Ali Mahmoodi: Behavioural and Neural Basis of Social Influence

Abstract

Humans seek advice, via social interaction, to improve their decisions. While social interaction is often reciprocal, the role of reciprocity in social influence is unknown. Here, we tested the hypothesis that our influence on others affects how much we are influenced by them. In the first part of this presentation, I will talk about role of reciprocity in advice taking. Participants first made a visual perceptual estimate and then shared their estimate with an alleged partner. Then, in alternating trials, the participant either revised their decisions or observed how the partner revised theirs.

We systematically manipulated the partner’s susceptibility to influence from the participant. We showed that participants reciprocated influence with their partner by gravitating toward the susceptible (but not insusceptible) partner’s opinion. In further experiments, we showed that reciprocity is both a dynamic process and is abolished when people believed that they interacted with a computer. In the second part, I will talk about how confidence mediates human advice taking and its neural basis using human fMRI.