Publications

Does the processing of social category-related versus trait-related information generate a different pattern of brain activation? In this fMRI study, we compared the processing of behaviors performed by a member of a social category versus an individual, both possessing similar personality traits. Based on previous behavioral studies we predicted that the processing of social category-related information would recruit more activation in brain ...

A previous fMRI adaptation study on trait inference (Ma et al., 2013) indicated that a trait code is located in the ventral medial PreFrontal Cortex (vmPFC), but could not rule out that this adaptation effect is due to the trait's underlying valence. To address this issue, we presented sentences describing positive and negative valences of either a human trait or object characteristic, and manipulated whether the human trait or object ...

Research indicates a distinction between the processing of script content (which events, behaviors, scenes... are part of it) and script chronology (what is their usual order of occurrence). Using sequences of two line drawings depicting everyday social script events, we examined the event related potential (ERP) correlates of script chronology violations (i.e., wrong order). An increased left anterior negativity (LAN) following chronology ...

Past research on spontaneous trait inferences using event related potentials (ERPs) has consistently reported increased late positive potential (LPP) amplitudes following social expectancy violations, but no N400 modulation. In the present study, participants read scenario's describing behaviors of unknown actors. They entailed descriptions of several positive trait implying behaviors, followed by a single final sentence describing behavior that ...

This study focuses on differences in spontaneous trait inferences based on behavioral information when provided with information about in-group and out-group membership. 53 participants first went through a minimal group procedure, after which half of the participants were assigned to one of two groups, while the other half was not given a group assignment. This was immediately followed by an ERP-experiment in which they made spontaneous trait ...

Previous research has shown that the mere categorization of individuals into minimal groups will evoke in-group favoritism. The current study combines the minimal group paradigm with an ERP-experiment of spontaneous trait inferences using an expectancy-violation paradigm. 53 subjects first performed a fake reaction-time (RT) task to allow social categorization (in-group/out-group). One group of subjects (SoCat) all received the same group label ...

Previous research has shown that the mere categorization of individuals into minimal groups will evoke in-group favoritism. The current study combines the minimal group paradigm with an ERP-experiment of spontaneous trait inferences using an expectancy-violation paradigm. 53 subjects first performed a fake reaction-time (RT) task to allow social categorization (in-group/out-group). One group of subjects (SoCat) all received the same group label ...

This study measured event-related potentials during spontaneous and intentional goal inferences. Participants read sentences describing the behavior of a target person from which a strong goal or intention could be inferred. The last word of each sentence determined the consistency with the goal induced during preceding sentences. In comparison with behaviors that were consistent with the implied goal, a stronger P200 waveform was obtained when ...