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3 February 2006

McDermott on "Cognitive Neuroscience and Politics"

Today, the Political Psychology and Behavior Workshop sponsored a talk by Prof. Rose McDermott of UC-Santa Barbara. Prof. McDermott presented a chapter from a forthcoming edited volume in which she reviews some of the latest findings in the field of cognitive neuroscience, their application to the study of political behavior, and the methodological/theoretical challenges faced by this emerging strand of research. Such challenges include the recognition that "emotion" is a term that describes a variegated class of phenomena, the difficulty in administering suitable stimuli and in measuring emotional responses, and the complexity of the mechanisms by which emotions shape cognition. McDermott discusses some of the next steps that this literature should take to formulate a "comprehensive theory of emotion." In particular, she points to recent advances in evolutionary biology and psychology suggesting that "behavior can be understood as a function of genetics interacting with the environment." The chapter concludes with an exhortation to extend empirical testing beyond American voting behavior and to employ a more eclectic set of methodologies and modelling strategies drawn from a variety of research traditions.

Posted by Federico Ferrara at February 3, 2006 2:05 PM