Westley, Alexandra Louise;
(2022)
Social Context Effects on the N400: Evidence for Implicit Theory of Mind?
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
A prevailing theory within research into Theory of Mind – the ability to attribute mental states to others – is the existence of a two-system model: an automatic fast-paced “implicit” system, followed by a reason-based “explicit” system. Behavioural evidence supports a double dissociation: children fail social tasks with higher cognitive load but pass implicit measures, and Autistic individuals pass reason-based social tasks with practice but fail implicit measures. This thesis probes the neural basis for implicit Theory of Mind, asking: to what extent do individuals automatically process the comprehension of task partners during a Joint Comprehension task? EEG evidence here indicates participants display an N400 – a neural marker indicating lack of comprehension – when a partner deprived of context cannot understand a sentence displayed, even when the participant has the full context for comprehension. This “Social N400” appears to indicate that participants model partner comprehension, their mental state, in real time. The effect is shown in adults and adolescents; does not appear to be explained by sub-mentalising effects; and notably is absent when the task lacks a prompt to consider the confederate’s comprehension. The results suggest implicit mentalising is not automatic, but a cognitive tool employed when online modelling would aid task demands. The Joint Comprehension task outlined provides a tool to further examine the neural basis of implicit social cognition, particularly within Autism Spectrum Disorder where an impairment in implicit mentalising is suggested.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Social Context Effects on the N400: Evidence for Implicit Theory of Mind? |
| Event: | UCL |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2022. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10142720 |
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