MRI Brain Scan Studies
A Picture of a Homeless Person...
There is a part of your brain that processes thoughts of other people. In one study conducted at UC Berkley, Susan T. Biske used an MRI machine to see which part of the brain lit up while seeing different pictures. One test used the photo of a homeless man (to the left) to see what parts of the brain activated. When showed the picture, the main area of the brain that was activated was the insula, or the part of the brain that measures disgust and waste. What was more interesting, however, was that the part of people's brains that normally lights up while thinking about other people or yourself failed to light up. The test subjects did not see the homeless man as another person, but as an inanimate and disgusting object.
In terms of race...
Another experiment was done in the context of race. This experiment only tested people who identified as white or black. The test subjects were presented with pictures of white and black faces. When white participants were showed white faces, the part of their brain that specializes in human facial recognition lit up. However, when they were showed black faces. that part stayed quiet. Black people had the same reaction. The facial recognition part of their brain lit up when showed other black people, but did not when presented with photos of white people. Later in the experiment, the test subjects were given a pile of photos (some of which were the same from the first experiment and some were not) and asked to identify which photos they had seen in the first experiment. Both races rememebered more people from their own race as having been seen before.
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Race and empathy
In a third experiment, empathy was tested. The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the anterior insula are activated when we experience physical or emotional pain. When you see someone else in pain, these same areas are activated, which we call empathy. In this experiment, Peking University in China tested how these cortexes light up while seeing people of the same race or people of other races pricked by needles in the face. People had a much stronger response of empathy when watching people from their own race get pricked.
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Not just racial prejudice....
A similar experiment to the one above was conducted by the University of Zurich, but with a different classification of groups. Instead of testing people of different races, they only tested caucasian subjects, and they tested their reaction of empathy to people who supported their favorite sports team or the rival team. The subjects were shown videos of people wearing soccer jerseys getting their hands shocked. The subjects were given the option to help the victim by receiving a shock themselves. Subjects' were much more likely to provide support to those who were wearing the jersey of their preferred soccer team. Studies have been done with people who like the same food as the subjects, people who speak the same language, people who are wearing the same clothes, etc. The results always point to the same thing: we are more likely to have empathy and respect for people in our in-group than our out-group. This is explained in more depth in Henri Tajfel's "Social Identity Theory".
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