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Decoding “Us” and “Them”: Neural Representations of Generalized Group Concepts

Overview of attention for article published in Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, May 2017
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  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (89th percentile)
  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (71st percentile)

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1 news outlet
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Citations

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161 Mendeley
Title
Decoding “Us” and “Them”: Neural Representations of Generalized Group Concepts
Published in
Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, May 2017
DOI 10.1037/xge0000287
Pubmed ID
Authors

Mina Cikara, Jay J. Van Bavel, Zachary A. Ingbretsen, Tatiana Lau

Abstract

Humans form social coalitions in every society on earth, yet we know very little about how the general concepts us and them are represented in the brain. Evolutionary psychologists have argued that the human capacity for group affiliation is a byproduct of adaptations that evolved for tracking coalitions in general. These theories suggest that humans possess a common neural code for the concepts in-group and out-group, regardless of the category by which group boundaries are instantiated. The authors used multivoxel pattern analysis to identify the neural substrates of generalized group concept representations. They trained a classifier to encode how people represented the most basic instantiation of a specific social group (i.e., arbitrary teams created in the lab with no history of interaction or associated stereotypes) and tested how well the neural data decoded membership along an objectively orthogonal, real-world category (i.e., political parties). The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/middle cingulate cortex and anterior insula were associated with representing groups across multiple social categories. Restricting the analyses to these regions in a separate sample of participants performing an explicit categorization task, the authors replicated cross-categorization classification in anterior insula. Classification accuracy across categories was driven predominantly by the correct categorization of in-group targets, consistent with theories indicating in-group preference is more central than out-group derogation to group perception and cognition. These findings highlight the extent to which social group concepts rely on domain-general circuitry associated with encoding stimuli's functional significance. (PsycINFO Database Record

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 19 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 161 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United Kingdom 1 <1%
United States 1 <1%
Unknown 159 99%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 47 29%
Student > Bachelor 26 16%
Student > Master 21 13%
Researcher 20 12%
Student > Doctoral Student 10 6%
Other 15 9%
Unknown 22 14%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Psychology 78 48%
Neuroscience 16 10%
Social Sciences 15 9%
Engineering 5 3%
Business, Management and Accounting 3 2%
Other 12 7%
Unknown 32 20%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 20. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 27 July 2021.
All research outputs
#1,844,444
of 25,382,440 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
#486
of 2,600 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#34,616
of 324,557 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
#6
of 21 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,382,440 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 92nd percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,600 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 22.4. This one has done well, scoring higher than 81% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 324,557 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 21 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 71% of its contemporaries.