Sensorimotor Foundations Of Social Cognition

A collection of cutting-edge contributions on the idea of shared representations - information sharing between the brains of those involved.

The first section deals with the common neural processes for primary and 'cognitive' processes. It examines the key neural systems and computational architectures at the interface between cognition, sensation and action.

A tribute to Robert S. Wyer, Jr.'s remarkable contributions to social psychology, Foundations of Social Cognition offers a compelling analysis of the underlying processes that have long been the focus of Bob Wyer's own research, including attention, perception, inference, and memory. Leading scholars provide an in-depth analysis of these processes as they pertain to one or more substantive areas, including attitudes, construct accessibility, impressions of persons and groups, the interplay between affect and cognition, motivated reasoning, and stereotypes. Each chapter reviews and synthesizes past scholarship with the assessment of current understanding and cutting-edge trends and issues. A "must have" for scholars, researchers, and advanced students in the fields of social and cognitive psychology, as well as those in related fields such as consumer, organizational, and political psychology, neuroscience, marketing, advertising, and communication.

Describes a unified framework for embodied cognition that reconciles sensorimotor and representational accounts of cognition, connecting currently disparate traditions.

Highlights the roles of intention and intentionality in social cognition.

Explores the cognitive mechanisms underlying the development of human social interactive abilities across the lifespan, in healthy and atypical development. Combines traditionally separate bodies of research into one coherent volume, following the trajectory of communication over the entire lifespan from infancy to old age. Crosses multiple disciplines, drawing together expertise from researchers in psychology, neuroscience, psychiatry, linguistics, and philosophy. Brings together key methodologies and debates in a vibrant and fast-growing field. Written in an accessible style and suited to a wide range of readers, including academics and students of cognitive, developmental, and social psychology, related sciences and social sciences, as well as practitioners working in the fields of social care, mental health, and education

Humans have a unique ability to understand the beliefs, emotions, and intentions of others—a capacity often referred to as mentalizing. Much research in psychology and neuroscience has focused on delineating the mechanisms of mentalizing, and examining the role of mentalizing processes in other domains of cognitive and affective functioning. The purpose of the book is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current research on the mechanisms of mentalizing at the neural, algorithmic, and computational levels of analysis. The book includes contributions from prominent researchers in the field of social-cognitive and affective neuroscience, as well as from related disciplines (e.g., cognitive, social, developmental and clinical psychology, psychiatry, philosophy, primatology). The contributors review their latest research in order to compile an authoritative source of knowledge on the psychological and brain bases of the unique human capacity to think about the mental states of others. The intended audience is researchers and students in the fields of social-cognitive and affective neuroscience and related disciplines such as neuroeconomics, cognitive neuroscience, developmental neuroscience, social cognition, social psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, and affective science. Secondary audiences include researchers in decision science (economics, judgment and decision-making), philosophy of mind, and psychiatry.