisms during ToM reasoning, no research has yet uncovered a mechanism that explains these individual differences. In this study, 78 (48 ASD) adolescents viewed ToM vignettes and made mental state inferences about characters' behavior while participant electrophysiology was concurrently recorded. Two candidate event-related potentials (ERPs) - the Late Positive Complex (LPC) and the Late Slow Wave (LSW) - were successfully elicited. LPC scores correlated positively with ToM accuracy and negatively with ASD symptom severity. Notably, the LPC partially mediated the relationship between ASD symptoms and ToM accuracy, suggesting this ERP component, thought to represent cognitive metarepresentation, may help explain differences in ToM performance in some individuals with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin J. Libsack
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Elizabeth Trimber
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | | | - Greg Hajcak
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
| | | | - Matthew D. Lerner
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
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Tesar B, Deckert M, Schmoeger M, Willinger U. Electrophysiological Correlates of Basic and Higher Order Cognitive and Affective Theory of Mind Processing in Emerging and Early Adulthood—An Explorative Event-Related Potentials Study to Investigate First-, Second-, and Third-Order Theory of Mind Processing Based on Visual Cues. Front Hum Neurosci 2020; 14:79. [PMID: 32296316 PMCID: PMC7136561 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Attributing mental states to others in social interactions [Theory of Mind (ToM)] often depends on visual social cues like eye gaze or mimic. This study presents an event-related potentials task (Brainy-ERP) that was developed in order to investigate the electrophysiological correlates of first-, second-, and third-order cognitive and affective ToM processing. The task was based on social visual cues and involved electroencephalographic event-related potential (ERP) analyses and exact low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography analyses (eLORETA) source localization analyses. Results showed that in cognitive and affective conditions, first-order trials elicited greater Anterior P2 (180–370 ms) amplitudes. In the cognitive condition, third-order trials elicited greatest amplitudes in the broadly distributed early negative slow wave (eNSW, 260–470 ms) and the late NSW (LNSW, 460–1,000 ms). In the affective condition, third-order and second-order trials elicited greatest amplitudes in a broadly distributed NSW (250–1,000 ms). Regarding affective trials in the NSW time span, statistical significant differences and trends were shown regarding activation of underlying brain regions. Third-order trials elicited greatest activation in a number of regions typically associated with the ToM network, especially the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), cuneus, and temporoparietal junction (TPJ). Furthermore, ToM low performers (participants with high accuracy but longer reaction times) showed by trend smaller Posterior N1 and significantly smaller eNSW amplitudes compared to average and high performers. This study offers new insights into electrophysiological correlates of basic and higher order cognitive and affective ToM processing and its precise time course.
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Bradford EEF, Brunsdon VEA, Ferguson HJ. The neural basis of belief-attribution across the lifespan: False-belief reasoning and the N400 effect. Cortex 2020; 126:265-280. [PMID: 32092495 PMCID: PMC7181171 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Revised: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 01/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
The current study examined how social cognition – specifically, belief-state processing – changes across the lifespan, using a large sample (N = 309) of participants aged 10–86 years. Participants completed an event-related brain potential study in which they listened to stories involving a character who held either a true- or false-belief about the location of an object, and then acted in a manner consistent or inconsistent to this belief-state. Analysis of the N400 revealed that when the character held a true-belief, inconsistent outcomes led to a more negative-going N400 waveform than consistent outcomes. In contrast, when the character held a false-belief, consistent outcomes led to a more negative-going N400 waveform than inconsistent outcomes, indicating that participants interpreted the character's actions according to their own more complete knowledge of reality. Importantly, this egocentric bias was not modulated by age in an early time window (200–400 msec post-stimulus onset), meaning that initial processing is grounded in reality, irrespective of age. However, this egocentric effect was correlated with age in a later time window (400–600 msec post-stimulus onset), as older adults continued to consider the story events according to their own knowledge of reality, but younger participants had now switched to accommodate the character's perspective. In a final 600–1000 msec time window, this age modulation was no longer present. Interestingly, results suggested that this extended egocentric processing in older adults was not the result of domain-general cognitive declines, as no significant relationship was found with executive functioning (inhibitory control and working memory).
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Age of avatar modulates the altercentric bias in a visual perspective-taking task: ERP and behavioral evidence. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2019; 18:1298-1319. [PMID: 30242574 PMCID: PMC6244738 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-018-0641-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Despite being able to rapidly and accurately infer their own and other peoples’ visual perspectives, healthy adults experience difficulty ignoring the irrelevant perspective when the two perspectives are in conflict; they experience egocentric and altercentric interference. We examine for the first time how the age of an observed person (adult vs. child avatar) influences adults’ visual perspective-taking, particularly the degree to which they experience interference from their own or the other person’s perspective. Participants completed the avatar visual perspective-taking task, in which they verified the number of discs in a visual scene according to either their own or an on-screen avatar’s perspective (Experiments 1 and 2) or only from their own perspective (Experiment 3), where the two perspectives could be consistent or in conflict. Age of avatar was manipulated between (Experiment 1) or within (Experiments 2 and 3) participants, and interference was assessed using behavioral (Experiments 1–3) and ERP (Experiment 1) measures. Results revealed that altercentric interference is reduced or eliminated when a child avatar was present, suggesting that adults do not automatically compute a child avatar’s perspective. We attribute this pattern to either enhanced visual processing for own-age others or an inference on reduced mental awareness in younger children. The findings argue against a purely attentional basis for the altercentric effect, and instead support an account where both mentalising and directional processes modulate automatic visual perspective-taking, and perspective-taking effects are strongly influenced by experimental context.
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Tsalas NRH, Müller BCN, Meinhardt J, Proust J, Paulus M, Sodian B. An ERP study on metacognitive monitoring processes in children. Brain Res 2018; 1695:84-90. [PMID: 29852136 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2018.05.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2017] [Revised: 04/03/2018] [Accepted: 05/27/2018] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
Little is known about what exactly differentiates metacognitive processes from ordinary cognitive processes particularly early in development, and the underlying developmental aspects. To examine the time-course of metacognition, the present study investigated the neural underpinnings of judgments of learning (JoLs) and compared them with control judgments, using an event-related potentials (ERP) design. During ERP recording, children age seven to eight were presented with cue-target picture pairs and instructed to learn these pairs. After each pair, they either had to make a JoL (assess the likelihood of remembering the target when only presented with the cue) or a colour judgment (indicate whether the colour yellow had been present in one of the two pictures presented earlier). Results revealed a late slow wave divergence maximal pronounced from 550 ms to 950 ms post-stimulus that distinguished between JOLs and colour judgments. Over centro-parietal areas, JoLs showed a more negative going slow wave compared to the colour judgments, and this pattern was independent of performance. The results are in support of theories that assume a distinction between metacognitive and cognitive processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nike R H Tsalas
- Ludwig Maximilian University, Department for Psychology, Leopoldstrasse 13, 80802 München, Germany
| | - Barbara C N Müller
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Department of Communication & Media, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Jörg Meinhardt
- Ludwig Maximilian University, Department for Psychology, Leopoldstrasse 13, 80802 München, Germany
| | - Joëlle Proust
- Ecole Normale Supérieure, 29, rue d'Ulm, Pavillon Jardin, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Markus Paulus
- Ludwig Maximilian University, Department for Psychology, Leopoldstrasse 13, 80802 München, Germany
| | - Beate Sodian
- Ludwig Maximilian University, Department for Psychology, Leopoldstrasse 13, 80802 München, Germany
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Müller BCN, Tsalas NRH, van Schie HT, Meinhardt J, Proust J, Sodian B, Paulus M. Neural correlates of judgments of learning - An ERP study on metacognition. Brain Res 2016; 1652:170-177. [PMID: 27720854 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2016.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2016] [Revised: 08/28/2016] [Accepted: 10/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Metacognitive assessment of performance has been revealed to be one of the most powerful predictors of human learning success and academic achievement. Yet, little is known about the functional nature of cognitive processes supporting judgments of learning (JOLs). The present study investigated the neural underpinnings of JOLs, using event-related brain potentials. Participants were presented with picture pairs and instructed to learn these pairs. After each pair, participants received a task cue, which instructed them to make a JOL (the likelihood of remembering the target when only presented with the cue) or to make a control judgment. Results revealed that JOLs were accompanied by a positive slow wave over medial frontal areas and a bilateral negative slow wave over occipital areas between 350ms and 700ms following the task cue. The results are discussed with respect to recent accounts on the neural correlates of judgments of learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara C N Müller
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Department for Social and Cultural Psychology, PO Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Nike R H Tsalas
- Ludwig Maximilian University, Department for Psychology, Leopoldstrasse 13, 80802 München, Germany
| | - Hein T van Schie
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Department for Social and Cultural Psychology, PO Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Jörg Meinhardt
- Ludwig Maximilian University, Department for Psychology, Leopoldstrasse 13, 80802 München, Germany
| | - Joëlle Proust
- Ecole Normale Supérieure, 29, Rue d'Ulm, Paviollon Jardin, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Beate Sodian
- Ludwig Maximilian University, Department for Psychology, Leopoldstrasse 13, 80802 München, Germany
| | - Markus Paulus
- Ludwig Maximilian University, Department for Psychology, Leopoldstrasse 13, 80802 München, Germany
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Jiang Q, Wang Q, Li P, Li H. The Neural Correlates Underlying Belief Reasoning for Self and for Others: Evidence from ERPs. Front Psychol 2016; 7:1501. [PMID: 27757093 PMCID: PMC5047900 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2016] [Accepted: 09/20/2016] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Belief reasoning is typical mental state reasoning in theory of mind (ToM). Although previous studies have explored the neural bases of belief reasoning, the neural correlates of belief reasoning for self and for others are rarely addressed. The decoupling mechanism of distinguishing the mental state of others from one’s own is essential for ToM processing. To address the electrophysiological bases underlying the decoupling mechanism, the present event-related potential study compared the time course of neural activities associated with belief reasoning for self and for others when the belief belonging to self was consistent or inconsistent with others. Results showed that during a 450–600 ms period, belief reasoning for self elicited a larger late positive component (LPC) than for others when beliefs were inconsistent with each other. The LPC divergence is assumed to reflect the categorization of agencies in ToM processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qin Jiang
- School of Education, Guangxi University, NanningChina; Institute of Education Sciences, Chengdu University, ChengduChina
| | - Qi Wang
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou China
| | - Peng Li
- College of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen China
| | - Hong Li
- Institute of Education Sciences, Chengdu University, ChengduChina; College of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, ShenzhenChina
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Kühn-Popp N, Kristen S, Paulus M, Meinhardt J, Sodian B. Left hemisphere EEG coherence in infancy predicts infant declarative pointing and preschool epistemic language. Soc Neurosci 2015; 11:49-59. [DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2015.1024887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Ferguson HJ, Cane JE, Douchkov M, Wright D. Empathy predicts false belief reasoning ability: evidence from the N400. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2014; 10:848-55. [PMID: 25326041 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsu131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2014] [Accepted: 10/14/2014] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Interpreting others' actions relies on an understanding of their current mental state. Emerging research has begun to identify a number of factors that give rise to individual differences in this ability. We report an event-related brain potential study where participants (N = 28) read contexts that described a character having a true belief (TB) or false belief (FB) about an object's location. A second sentence described where that character would look for the object. Critically, this sentence included a sentence-final noun that was either consistent or inconsistent with the character's belief. Participants also completed the Empathy Quotient questionnaire. Analysis of the N400 revealed that when the character held a TB about the object's location, the N400 waveform was more negative-going for belief inconsistent vs belief consistent critical words. However, when the character held an FB about the object's location the opposite pattern was found. Intriguingly, correlations between the N400 inconsistency effect and individuals' empathy scores showed a significant correlation for FB but not TB. This suggests that people who are high in empathy can successfully interpret events according to the character's FB, while low empathizers bias their interpretation of events to their own egocentric view.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - James E Cane
- School of Psychology, Keynes College, University of Kent, Kent, UK
| | | | - Daniel Wright
- School of Psychology, Keynes College, University of Kent, Kent, UK
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