Neuronal Correlates of "First Impressions?"

Scientists at NYU and Harvard are claiming to have mapped sites of neural activity involved in the forming of first impressions on meeting another person. How does one meet a new person while firmly ensconced inside an fMRI machine? Read on:

The Nature Neuroscience study sought to investigate the brain mechanisms that give rise to impressions formed immediately after meeting a new person. It was conducted in the laboratory of Elizabeth Phelps, an NYU professor of psychology and neuroscience and one of the co-authors. The study's lead author was Daniela Schiller, a post-doctoral fellow in NYU's Department of Psychology and its Center for Neural Science.

...To explore the process of first impression formation, the researchers designed an experiment in which they examined the brain activity when these participants made initial evaluations of fictional individuals. The participants were given written profiles of 20 individuals implying different personality traits. The profiles, presented along with pictures of these fictional individuals, included scenarios indicating both positive (e.g., intelligent) and negative (e.g., lazy) traits in their depictions.

After reading the profiles, the participants were asked to evaluate how much they liked or disliked each profiled individual. These impressions varied depending on how much each participant valued the different positive and negative traits conveyed. For instance, if a participant liked intelligence more than they disliked laziness, he or she might form a positive impression. During this impression formation period, participants' brain activity was observed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Based on the participants' ratings, the researchers were able to determine the difference in brain activity when they encountered information that was more, as opposed to less, important in forming the first impression. _PO

I give the researchers a B for effort. But I give them an F for making claims beyond what their study actually demonstrates. The problem is that they were only "simulating" the meeting of a new acquaintaince. Within the difference between simulation and reality lies an entire universe of distinction.

The same problem with over-reliance on simulations and models underlies the huge global financial crisis that President Obama is currently turning into a depression. The same over reliance on make believe underlies the quasi-scientific climate catastrophe religion looming over the vital energy supplies of the western world.

I understand that there are limits to realism when it comes to the scientific dissection of natural mechanisms, using hypotheses and experiment. But scientists need to be modest in their claims, taking into account the corners they have to cut in order to conduct experiments.