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Robertson CE, Del Rosario KS, Van Bavel JJ. Inside the funhouse mirror factory: How social media distorts perceptions of norms. Curr Opin Psychol 2024; 60:101918. [PMID: 39369456 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2024.101918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2024] [Revised: 08/26/2024] [Accepted: 09/20/2024] [Indexed: 10/08/2024]
Abstract
The current paper explains how modern technology interacts with human psychology to create a funhouse mirror version of social norms. We argue that norms generated on social media often tend to be more extreme than offline norms which can create false perceptions of norms-known as pluralistic ignorance. We integrate research from political science, psychology, and cognitive science to explain how online environments become saturated with false norms, who is misrepresented online, what happens when online norms deviate from offline norms, where people are affected online, and why expressions are more extreme online. We provide a framework for understanding and correcting for the distortions in our perceptions of social norms that are created by social media platforms. We argue the funhouse mirror nature of social media can be pernicious for individuals and society by increasing pluralistic ignorance and false polarization.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jay J Van Bavel
- Department of Psychology Center for Neural Science, New York University, Norwegian School of Economics, USA.
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2
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Yang Z, Wu Y, Liu S, Zhao L, Fan C, He W. Ensemble Coding of Crowd with Cross-Category Facial Expressions. Behav Sci (Basel) 2024; 14:508. [PMID: 38920840 PMCID: PMC11201231 DOI: 10.3390/bs14060508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2024] [Revised: 05/26/2024] [Accepted: 06/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Ensemble coding allows observers to form an average to represent a set of elements. However, it is unclear whether observers can extract an average from a cross-category set. Previous investigations on this issue using low-level stimuli yielded contradictory results. The current study addressed this issue by presenting high-level stimuli (i.e., a crowd of facial expressions) simultaneously (Experiment 1) or sequentially (Experiment 2), and asked participants to complete a member judgment task. The results showed that participants could extract average information from a group of cross-category facial expressions with a short perceptual distance. These findings demonstrate cross-category ensemble coding of high-level stimuli, contributing to the understanding of ensemble coding and providing inspiration for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhi Yang
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China; (Z.Y.); (Y.W.); (S.L.); (L.Z.); (W.H.)
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Dalian 116029, China
| | - Yifan Wu
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China; (Z.Y.); (Y.W.); (S.L.); (L.Z.); (W.H.)
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Dalian 116029, China
| | - Shuaicheng Liu
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China; (Z.Y.); (Y.W.); (S.L.); (L.Z.); (W.H.)
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Dalian 116029, China
| | - Lili Zhao
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China; (Z.Y.); (Y.W.); (S.L.); (L.Z.); (W.H.)
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Dalian 116029, China
| | - Cong Fan
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China; (Z.Y.); (Y.W.); (S.L.); (L.Z.); (W.H.)
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Dalian 116029, China
| | - Weiqi He
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China; (Z.Y.); (Y.W.); (S.L.); (L.Z.); (W.H.)
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Dalian 116029, China
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Tan H, Zeng X, Ni J, Liang K, Xu C, Zhang Y, Wang J, Li Z, Yang J, Han C, Gao Y, Yu X, Han S, Meng F, Ma Y. Intracranial EEG signals disentangle multi-areal neural dynamics of vicarious pain perception. Nat Commun 2024; 15:5203. [PMID: 38890380 PMCID: PMC11189531 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49541-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Empathy enables understanding and sharing of others' feelings. Human neuroimaging studies have identified critical brain regions supporting empathy for pain, including the anterior insula (AI), anterior cingulate (ACC), amygdala, and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). However, to date, the precise spatio-temporal profiles of empathic neural responses and inter-regional communications remain elusive. Here, using intracranial electroencephalography, we investigated electrophysiological signatures of vicarious pain perception. Others' pain perception induced early increases in high-gamma activity in IFG, beta power increases in ACC, but decreased beta power in AI and amygdala. Vicarious pain perception also altered the beta-band-coordinated coupling between ACC, AI, and amygdala, as well as increased modulation of IFG high-gamma amplitudes by beta phases of amygdala/AI/ACC. We identified a necessary combination of neural features for decoding vicarious pain perception. These spatio-temporally specific regional activities and inter-regional interactions within the empathy network suggest a neurodynamic model of human pain empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huixin Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaoyu Zeng
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Jun Ni
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Kun Liang
- Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Cuiping Xu
- Department of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Yanyang Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Jiaxin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Zizhou Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Jiaxin Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Chunlei Han
- Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Yuan Gao
- Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Xinguang Yu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Fangang Meng
- Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
- Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China.
| | - Yina Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
- Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China.
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4
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Robertson CE, Shariff A, Van Bavel JJ. Morality in the anthropocene: The perversion of compassion and punishment in the online world. PNAS NEXUS 2024; 3:pgae193. [PMID: 38864008 PMCID: PMC11165651 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024]
Abstract
Although much of human morality evolved in an environment of small group living, almost 6 billion people use the internet in the modern era. We argue that the technological transformation has created an entirely new ecosystem that is often mismatched with our evolved adaptations for social living. We discuss how evolved responses to moral transgressions, such as compassion for victims of transgressions and punishment of transgressors, are disrupted by two main features of the online context. First, the scale of the internet exposes us to an unnaturally large quantity of extreme moral content, causing compassion fatigue and increasing public shaming. Second, the physical and psychological distance between moral actors online can lead to ineffective collective action and virtue signaling. We discuss practical implications of these mismatches and suggest directions for future research on morality in the internet era.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Azim Shariff
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Jay J Van Bavel
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
- Department of Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
- Department of Strategy & Management, Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen 5045, Norway
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Goldenberg A. What Makes Groups Emotional? PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2024; 19:489-502. [PMID: 37493141 DOI: 10.1177/17456916231179154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/27/2023]
Abstract
When people experience emotions in a group, their emotions tend to have stronger intensity and to last longer. Why is that? This question has occupied thinkers throughout history, and with the use of digital media it is even more pressing today. Historically, attention has mainly focused on processes driven by the way emotions are shared between people via emotional interactions. Although interactions are a major driver of group emotionality, I review empirical findings that suggest that understanding group emotionality requires a broader view that integrates two additional processes: how emotions unfold within the social infrastructure in which they are shared and how these processes are affected by people's cognition about emotions. I propose to summarize the literature using an infrastructure-cognition-interaction framework that contributes to a broader understanding of group emotionality, which should improve our ability to predict group emotionality and to change these emotions when they are undesired.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amit Goldenberg
- Harvard Business School, Harvard Department of Psychology, Digital Data and Design Institute
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Zhao D, Shen X, Li S, He W. The Impact of Spatial Frequency on the Perception of Crowd Emotion: An fMRI Study. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1699. [PMID: 38137147 PMCID: PMC10742193 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13121699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2023] [Revised: 12/06/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Recognizing the emotions of faces in a crowd is crucial for understanding overall behavior and intention as well as for smooth and friendly social interactions. However, it is unclear whether the spatial frequency of faces affects the discrimination of crowd emotion. Although high- and low-spatial-frequency information for individual faces is processed by distinct neural channels, there is a lack of evidence on how this applies to crowd faces. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate neural representations of crowd faces at different spatial frequencies. Thirty-three participants were asked to compare whether a test face was happy or more fearful than a crowd face that varied in high, low, and broad spatial frequencies. Our findings revealed that fearful faces with low spatial frequencies were easier to recognize in terms of accuracy (78.9%) and response time (927 ms). Brain regions, such as the fusiform gyrus, located in the ventral visual stream, were preferentially activated in high spatial frequency crowds, which, however, were the most difficult to recognize behaviorally (68.9%). Finally, the right inferior frontal gyrus was found to be better activated in the broad spatial frequency crowds. Our study suggests that people are more sensitive to fearful crowd faces with low spatial frequency and that high spatial frequency does not promote crowd face recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongfang Zhao
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China; (D.Z.); (X.S.); (S.L.)
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian 116029, China
| | - Xiangnan Shen
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China; (D.Z.); (X.S.); (S.L.)
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian 116029, China
| | - Shuaixia Li
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China; (D.Z.); (X.S.); (S.L.)
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian 116029, China
| | - Weiqi He
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China; (D.Z.); (X.S.); (S.L.)
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian 116029, China
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Xu C, Qian Y, Chen H, Shen M, Zhou J. Remembering Sets: Capacity Limit and Time Limit of Ensemble Representations in Working Memory. Behav Sci (Basel) 2023; 13:856. [PMID: 37887506 PMCID: PMC10604157 DOI: 10.3390/bs13100856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2023] [Revised: 09/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
In a constantly changing visual environment, the ability to extract and store ensemble representations plays a crucial role in efficiently processing and remembering complex visual information. However, how working memory maintains these ensemble representations remains unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the limits and characteristics of ensemble representations in working memory using a change detection paradigm. Participants were presented with multiple sets of circles grouped by spatial proximity and were asked to memorize the mean diameter of the circles in each set. Results showed that working memory could stably maintain mean sizes of approximately two sets for at least four seconds. Moreover, the memory performance of ensembles was not affected by the number of circles within a set, suggesting that individual details were not stored in working memory. These results suggest that the visual system can effectively store ensembles in working memory without preserving detailed individual information.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Mowei Shen
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Jifan Zhou
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
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Sener B, Akpinar E, Ataman MB. Unveiling the dynamics of emotions in society through an analysis of online social network conversations. Sci Rep 2023; 13:14997. [PMID: 37696868 PMCID: PMC10495421 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41573-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Social networks can provide insights into the emotions expressed by a society. However, the dynamic nature of emotions presents a significant challenge for policymakers, politicians, and communication professionals who seek to understand and respond to changes in emotions over time. To address this challenge, this paper investigates the frequency, duration, and transition of 24 distinct emotions over a 2-year period, analyzing more than 5 million tweets. The study shows that emotions with lower valence but higher dominance and/or arousal are more prevalent in online social networks. Emotions with higher valence and arousal tend to last longer, while dominant emotions tend to have shorter durations. Emotions occupying the conversations predominantly inhibit others with similar valence and dominance, and higher arousal. Over a month, emotions with similar valences tend to prevail in online social network conversations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Begum Sener
- McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
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Foveal vision determines the perceived emotion of face ensembles. Atten Percept Psychophys 2023; 85:209-221. [PMID: 36369614 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-022-02614-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
People can extract summary statistical information from groups of similar objects, an ability called ensemble perception. However, not every object in a group is weighted equally. For example, in ensemble emotion perception, faces far from fixation were weighted less than faces close to fixation. Yet the contribution of foveal input in ensemble emotion perception is still unclear. In two experiments, groups of faces with varying emotions were presented for 100 ms at three different eccentricities (0°, 3°, 8°). Observers reported the perceived average emotion of the group. In two conditions, stimuli consisted of a central face flanked by eight faces (flankers) (central-present condition) and eight faces without the central face (central-absent condition). In the central-present condition, the emotion of the central face was either congruent or incongruent with that of the flankers. In Experiment 1, flanker emotions were uniform (identical flankers); in Experiment 2 they were varied. In both experiments, performance in the central-present condition was superior at 3° compared to 0° and 8°. At 0°, performance was superior in the central-absent (i.e., no foveal input) compared to the central-present condition. Poor performance in the central-present condition was driven by the incongruent condition where the foveal face strongly biased responses. At 3° and 8°, performance was comparable between central-present and central-absent conditions. Our results showed how foveal input determined the perceived emotion of face ensembles, suggesting that ensemble perception fails when salient target information is available in central vision.
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Pan T, Zheng Z, Li F, Wang J. Memory matching features bias the ensemble perception of facial identity. Front Psychol 2022; 13:1053358. [DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1053358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
IntroductionHumans have the ability to efficiently extract summary statistics (i.e., mean) from a group of similar objects, referred to as ensemble coding. Recent studies have demonstrated that ensemble perception of simple objects is modulated by the visual working memory (VWM) task through matching features in VWM. However, few studies have examined the extending scope of such a matching feature effect and the influence of the organization mode (i.e., the way of combining memory matching features with ensemble properties) on this effect. Two experiments were done to explore these questions.MethodsWe used a dual-task paradigm for both experiments, which included a VWM task and a mean estimation task. Participants were required to adjust a test face to the mean identity face and report whether the irregular objects in a memory probe were identical or different to the studied objects. In Experiment 1, using identity faces as ensemble stimuli, we compared participants’ performances in trials where a subset color matched that of the studied objects to those of trials without color-matching subsets. In Experiment 2, we combined memory matching colors with ensemble properties in common region cues and compared the effect with that of Experiment 1.ResultsResults of Experiments 1 and 2 showed an effect of the VWM task on high-level ensemble perception that was similar to previous studies using a low-level averaging task. However, the combined analysis of Experiments 1 and 2 revealed that memory matching features had less influence on mean estimations when matching features and ensemble properties combined in the common region than when combined as parts of a complete unit.ConclusionThese findings suggest that the impact of memory matching features is not limited by the level of stimulus feature, but can be impacted by the organization between matching features and ensemble target properties.
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