Behavioral and Neural Adaptation in Approach Behavior

Abstract

People often make approachability decisions based on perceived facial trustworthiness. However, it remains unclear how people learn trustworthiness from a population of faces and whether this learning influences their approachability decisions. Here we investigated the neural underpinning of approach behavior and tested two important hypotheses: whether the amygdala adapts to different trustworthiness ranges and whether the amygdala is modulated by task instructions and evaluative goals. We showed that participants adapted to the stimulus range of perceived trustworthiness when making approach decisions and that these decisions were further modulated by the social context. The right amygdala showed both linear response and quadratic response to trustworthiness level, as observed in prior studies. Notably, the amygdala's response to trustworthiness was not modulated by stimulus range or social context, a possible neural dynamic adaptation. Together, our data have revealed a robust behavioral adaptation to different trustworthiness ranges as well as a neural substrate underlying approach behavior based on perceived facial trustworthiness.

A Flexible Neural Representation of Faces in the Human Brain

“…2007 ). On the other hand, in the present study, we found that the right amygdala showed flexible response to facial trustworthiness given different task instructions, in contrast to our prior report that the right amygdala’s response to trustworthiness is not modulated by stimulus range or social context ( Wang et al. 2018 ).…”

“…We used both linear and quadratic regressors in the modeling according to previous studies ( Todorov et al. 2008 ; Wang et al. 2018 ).…”

“…2010 ). Our own prior reports have not only found context-independent neural responses to facial trustworthiness ( Wang et al. 2018 ) but also context-dependent ( Sun, Zhen et al.…”

Young children learn first impressions of faces through social referencing

“…Proponents of both theoretical positions agree that at least some first impressions must be learned 11 , 17 – 23 . Evidence in favour of this claim comes from data showing that participants form first impressions from cultural cues that are the products of recent human history.…”

A Construct of Trust in Management Studies

“…К настоящему времени в рамках изучения нейропроцессов в человеческом мозге накопилось значительное число эмпирических свидетельств того, что люди практически мгновенно, восприняв лицо другого человека, оценивают благонадежность последнего [Todorov, Pakrashi, Oosterhof, 2009;Olivola, Todorov, 2010]. Точность и достоверность такой оценки часто преувеличивается [Todorov et al, 2015], она подвержена различным влияниям [Aviezer et al, 2011;Posten, Ocken fels, Mussweiler, 2014] и уточняется в ходе социальных взаимодействий [Sparks, Burleigh, Barclay, 2016;van der Werff, Buckley, 2017;Verosky et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2018]. Способность формировать такие оценки выработалась в ходе эволюции человека: ведь для людей эффективное кооперативное взаимодействие является важнейшим условием выживания [Tomasello et al, 2012;Tomasello, Vaish, 2013;Rand, 2016].…”