Timing and localization of Spontaneous & Intentional

Goal and Trait InferencesFrank Van Overwalle

with Marijke Van Duynslaeger,

Laurence Van der Cruyssen, Aisha Cortoos, & Ma Ning

Social Judgments

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Social Judgments

You shall not judge

Alex Todorov

Anja Achtzinger

Ian Apperly

Iroise Dumontheil Sam Gilbert Neil Macrae Dean Mobbs Bruno Rossion

Dana Samson

David Turk

Silvia Tomelleri

? ? Nigel Blackwood

The Social Brain

• How is this computed in the brain?

– Goals of single behaviors– Traits by integrating multiple behaviors

• Results of recent meta-analysis (Van Overwalle, 2008, HBM)…

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Goal-directed movement Agency/perspectiveAction Goal ToM beliefsMorality Traits of Others

The Social Brain: Goals

Temporo-Parietal Junction

(TPJ)

where–to

goal

FrontBack

Left view

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Traits of OthersClose othersSelf-referenceSocial Scripts

The Social Brain: Traits

medial prefrontal

cortex (mPFC)

multiple events: scriptstraits: about

others

traits about self and

familiar others

FrontBack

Middle view

multiple events:traits

Posterior Anterior

Infe

rior / Ven

tral

S

uper

ior / D

ors

al ..

STS IFG

TPJ

mPFC

Visual Input

Motor Input

Mirror System

it moves…

where to

my goal !

it’s goal ! I move

my goal !

trait

Mirror System

my goal !

FrontBack

Left view

PMC

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Human faces (FFA & OFA) Human bodies (EBA)Human movement (STS) Human names (TP)Human mirror system

Mirror System

Superior Temporal

Sulcus (STS)

body movements

FrontBack

Left view

TPJ / inferior Parietal lobe

Goals of behaviors

(x=foot, +=head)

Premotor Cortex (PMC)

Goals of MY behaviors

(x=foot, +=head)

How making Inferences?

do I infer the right

goal?

How making Inferences?

• The Mirror Theory assumes that Goal inferences are automatic (Keysers & Gazzola, 2007):

– Vortram buys tons of soft drinks– Vortram installs some colorful spot lights.– Vortram phones all his good friends

• What is the goal?

How making Inferences?

• Intentional (ISI):with clear intent and awareness

- Most often used in earlier EEG & fMRI studies• Spontaneous (SSI):

without intention and little awareness that we are making them

- Past social cognition research has shown that we often do this

Posterior Anterior

Infe

rior / Ven

tral

S

uper

ior / D

ors

al ..

STS IFG

TPJ

mPFC

Visual Input

Motor Input

The Social Brain

it moves…

where to ?

my goal !

it’s goal !

mirror system=

spontaneous ?

trait

time integration=

intentional ?

Research

Inconsistent behavioral information paradigm:

in a stream of consistent behaviors implying the same goal or trait, occasionally inconsistent behaviors are shown

EEG is taken while reading these (in)consistent behaviors

Several sentences depict word-by-word (each 300ms) the behavior of an actor:

VortransearchesquicklyforsomexxxxTiming Starts

Method

Goal

Divod takes the long green hose

Divod drives his family car outside

Divod searches for the powerful soap

Divod rubs softly with his xxxx

• Goal-consistent: xxxx=sponge• Goal-inconsistent: xxxx=mud (negative)• Goal-irrelevant: xxxx=hands • No-Goal observations e.g., spring, summer

to wash car

Traits

Tolvan gives his brother a hug

Tolvan gives his father a compliment

Tolvan gives his sister a kiss

Tolvan gives his mother a xxxx

• Trait-consistent: xxxx=rose• Inconsistent - Opposite: xxxx=slap (negative)• Trait-irrelevant: xxxx=spoon

is kind

Goal & Trait

Vortran gets at home colorful decorations

Vortran calls all his good friends

Vortran selects for everyone’s taste music

Vortran looks for xxxx

• Goal/Trait-consistent: xxxx=enough soft drinks• Goal/Trait-inconsistent:xxxx=food for herself (n.)• Goal/Trait-irrelevant: xxxx=dust on cupboards • No-Goal/Trait observations e.g., spring, summer

to party / is social

Design

• Instruction– SSI “read carefully & familiarize with material”– ISI “identify goal / trait of actor”

• Inconsistent behavioral information task

• EEG at all 19 channels• Behavioral measures:

– Cued Recall – Sentence Completion

Vortram calls all his good ………

Goal-Cued Recall % (Van der Cruyssen et al., 2008)

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Consistent Inconsistent Irrelevant

IGI

SGI goals were formed &

memorized

“Recall sentences with the aid of this cue [=goal]”

Trait-Cued Recall % (Van Duynslaeger et al., 2007)

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Consistent Inconsistent

ITI

STI

traits were formed &

memorized

“Recall sentences with the aid of this cue [=trait]”

Event-Related Potentials

Event-related Potentials (ERP) are averaged EEG– reflecting processes in the brain– with millisecond accuracy

N100-P200 (negative-positive deflection at ~150-200 ms) is seen after inconsistencies in perceptual featuresearly = automatic

P300 (positive deflection at > 300 ms) is seen after inconsistencies in judgmentslate = reflective

Spontaneous Goals (Van der Cruyssen et al., 2008)

P200

Inconsistent goals? Too

flexible

Intentional Goals(Van der Cruyssen et al., 2008)

No-goal is a betterbaseline

P200

Opposite Traits: P300(Van Duynslaeger et al., 2008)

SSI

ISI

0 ms 500 ms 1000 ms

TC+

TI+

TC+

TI+

P300

Spontaneous Goals & Traits(Van Overwalle et al., 2009)

Intentional Goals & Traits(Van Overwalle et al., 2009)

Timing: Implications

• SSI & ISI similar in timing: early and automatic for goals: 200 ms

traits confirmed in goals: 150-200 ms

late and reflective for traits: 400-600 ms

Parallel between SSI and ISI ?

Goals (Consistent – No-Goal)

Goals (Consistent – No-Goal)

Traits (Consistent - Irrelevant)

Traits: Location @ 600 ms

Goals & Traits(Consistent – No Goal)

Location @200-225 ~

Goal-Cued Recall

Location @ 600 ~ Trait-Cued Recall

Implications: Location

Parallels between SSI & ISI due to automatic goal detection @ 200–250 ms in TPJ

Differentiation during trait identification @ 600–700 ms (200–300 ms trait confirmation after goal)

– TPJ during spontaneous (mPFC trait

confirmation) – mPFC during intentional

Traits: fMRI

Posterior Anterior

Infe

rior / V

entr

al S

uper

ior

/ D

ors

al

.. STS IFG

TPJ

mPFC

Visual Input

Motor Input

Implications for Social Brain

Mirror system: Automatic Goal

200 ms

Early or LateTrait

150-200 or 600 ms

What are / about spontaneous traits@ 200 / 600 ms?

Questions for Future research

• Spontaneous traits may also involve the mPFC (but activated to a lesser extent – see also fMRI)?

• What is traits over and above goals? Traits identified so fast because confirmatory?

• How to probe beliefs: Are they in fact causal inferences (which also occur spontaneously)?Saxe & Powel, 2006:Nicky knew that his sister’s flight from San Francisco was delayed

ten hours. [Because] Only one flight was delayed so much that night, so when he got to the airport, he knew that flight was hers.

Rob tied his dog’s leash to a lamppost while he went into a store to buy coffee. When he came out, his dog had run across the street. He guessed that [because] the leash had come untied.

Thank you