Jones, Isla; (2024) Neural, Physiological and Cognitive Mechanisms of Being Watched. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Social factors can influence our behaviour in many ways, even when we are not directly interacting with another person. Being watched has been shown to lead to significant changes in behaviour as well as performance on many tasks, in over 100 years of research. However, the cognitive, physiological and neural mechanisms underlying these effects are not yet fully understood. This thesis aims to use new wearable brain imaging methods to elucidate the mechanisms of audience effects in the context of a maths task. Over 120 participants in the UK and Japan completed hard and easy sums while being watched online or in person, and while brain activity was recorded using portable functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) neuroimaging technology. Results from this thesis demonstrate widespread activation of prefrontal cortex in response to being watched, and can distinguish between effects of the belief that someone is watching from effects of seeing the observer’s face. Heart rate was also elevated when being watched face-to-face, suggesting increased stress. Analyses in relation to individual differences gave mixed results, with hints that social anxiety and task-related confidence may be important factors. Overall, this work supports theories suggesting that complex social mechanisms such as reputation management (Tennie et al, 2010) or self-presentation (Bond, 1982) underlie audience effects. In addition to the experimental work, this thesis presents a novel toolbox to estimate heart rate directly from fNIRS signals, which can provide access to informative physiological data as well as improving fNIRS analyses. Overall, results from the thesis showcase a range of novel methods using fNIRS and physiological recordings to understand the impact of being watched on performance on a cognitive task. As being watched is such an important social cue which underlies most face-to-face social interactions, these findings help to advance understanding of human social behaviour as a whole.

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