SNHU Psy510 Neuroimaging Paper

One contemporary debate within the field of psychology centers on the role of neuroimaging as evidence in the field. Some scholars believe that identifying brain areas and activities involved in different behaviors is the key to unlocking the mysteries of the mind. Others feel that the value of neuroimaging studies is overblown and that this methodology is just another tool in the psychologist’s toolbox. Some people also have ethical concerns about some of the uses of this technology. What do you think? Be sure to draw on the resources from this week to support your positions.

Neuroimaging as a New Tool in the Toolbox of Psychological Science. 

Authors:

Cacioppo, John T.¹ cacioppo@uchicago.edu.
Berntson, Gary G.²
Nusbaum, Howard C.¹

Source:

Current Directions in Psychological Science. Apr2008, Vol. 17 Issue 2, p62-67. 6p.

Document Type:

Article

Subject Terms:

*IMAGING systems
*NEUROSCIENCES
*SENSORY perception
*ATTENTION
*MEMORY
*SOCIAL perception

Author-Supplied Keywords:

clinical processes
cognitive processes
developmental processes
functional magnetic resonance imaging
social processes

NAICS/Industry Codes:

333316 Photographic and Photocopying Equipment Manufacturing
334118 Computer Terminal and Other Computer Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing. SNHU Psy510 Neuroimaging Paper

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Abstract:

During the past quarter century, advances in imaging technology have helped transform scientific fields. As important as the data made available by these new technologies have been, equally important have been the guides provided by existing theories and the converging evidence provided by other methodologies. The field of psychological science is no exception. Neuroimaging is an important new tool in the toolbox of psychological science, but it is most productive when its use is guided by psychological theories and complemented by converging methodologies including (but not limited to) lesion, electrophysiological, computational, and behavioral studies. Based on this approach, the articles in this special issue specify neural mechanisms involved in perception, attention, categorization, memory, recognition, attitudes, social cognition, language, motor coordination, emotional regulation, executive function, decision making, and depression. Understanding the contributions of individual and functionally connected brain regions to these processes benefits psychological theory by suggesting functional representations and processes, constraining these processes, producing means of falsifying hypotheses, and generating new hypotheses. From this work, a view is emerging in which psychological processes represent emergent properties of a widely distributed set of component processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

 

Copyright of Current Directions in Psychological Science is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Author Affiliations:

¹University of Chicago
²Ohio State University

ISSN:

0963-7214

DOI:

10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00550.x

Accession Number:

31573880

Publisher Logo:

Puzzlingly High Correlations in fMRI Studies of Emotion, Personality, and Social Cognition. 

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Authors:

Vul, Edward¹
Harris, Christine²
Winkielman, Piotr²
Pashler, Harold² hpashler@ucsd.edu

Source:

Perspectives on Psychological Science. May2009, Vol. 4 Issue 3, p274-290. 17p. 2 Diagrams, 3 Charts, 4 Graphs. 

Document Type:

Article

Subject Terms:

*MAGNETIC resonance imaging
*STATISTICAL correlation
*PERSONALITY & cognition
*SOCIAL perception
*VOXEL-based morphometry

NAICS/Industry Codes:

621512 Diagnostic Imaging Centers

Abstract:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of emotion, personality, and social cognition have drawn much attention in recent years, with high-profile studies frequently reporting extremely high (e.g., >.8) correlations between brain activation and personality measures. We show that these correlations are higher than should be expected given the (evidently limited) reliability of both fMRI and personality measures. The high correlations are all the more puzzling because method sections rarely contain much detail about how the correlations were obtained. We surveyed authors of 55 articles that reported findings of this kind to determine a few details on how these correlations were computed. More than half acknowledged using a strategy that computes separate correlations for individual voxels and reports means of only those voxels exceeding chosen thresholds. We show how this nonindependent analysis inflates correlations while yielding reassuring-looking scattergrams. This analysis technique was used to obtain the vast majority of the implausibly high correlations in our survey sample. In addition, we argue that, in some cases, other analysis problems likely created entirely spurious correlations. We outline how the data from these studies could be reanalyzed with unbiased methods to provide accurate estimates of the correlations in question and urge authors to perform such reanalyses. The underlying problems described here appear to be common in fMRI research of many kinds—not just in studies of emotion, personality, and social cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] SNHU Psy510 Neuroimaging Paper

 

Copyright of Perspectives on Psychological Science is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Author Affiliations:

¹Massachussetts Institute of Technology.
²University of California, San Diego.

ISSN:

1745-6916

DOI:

10.1111/j.1745-6924.2009.01125.x

Accession Number: SNHU Psy510 Neuroimaging Paper

39663093

Publisher Logo:

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