ResearchProposalDraft

ExperimentalQuestion
ResearchQuestion:
Whatareasofthebrainbecomeactivewheninthepresenceofothers?

Background:
Whenpeoplelookatselfevaluation,thelastthingtheywillwonderaboutishowthey
actwhenbythemselvesversushowtheyactwhenaroundotherpeople.Itsobviousthatyou
dontactthesamewhenyourebyyourself,butwhatabouttheunnoticableorunconscious
effectsgroupsettingsmayhaveonpeople,andwhatareasofthebrainsimulatethis
behavior?TheconceptofsocialfacilitationisaphenomenapioneeredbyNormanTriplettin
1898,ittheorizesthatpeopleinthepresenceofothersperformbetterthantheydoversus
whentheyarealone.Normanfoundthatcyclistshadmuchfastertimeswhenridingwitha
partnerratherthanridingalone.Heconcludedthatthiswastheresultofpeoplesinherent
competitiveness,causingthewatchfuleyesofothersasanimpetustoexecutetasksbetter
(Triplett,1898).
Ontheotherendofthespectrum,socialloafingisanidenticaltheorythatfound
completelydifferentresults.In1913professorMaxRingelmannaskedvolunteerstopulla
rope,firstindividually,theningroups.Theresultswereunanticipated,whilepullingingroups,
individualspulledwithlesseffortthanwhentheypulledalone.Ringelmannfirstthoughtthat
perhapsthedeteriorationofeffortwhenpullingasagroupislikelycausedbypoor
communication,butthiswaslaterprovenwrongonadifferentexperiment(Ringelmann,
1913).
Themaininvestigationwillbefocusedontheprefrontalcortex,wheretheorbital
prefrontalcortexisassociatedwithmemoryandreward.Knownalsoasthefrontalcortex,this
areaofthebrainhasconnectionswithexecutivebehavior,orwhatsknownascognitive

processes.Fromherewecaninvestigatewhichsynapsesandneuronsactivateintwo
differentevents,whereinonethemodelwillbebyhimself,andtheotherwithanother
individualormore.Wewillalsobelookingsecondarilyattheparietallobe,wherethe
digestionofourenvironmentmayhaveaneffectonthebehaviorthatissimulatedbythe
frontallobe.
ModelOrganism
Thereareseveralmodelorganismsthatcanbeusedtoconductslightlyaltered
experimentsontoinvestigatetheeffectsofsocialfacilitationandloafingonthebrain.The
mostobviouschoicewouldbehuman.Whiletheremaybeanimalsthataresimilartohumans
inbehavior,itsimperativetoinvestigatethehumanbraindirectlywhenlookingtoanalyse
suchaspecificsocialbehaviorthatissofaronlyfoundinhumans.Theconofthisisthatit
maybehard,oreveninvasivetocheckthebrainwhilethemodelisstrainingandmoving
around.Humansaretheonlymodeltobeabletosimulatethetasksthatwerepreviously
recordedbyotherscientists,suchasropepullingorevenridingabicycle.
ExperimentalTechnique
Theexperimenttobeconductedconsistsofseveralcarboncopyofprevious
experiments,withslightmodificationtobeabletomonitortheirbrainactivity.Animaging
techniquethatstoodouttomethatmaybethemostusefulisPetscan.Theparticipantwillbe
injectedwithaharmlessradioactivesubstancethatmonitorstheactivityofonespecific
neuronormolecule.Theparticipantwillbeplacedinaroomunderawidetechnologythatwill
beabletorecordtheradioactiveneuronsthatarenowinthebrain.Fromtherealoudspeaker
atthecorneroftheroomwillinstructtheparticipanttoasetoftasks.
Thefirsttaskwillbetheropeexperiment,asemireplicaRinglemannsexperiment.The
participantwillbetoldtopullonaropethatisconnectedtoaspringtension,andthe

participantmustkeeppullingontheropeuntilaredmarkontheropeispastacertain
distance.Todetecthiseffortaspecialtypeofglovewillbewornbytheparticipanttorecord
thegripstrengthandpullamount.Oncehisbrainactivityandeffortisrecorded,givethe
participantafiveminutebreaktoregainhisstrength.Nowenters58moreparticipantthatwill
onlyslightlyhelpwiththepull.Onceagainthemainexperimentalparticipanteffortwillbe
recordedwiththegloves.Afterthisisdone,comparethetworesults,beforethebrain
comparisonismade,therecordingofeffortfromthesecondtrymustbelessthanthefirst,to
makesuresocialloafingtookeffect.
Fromtheresultofthepetscanwewillhopefullybeabletoseewhichmoleculesor
neuronsbecomeactivatediftheparticipantchangedhisbehaviorwhensurroundedbypeers.
Totestsocialfacilitation,wewilltestagroupofpeoplethatplaysacertainsport,such
asrunning.ForthisexperimentIwillneedadifferenttypeofimagingorbrainrecording
technology,perhapselectrophysiologyifitrecordsbrainactivity.Firsthavetherunnerruna
usualonemile,donttellhimorherthatthetimewillberecorded.Again,lethimrestfora
whiletoregainhisstrength,thenmakehimrunagain,thistimewithapartner.Thefinal
caveatwouldbetomakesurethatthesecondrunhasasignificantdifferencetotheother
result.
Theoutcomeoftheexperimentshouldreflectonifthesocialfacilitationorloafingisa
legitimatephenomena,andtestwhatpartofthebrainactivatesissimulatedwhenan
individualissurroundedbyothersofthesamespecies.Fromtherewecanstudyhow
differenttypesofpeoplereacttodifferenttypesofsituationsorsocialinteractions.For
examplehowsomepeopleclaimtobeextrovertsorintroverts,andwhatthatactuallymeans
inthebrain.Perhapstheresultmayevenclosethegaponunderstandingparticipant
psychologyorcurethingslikepsychopathy.Therecanbemanyothertypesofexperiments

thatusesdifferenttypesofimagingtotestbrainactivity.Itsperhapsworthatrytoalsouse
structuralmritomapthebrainforthepeopleinwhicheithersocialfacilitationorloafingworks
on.

Societal&EthicalImpacts

Theprocessofanuninvasiveelectroencephalographyhasbarelyanyethicalor
societalimpacts.Peoplemustvolunteertobeabletoparticipateinthestudy,therefore,any
kindofconfidentialityorconsentisanobviousprerequisite.Therearenolikelylongterm
outcomeoraftereffectsasthetechnologyusedtorecordelectricalimpulsesinthebraindoes
notpermanentlyaltertheuserorleavesanynoticeablemarks.Thebenefitsoftheresearch
mightbeabletohelpanswerthequestionsofwhysomepeoplearemorecomfortablethan
othersinagroupsettingwhileothersmightprefertoworkalone.
Anotherpointthatcouldberaisedisthatitcouldshowwhichisactuallybetter,towork
alone,ortoworkcollaborativelywithotherintheshortorlongterm.Therearenoactual
drawbacksthatcouldbedrawnfromthisresearchexceptmaybethetimeittooktoundergo
theexperimentsandthemoneythatisinvolvedinusingorbuyingsuchtechnologies.
Thiswouldactuallybeveryeasytoshowhowthebraindealswithintroversionor
extroversion.Whenweshowwhichsynapsesorneuronsareactiveduringpeopleinsocial
situationsorwhentheyarealone.Thiswillbeaverylowcostloweffortandreliability
researchtoshowhowthebrainworks.

References

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Ajzen, I., & Madden, T. (1986). Prediction Of Goal-directed Behavior: Attitudes, Intentions,
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Harkins, S. (1987). Social loafing and social facilitation.
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http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0022103187900229