Untangling Social Function and Social Cognition: A Review of Concepts and Measurement

Yager, Jodi; Ehmann, Tom

doi:10.1521/psyc.2006.69.1.47

Cited by 89 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 101 publications

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“…Moreover, affective experience is also disrupted and may involve either inappropriate or even completely absent emotional reactions to everyday life events. As a result, behavior regulation is deeply disturbed: People with schizophrenia have difficulty maintaining close relationships and holding onto jobs (Yager & Ehmann, 2006). Hooker, Roese, and Park (2000) found that counterfactual thinking was impaired in people with schizophrenia and that this impairment corresponded to social dysfunction.…”

Section: Implications For Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Functional Theory of Counterfactual Thinking

Epstude

Roese

2008

Pers Soc Psychol Rev

669

713

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Counterfactuals are thoughts about alternatives to past events, that is, thoughts of what might have been. This article provides an updated account of the functional theory of counterfactual thinking, suggesting that such thoughts are best explained in terms of their role in behavior regulation and performance improvement. The article reviews a wide range of cognitive experiments indicating that counterfactual thoughts may influence behavior by either of two routes: a content-specific pathway (which involves specific informational effects on behavioral intentions, which then influence behavior) and a content-neutral pathway (which involves indirect effects via affect, mind-sets, or motivation). The functional theory is particularly useful in organizing recent findings regarding counterfactual thinking and mental health. The article concludes by considering the connections to other theoretical conceptions, especially recent advances in goal cognition.Keywords counterfactual thinking; regret; goals; rumination; mental simulation; inference; decision making; conditional; volition; motivation Who among us has never wondered about what might have been had some past choice been different? With perhaps a little more effort, you might have been an athlete, a doctor, maybe even a rock star. Who among us has never regretted choices made and actions taken? Maybe you should have studied harder in school, traveled more when you had the chance, or had the salmon for lunch instead of the pasta. And who has never pondered a lost love and imagined how passionate it might have been? Thinking about what might have been, about alternatives to our own pasts, is central to human thinking and emotion. Such thoughts are called counterfactual thoughts.Counterfactual thoughts are mental representations of alternatives to past events, actions, or states (Byrne, 2005;Roese, 1997). They are epitomized by the phrase "what might have been," which implicates a juxtaposition of an imagined versus factual state of affairs. The term counterfactual derives from philosophical writings in which the logical status of possibility and probabilistic reasoning were closely scrutinized (e.g., Chisholm, 1946;Evans & Over, 2004;Goodman, 1947;Kvart, 1986;Lewis, 1973;Vaihinger, 1965). For example, to say that a basketball team "almost" won a game is to specify a counterfactual outcome with a particular (although not necessarily exact) level of probability. In everyday life, an individual's counterfactual musings often take the form of a conditional proposition, in which the antecedent corresponds to an action and the consequent corresponds to an outcome (e.g., "If only I had studied, I would have passed the exam"). Crucially, counterfactual thoughts are often evaluative, specifying alternatives that are in some tangible way better or worse than actuality. Better alternatives are termed upward counterfactuals; worse alternatives are termed downward counterfactuals (Markman, Gavanski, Sherman, & McMullen, 1993; Please address correspondence to Neal J. R...

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Section: Implications For Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Functional Theory of Counterfactual Thinking

Epstude

Roese

2008

Pers Soc Psychol Rev

669

713

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In a recent commentary, 38 it was noted that "...there are few widely accepted standardized measures of social cognition that are available for use with schizophrenic populations" (p. 61). A recent meta-analysis of ToM 5 concluded that "…heterogeneity of the methods used to assess ToM abilities contributes to the inconsistency of the reported findings" (p. 7).…”

Section: A E Pinkham Et Almentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yager and Ehmann 38 note, "…the psychometric properties of a large proportion of social cognitive measures have not been well-documented" (p. 61), and Bora et al 5 conclude their meta-analysis with the recommendation that future research "use ToM tasks with better psychometric properties" (p. 8). In a recent review of measures of emotional prosody, 4 14 of 21 tasks were rated as "low quality," with only 2 receiving excellent ratings.…”

Section: A E Pinkham Et Almentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Cognition Psychometric Evaluation Study: Results of the Expert Survey and RAND Panel

Pinkham

Penn

Green

et al. 2013

Schizophrenia Bulletin

417

320

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Background:In schizophrenia, social cognition is strongly linked to functional outcome and is increasingly seen as a viable treatment target. The goal of the Social Cognition Psychometric Evaluation (SCOPE) study is to identify and improve the best existing measures of social cognition so they can be suitably applied in large-scale treatment studies. Initial phases of this project sought to (1) develop consensus on critical domains of social cognition and (2) identify the best existing measures of social cognition for use in treatment studies. Methods: Experts in social cognition were invited to nominate key domains of social cognition and the best measures of those domains. Nominations for measures were reduced according to set criteria, and all available psychometric information about these measures was summarized and provided to RAND panelists. Panelists rated the quality of each measure on multiple criteria, and diverging ratings were discussed at the in-person meeting to obtain consensus. Results: Expert surveys identified 4 core domains of social cognitionemotion processing, social perception, theory of mind/mental state attribution, and attributional style/bias. Using RAND panel consensus ratings, the following measures

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“…As such, ecological validity differs from reliability, that is, the extent to which repeated application of a measurement procedure produces the same outcome, and from construct validity, that is, the degree to which a measurement procedure displays empirical patterns that are consistent with the theoretical construct of interest. Ecological validity of laboratory measures is important because laboratory measures may be used to predict real-world functioning (Adler, Bush, & Pantell, 2012;Yager & Ehmann, 2006). However, few studies have considered the predictive value of laboratory measures and fewer still find that laboratory measures have predictive value.…”

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confidence: 99%

Studying the neurobiology of human social interaction: Making the case for ecological validity

Hogenelst

Schoevers

Rot

2015

Social Neuroscience

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With this commentary we make the case for an increased focus on the ecological validity of the measures used to assess aspects of human social functioning. Impairments in social functioning are seen in many types of psychopathology, negatively affecting the lives of psychiatric patients and those around them. Yet the neurobiology underlying abnormal social interaction remains unclear. As an example of human social neuroscience research with relevance to biological psychiatry and clinical psychopharmacology, this commentary discusses published experimental studies involving manipulation of the human brain serotonin system that included assessments of social behavior. To date, these studies have mostly been laboratory-based and included computer tasks, observations by others, or single-administration self-report measures. Most laboratory measures used so far inform about the role of serotonin in aspects of social interaction, but the relevance for real-life interaction is often unclear. Few studies have used naturalistic assessments in real life. We suggest several laboratory methods with high ecological validity as well as ecological momentary assessment, which involves intensive repeated measures in naturalistic settings. In sum, this commentary intends to stimulate experimental research on the neurobiology of human social interaction as it occurs in real life.

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Untangling Social Function and Social Cognition: A Review of Concepts and Measurement

Cited by 89 publications

References 101 publications

The Functional Theory of Counterfactual Thinking

The Functional Theory of Counterfactual Thinking

The Social Cognition Psychometric Evaluation Study: Results of the Expert Survey and RAND Panel

Studying the neurobiology of human social interaction: Making the case for ecological validity

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