Social Cognition

Social Cognition

Three people sitting and smiling outdoors, with an artistic overlay of a green silhouette and flowers, and birds flying in the background.
Small signals of warmth can dramatically change how people respond to you.
Two monkeys sit on a tree branch interacting, with brain diagrams and EEG waveforms in the background, one with a purple arrow pointing to its head.
By tracking brain activity as primates move freely in the wild, neuroethology could reshape what we think we know about our own minds.
Book cover of "Playful" by Cas Holman with Lydia Denworth, featuring colorful letters and googly eyes on the "u" and "l." Subtitles discuss creativity, connection, play, and insights from play research.
In this excerpt from "Playful," Cas Holman surveys the research that brought the neuroscience of play into the mainstream.
Two figures in military gear salute, rendered in white and red with visible brain scans over their heads, set against a black background—a striking nod to the neuroscience of war.
In “Warhead,” neuroscientist and national security adviser Nicholas Wright explains how the brain navigates warfare and why it is our ultimate weapon (and instrument for peace).
theory of mind
Grandmasters and drug dealers have one thing in common: They are many steps ahead of their rivals.
A group of people utilizing effective communication skills sitting around a table in a meeting.
Clear communication is good for business and life — but compelling communication can take you to another level.
a woman with red hair and yellow glasses.
A new study from Finland suggests that we all process the behavior of others using the same neural networks.
a painting of people sitting at a bar.
How humans came to feel comfortable among strangers, like those in a café, is an under-explored mystery.
John Templeton Foundation
a man sitting on top of a small island.
A study shows that the brains of lonely individuals respond in odd ways to visual stimuli, while those of non-lonely people react similarly.
Closeup of a baby being kissed by his mother.
Sharing food and kissing are among the signals babies use to interpret their social world, according to a new study.
If you're trying to hide how you feel about something, be careful with your hands.
People tend to underestimate how much a friend they’ve lost contact with would enjoy a simple note saying "hi."
When you imitate the speech of others, there’s a thin line between whether it’s a social asset or faux pas.
It is all too easy for humans to fall into the cognitive trap of thinking that an entity that can use language fluently is sentient or intelligent.
Research sheds light on social behavior of these mysterious predators.
This world map shows how the rest of the world LOLs. In France, you MDR; in China, you 23333.
If argumentation led to nothing, it would soon be thrown into the evolutionary dustbin.
animal emotions
We already know animals feel emotions, and that they can understand humans' emotions. But can they understand each other's emotions?
chimpanzees
Chimpanzees are able to consider the context of social interactions and can accept unfavorable outcomes — sometimes.
chimps insects
Many animals practice what looks like self-medication. A new report suggests that chimps tend wounds with insects, often treating each other.
One-line drawings of people's faces
Implicit bias may be outside your conscious control, but that doesn’t mean change is.
Four children gossiping illustrating that gossip is a social skill
Like it or not, we are the descendants of busybodies.