Papers by Claudia Civai
Temporal discounting (TD), the preference for earlier, smaller rewards over delayed, larger rewar... more Temporal discounting (TD), the preference for earlier, smaller rewards over delayed, larger rewards, is a pervasive phenomenon that covaries with Big Five personality traits and Intelligence (IQ). This study provides novel insight by identifying correlates for IQ and Extraversion in the neural representation of TD preferences. An intertemporal choice task was employed, where offers were sequentially presented, distinguishing between one evaluation phase (first offer is presented) and one comparison phase (second offer is presented and values are compared). IQ correlated with responses of caudate nucleus to the subjective values of the offers, suggesting a role of cognitive abilities in modulating reward responses. Extraversion correlated with the strength of functional connectivity of a reward evaluation network centered on ventromedial prefrontal cortex.
Recent research has shown that a collection of neurons in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex of rhe... more Recent research has shown that a collection of neurons in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex of rhesus monkeys may specifically encode the choice selection of an interaction partner. This raises interesting and important questions as to the nature of Theory of Mind processes in social interactive decision-making, with potential societal implications.
Cognition, 2010
Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies suggest distinct body representations involved in cod... more Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies suggest distinct body representations involved in coding one's and others’ body. Other influential theories, however, instead posit a unique model behind coding multisensory information about one's own body and visual information about others. An efficient way to further investigate this issue can be through testing individuals with anomalous anatomical and sensorimotor bodily features. In these people, the representation of their own body is held to be different with respect to the average population due to the peculiar properties of their body, and any experimental finding supposedly mediated by this representation should reflect such difference. We reviewed the most relevant studies reporting individuals with anomalous anatomical and sensorimotor bodily features engaged in (a) handedness task, (b) visual processing of biological motion and (c) visual processing of body shape. The performance in all three kinds of cognitive processes is affected by anomalous body features of the tested populations. However, the reviewed data are also in favor of a body model extrapolated by visual experience of others which mediates processing of biological stimuli and which operates in parallel, or as an alternative, to the representation of one's own body. In light of these results, pure visual and pure embodied accounts behind visual processing of biological stimuli should be reconsidered.
Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 2013
Rejections of unfair offers in the ultimatum game (UG) are commonly assumed to reflect negative e... more Rejections of unfair offers in the ultimatum game (UG) are commonly assumed to reflect negative emotional arousal mediated by the anterior insula and medial prefrontal cortex. We aimed to disentangle those neural mechanisms associated with direct personal involvement (‘I have been treated unfairly’) from those associated with fairness considerations, such as the wish to discourage unfair behavior or social norm violations (‘this person has been treated unfairly’). For this purpose, we used fMRI and asked participants to play the UG as responders either for themselves (myself) or on behalf of another person (third party). Unfair offers were equally often rejected in both conditions. Neuroimaging data revealed a dissociation between the medial prefrontal cortex, specifically associated with rejections in the myself condition, thus confirming its role in self-related emotional responses, and the left anterior insula, associated with rejections in both myself and third-party conditions, suggesting a role in promoting fair behavior also toward third parties. Our data extend the current understanding of the neural substrate of social decision making, by disentangling the structures sensitive to direct emotional involvement of the self from those implicated in pure fairness considerations.
Neural correlates of unfairness perception depend on who is the target of the unfair treatment. T... more Neural correlates of unfairness perception depend on who is the target of the unfair treatment. These previous findings suggest that the activation of medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) is related to unfairness perception only when the subject of the measurement is also the person affected by the unfair 10 treatment. We aim at demonstrating the specificity of MPFC involvement using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a technique that induces cortical excitability changes in the targeted region. We use a modified version of the Ultimatum Game, in which responders play both for themselves (myselfMS condition) and on behalf of an unknown third-party (TP condition), where they respond to unfairness without being the target of it. We find that the application of cathodal tDCS over MPFC decreases the probability of rejecting unfair offers in MS, but not in TP; conversely, the same stimulation increases the probability of rejecting fair offers in TP, but not in MS. We confirm the hypothesis that MPFC is specifically related to 15 processing unfairness when the self is involved, and discuss possible explanations for the opposite effect of the stimulation in TP.
Acta Psychologica
""Behavior in one-shot bargaining games, like the Ultimatum Game
(UG), has been interpreted as a... more ""Behavior in one-shot bargaining games, like the Ultimatum Game
(UG), has been interpreted as an expression of social preferences, such as inequity aversion and negative reciprocity; however, the traditional UG design limits the range of possible psychological interpretation of the results. Here, we employed three different designs for ultimatum games, finding support for a more comprehensive theory: behavior is driven by cognitive factors implementing rules such as equal splitting, speaking up for the idea that equity works as a cognitive heuristic, applicable when the environment provides no reason to behave otherwise.
Instead subjects deviate from this rule when environment changes, as, for instance, when personal interest is at stake.
Results show that behavior varies systematically with contextual cues, balancing the self-interest with the automatic application of the equity heuristic. Thus, the context suggests the rule to be applied in a specific situation.""
NeuroImage, Jan 1, 2012
Everything else being the same, an equal outcome is generally preferred; however, an equitable al... more Everything else being the same, an equal outcome is generally preferred; however, an equitable allocation sometimes is possible only by sacrificing the total amount of resources available to society. Moreover, direct interests may interact with the perception of equality. Here, we have investigated individual preferences, and their neural basis, by employing a task in which an allocation of a fixed amount between the subject and another person (MS condition) or two third parties (TP condition) is randomly determined. The subject can accept or reject the outcome, in the same fashion as the Ultimatum Game: thus an unequal offer may be rejected at the cost of a loss in total amount. Behavioral results show preference for equal outcomes in TP and for equal and advantageous outcomes in MS. An activation of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), extending to the anterior middle cingulate cortex (aMCC), was found in MS unequal outcomes, particularly for disadvantageous outcomes and consequent rejections. The anterior insula (AI) was active for unequal outcomes, in both MS and TP. We propose that the equal treatment is a default social norm, and its violation is signaled by the AI, whereas aMCC/mPFC activation, negatively correlated to rejections, reflects the effort to overcome the default rule of equal treatment in favor of a self-advantageous efficiency.► We manipulate equality and self-interest of the offer in a modified Ultimatum Game. ► Participants reject unequal and self-disadvantageous offers. ► Anterior insula signals inequality, independently of self-interest. ► Inequality is interpreted as a violation of expected outcome. ► Medial prefrontal cortex processes self-interested motivations.
Brain and Behavioral Sciences
Guala contests the validity of strong reciprocity as a key element in shaping social behavior by ... more Guala contests the validity of strong reciprocity as a key element in shaping social behavior by contrasting evidence from experimental games to that of natural and historic data. He suggests that in order to understand the evolution of social behavior researchers should focus on natural data and weak reciprocity. We disagree with Guala's proposal to shift the focus of the study from one extreme of the spectrum (strong reciprocity) to the other extreme (weak reciprocity). We argue that the study of the evolution of social behavior must be comparative in nature, and we point out experimental evidence that shows that social behavior is not cooperation determined by a set of fixed factors. We argue for a model that sees social behavior as a dynamic interaction of genetic and environmental factors.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (SCAN)
Behavioural brain …, Jan 1, 2008
In the Ultimatum Game, participants typically reject monetary offers they consider unfair even if... more In the Ultimatum Game, participants typically reject monetary offers they consider unfair even if the alternative is to gain no money at all. In the present study, ERPs were recorded while subjects processed different offers of a proposer. In addition to clearly fair and unfair offers, mid-value offers which cannot be easily classified as fair or unfair and therefore involve more elaborate decision making were analyzed. A fast initial distinction between fair and other kinds of offers was reflected by amplitude of the feedback related negativity (FRN). Mid-value offers were associated with longer RTs, and a larger N350 amplitude. In addition, source analyses revealed a specific involvement of the superior temporal gyrus and the inferior parietal lobule during processing of mid-value offers compared to offers categorized clearly as fair or unfair, suggesting a contribution of mentalizing about the intention of the proposer to the decision making process. Taken together, the present findings support the idea that economic decisions are significantly affected by non-rational factors, trying to narrow the gap between formal theory and the real decisional behaviour.
Cognition, Jan 1, 2010
The “irrational” rejections of unfair offers by people playing the Ultimatum Game (UG), a widely ... more The “irrational” rejections of unfair offers by people playing the Ultimatum Game (UG), a widely used laboratory model of economical decision-making, have traditionally been associated with negative emotions, such as frustration, elicited by unfairness (20 and 22). We recorded skin conductance responses as a measure of emotional activation while participants performed a modified version of the UG, in which they were asked to play both for themselves and on behalf of a third-party. Our findings show that even unfair offers are rejected when participants’ payoff is not affected (third-party condition); however, they show an increase in the emotional activation specifically when they are rejecting offers directed towards themselves (myself condition). These results suggest that theories emphasizing negative emotions as the critical factor of “irrational” rejections (Pillutla & Murninghan, 1996) should be re-discussed. Psychological mechanisms other than emotions might be better candidates for explaining this behaviour.
Giornale italiano di psicologia, Jan 1, 2009
Giornale italiano di psicologia ISSN : 0390-5349. Numero: 2, maggio 2009, Indice. DOI: 10.1421/29... more Giornale italiano di psicologia ISSN : 0390-5349. Numero: 2, maggio 2009, Indice. DOI: 10.1421/29757. Diabolico perseverare: risposta all'articolo bersaglio "Neuro-mania" David Polezzi, Claudia Civai, pp. 329-332 7 [pdf 33K ...
Talks by Claudia Civai
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Papers by Claudia Civai
(UG), has been interpreted as an expression of social preferences, such as inequity aversion and negative reciprocity; however, the traditional UG design limits the range of possible psychological interpretation of the results. Here, we employed three different designs for ultimatum games, finding support for a more comprehensive theory: behavior is driven by cognitive factors implementing rules such as equal splitting, speaking up for the idea that equity works as a cognitive heuristic, applicable when the environment provides no reason to behave otherwise.
Instead subjects deviate from this rule when environment changes, as, for instance, when personal interest is at stake.
Results show that behavior varies systematically with contextual cues, balancing the self-interest with the automatic application of the equity heuristic. Thus, the context suggests the rule to be applied in a specific situation.""
Talks by Claudia Civai
Teaching Documents by Claudia Civai
(UG), has been interpreted as an expression of social preferences, such as inequity aversion and negative reciprocity; however, the traditional UG design limits the range of possible psychological interpretation of the results. Here, we employed three different designs for ultimatum games, finding support for a more comprehensive theory: behavior is driven by cognitive factors implementing rules such as equal splitting, speaking up for the idea that equity works as a cognitive heuristic, applicable when the environment provides no reason to behave otherwise.
Instead subjects deviate from this rule when environment changes, as, for instance, when personal interest is at stake.
Results show that behavior varies systematically with contextual cues, balancing the self-interest with the automatic application of the equity heuristic. Thus, the context suggests the rule to be applied in a specific situation.""