PSYC3068 Social and Affective Neuroscience
Module Overview
Humans are adapted to be highly social. We interact with a number of other people everyday, and successful social interactions depend on the ability to infer other's mental and emotional state from limited cues. Social and affective neuroscience applies the methods traditionally used in neuroscience (e.g., neuroimaging, brain-stimulation methods such as fMRI, EEG, TMS) to better understand neural and psychological mechanisms underlying human social behaviours. This module will address from a cognitive neuroscience perspective a range of research questions relating to human social and emotional behaviour including social reward and punishment processing, prejudice & stereotype, and the abilities to experience empathy and to understand other people's intentions.
Aims and Objectives
Module Aims
The aim of this module is to introduce students to: • research investigating the neural bases of various social and emotional behaviours • methods used in social and affective neuroscience research
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Give an account of the methods and questions motivating the emergent discipline of social and affective neuroscience
- Evaluate how cognitive neuroscience methods contributed to our understanding of neural as well as mental processes involved in social situations
- Give accounts of key experiments and findings in each topic area
- Describe typical challenges researchers in the field face and ways to address them
Syllabus
The module will cover the following topics; - An introduction to social and affective neuroscience (history, methods, & neuroanatomy) - Critical thinking in social and affective neuroscience - Theory of mind - Empathy - Social pain - Social reward and neuroeconomics - Social influence and neuromarketing - Prejudice and stereotype - Basic and social emotions - Self
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Weekly lectures will introduce each topic, which is followed by student-led seminars in which students will present assigned readings and lead class discussion in groups of about 2-3.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Teaching | 24 |
| Independent Study | 126 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Assessment
Summative
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Exam | 80% |
| Presentation | 19% |
| Research Participation | 1% |