The Self Illusion

Index

Page numbers in italic refer to illustrations

Abu Ghraib prison 149–50, 163

abusive relationships 43, 74

adaptation 125, 141

Adcock, Paul 207

addiction 77, 106, 110, 128, 202, 203, 204, 205

adolescence xiii, 52, 68–9, 189, 190, 191

advertising and marketing 113

Aesop’s fables 115, 116, 123

aggression 8, 32, 72–4, 76, 77, 85–6, 209

Aikins, Deane 162

Ainsworth, Mary 36

alcohol 33, 79, 106, 194

alien hand syndrome 95

Allman, John 67

Alzheimer’s disease 33, 75

amblyopia 16

amygdala 33, 37, 85, 86, 162

analysis paralysis 123, 197

Anderson, Terry 31

anencephalic babies 13–14

animals

brains 21, 43

deprivation studies 16, 28, 42, 43

laughter 31–2

learned helplessness 121–2

Pavlovian conditioning 203

self-recognition 53

anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) 66, 104, 139

anthropomorphism 62

antisocial behaviour 36, 42, 50, 74, 75, 137

Arendt, Hannah 150

Ariely, Dan 124, 125, 127, 128

Armstrong, Lance 192

arousal 135, 162

see also sexual arousal

Asch, Solomon 143, 144, 146, 149

attachment behaviour 34, 35–8, 41, 132, 173

attention deficity hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) 79

Audition (film) 105–6, 108

authoritarianism 144, 146, 148, 149

authorship of action 93–5, 97, 98–9

autism 40, 64–6, 67, 194, 195, 202

autobiographical memories 57, 166, 168, 175

axons 5

babies

anencephalic babies 13–14

blank slate thesis xii, 25

blind and deaf babies 30

brain development 10, 14, 17, 28, 29–30, 42, 43

conscious awareness 23–4

eye movements 10, 213

facial recognition 27

imitative behaviour 28–9, 34, 44–5, 152

infant memories 54, 55, 56

language learning 18, 19, 20

laughter 31

Machiavellian baby 29, 35

mirror test 53–4, 54, 60, 61, 215

mother–infant attachment 34, 35–8

premature babies 42, 43

reflexes 13

self-recognition 53–4, 61

smiling 29–30

social development 33–4, 34–7, 39–40

see also children

baby training 19–20

babyness 34

Baggini, Julian 110

Baldwin, James Mark 25

Bale, Mary 88

banality of evil 150

Bargh, John 153

Barnum effect 172–3

Baron-Cohen, Simon 202

Bartlett, Sir Frederick 58, 176

basal ganglia 104

bats 23

Baumeister, Roy 106, 107, 108

Beckham, David 102

behaviourism 203

Belk, Russell 130

Bell, Vaughan 137

Berners-Lee, Tim 195

beta-blockers 162–3

Bianchi, Ken 177–8

Big-Five factors of personality 173–4

Bin Laden, Osama 200

binary code 4–5

Bishop, Dorothy 195

Blackmore, Susan viii

bladder control 108–9

Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne 68–9

blogging 202

Bloom, Paul 82, 208

Bogacz, Gerry 163, 164

bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism (BDSM) 180

Borg 197–8

Botox 46

Bowlby, John 36, 41, 76

boyd, danah 198

brain

anatomy 1, 2, 4–5, 8

coordinated functions x, 10

gender differences 71

hemispheres 95–6, 169–70

mirroring system 99, 151

the modelling brain xi, xii, 2–3, 213

neural connectivity 4, 5–8, 9, 13, 14–15, 15, 18, 27, 57, 67, 77, 90, 92, 194, 216

organization 8–13, 9, 14

parallel processing 6–7, 92, 214

size and weight 14, 20–1, 27

specialization 8, 21, 22

brain damage x, 13–14, 16, 33, 40, 95, 96

brain death 52

brain development 10, 14, 16–17, 28, 29–30, 42, 43, 214

critical (sensitive) periods 17, 19

brain plasticity 17, 18, 19, 20, 28, 158, 194

brain stem 8, 77

brand identities 130

Brinkley, Linda 206, 208

Bruer, John 20

Buddhism ix

bullying 138, 193

bundle theory ix, x

Cartesian Theatre 12

caudeate nucleus (CN) 104–5

celebrity culture 188–9, 192–3

cerebellum 9

Chabris, Chris 59

chameleon effect 151, 153

change blindness 157

children

ADHD 79

childhood memories 175–6

cultural differences 158–9

extended childhood 25, 26

feral 38–40

impulsivity 77–8, 79

object attachment 128

self-control 77–8, 79–80

social development xii–xiii, 22, 190, 194–5, 214

theory of mind 62, 63–4, 65, 68, 168

see also babies

chimpanzees 21, 32, 44, 61, 62

choice

analysis paralysis 123, 197

paradox of 123

perception of 121, 122–3, 124

Christakis, Nicholas 184, 185

chromosomes 69–70, 73, 74

Clinton, Bill 19

clustering 200

cognition 158

cognitive dissonance 116–17, 150, 160, 169, 174, 217

Cohen, June 195–6

collectivism 155, 156, 159, 175, 176

colonoscopy 126

combat troops 53, 153, 162–3

comfort eating 139

communication 16, 22, 26, 186

see also Internet; social networking; the Web

compliance 139, 143–4, 146, 147–9, 193, 197, 217

compulsions see obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

conditioning 203–4

confabulation 58, 60, 169, 171

conformity see compliance

conscious awareness xi, 94, 126

construction of the self xiii, 34, 82

influences on xii, xiv, 3, 50, 82, 181, 193–4, 215–16, 216

control, illusion of 114, 115, 117, 121, 122, 175, 218

Cool Hand Luke (film) 146

Cooley, Charles Horton 51

coprolalia 49

core self see essential self

corpus callosum 71, 96, 169

cortex 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 43, 66, 76, 93, 201

cortical suppression 33

cortisol 35

Cotard’s syndrome 52

counterfactuals 64

criminality 77, 86–8

crowds 183–4

see also herd mentality

crows 26

cultural stereotypes 133, 154–9, 175–6

Cyberball 138–9

Darwin, Charles 30, 53

death delusion 52

decision-making 91, 93, 123–4, 197, 217–18

external influences on 113, 117, 127, 133

justification of 114–15

loss aversion 119, 131, 132

relativity in 124–5

see also choice; compliance

degrees-of-freedom problem 91

deindividuation 137, 138, 146

delay of gratification 78, 79–80, 109

dementia 33, 75, 168, 169

Dennett, Dan xi, 12, 91

depersonalization 52–3

depression 122, 124, 140

deprivation, social 16, 20, 28, 41, 42, 43, 76–7, 194–5

Descartes, René 12

determinism 75, 90, 91, 92, 111

Dick, Philip J. 60

Dietrich, Noah vii

Dijksterhuis, Ap 151

disinhibition 37

dissociative identity disorders (DIDs) 52, 176–9

dopamine 74, 203, 204

Dr Strangelove syndrome 95

dread risks 120

dualism 95

Dunbar, Robin 20–1, 22, 201

Eagleman, David 86

ego theory ix, x

ego-depletion 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 139, 181

Eichmann, Adolf 150

Elliot, Jane 141–2

emotional contagion 47–8, 65, 200

empathy 46–7, 52, 62, 65, 106

endowment effect 131, 132–3

England, Lynndie 150

epilepsy 96, 203

episodic memory 56

Epstein, Robert 190

essential self 80, 82

illusion of a 82, 160, 211

essentialism 80–2

Evans, Dave 198

experiencing self 126

extended self 130, 133

eye movements 10, 213, 217

face-blindness 27

Facebook 188, 199, 201

facial recognition 27–8

Fallon, Jim 74, 75–6

false beliefs 63

false memories 58, 59, 60, 99, 164

fatalism 111, 122

feng shui 155

feral children 38–40

Festinger, Leon 116

Field, Matt 105–6

Field, Tiffany 43

Figes, Orlando 197

Fight Club (film) 177

flashbulb memories 161–2, 163

Flavell, John 23

Forer, Bertram 172

Frankl, Viktor 31

free will 88–90, 91, 93, 97, 98, 101, 103, 111, 122, 217

illusion of 89, 95, 97, 98, 111

Freud, Sigmund 31, 38, 114, 116

friendship formation 185

Frith, Uta 40

fronto-insular cortex (FIC) 66

fugue states 176–7

fundamental attribution error xiv

fusiform gyrus 27

Gagarin, Yuri 102

gallows humour 31

Gallup, Gordon 53

gambling 102, 204

Gazzaniga, Michael 96, 169–70

Gelman, Susan 81

gender identity 69–72

gender stereotypes 70, 71–2, 73–4, 154

genetic determinism 75

Genie 39

Ghahramani, Zoubin 187

‘ghost in the machine’ 89, 90, 91

Gibson, Mel vii

Gigerenzer, Gerd 120

Gladwell, Malcolm 22

glucose 107–8

Goldilocks effect 124

Goodall, Jane 62

Google 187, 198, 199

Gopnik, Alison 64, 65

gorillas 21, 62

gossiping brain 192

Grandin, Temple 66

Grant, Hugh 179

Great Selfini 98, 105, 111

Green, Sir Allan 179

group cohesion 33, 137–8, 143–4, 153, 199

group membership 140–1, 142, 185

groupthink 136

growth hormones 43

Harlow, Harry 42

Head, Alicia Esteve (‘Tania’) 161, 163–4, 171, 174

Hebb, Donald 5, 43

Helmholtz, Hermann von 114

herd mentality 137, 183, 193, 197

heterophily 185

heuristics 120

hippocampus 55

hoarding 130

Holocaust 31, 129, 149

homophily 185, 199, 200

homunculus 12, 89

Howe, Mark 60

Hubel, David 16

Hughes, Howard vii

Hume, David ix

Huntington’s disease 105

Hussein, Saddam 117, 149

Hutterite communities 22

hypnotism 53, 99, 100–1

imitation see mimicry

imprinting 17–18, 36

impulse control 49, 75, 153

impulsivity 11, 74, 77–8, 79, 128

individualism 138, 155–6, 159, 175, 176

information theory 4

inhibitory control 10, 11, 37, 49, 79, 86, 127, 190

see also self-control

inner self, notion of the ix, 11, 12, 13, 215

insanity defence 87

insula 47, 132

intermittent reinforcement 203–4

Internet 181, 218

see also the Web

Internet addiction 204, 205

Internet sex 208–10

interpreter system 169

Iraq War 117

isolation see deprivation, social

Itakura, Shoji 45

Itard, Jean 38–9

James, William 25, 128, 158

Kagan, Jerry 37

Kahneman, Daniel 126, 127, 131

Karmiloff-Smith, Annette 35

Keysers, Christian 64, 67

Knutson, Brian 132

Korsakoff’s syndrome 168–9

Lamarckian inheritance 186

Langer, Ellen 119

language development and learning 18–19, 20

laughter 30–3, 47

law enforcement 148–9

learned helplessness 121–2

Levi-Leleu, Michel 129

Lewinsky, Monica 19

L’Hermitte, François 97

Libet, Benjamin 93, 94

limbic system 8, 77, 104, 135, 162

Lipkins, Susan 209

locating the ‘self’ 11, 12, 12

Locke, John 25, 166

locusts 21

Loftus, Elizabeth 58, 60

looking-glass self xiii, 51–2, 68, 174, 215

Lorenz, Konrad 17, 34

loss aversion 119, 131, 132

Lucifer effect 144–6

McAdams, Dan 171

Machiavellian intelligence 21, 27, 29, 35, 152, 190

McLuhan, Marshall 205

Macrae, Neil 129

Maddux, William 133

MAOA gene abnormality 74

Marx, Groucho 140

Maslach, Christina 146

mass shootings 85, 139–40

materialism 128, 129, 130

The Matrix (film) 2

medial prefrontal cortex 132

memory 54–9, 165

autobiographical 57, 166, 168, 175

copying 165

disintegration 59

effects of meaning and context on 60–1

episodic 56

false memories 58, 59, 60, 99, 164

flashbulb memories 161–2, 163

formation 55, 56, 126, 161

infant and child memories 54, 55, 56, 175–6

loss 55, 168

memory-identity relationship 166, 167

primacy effect 126–7

recency effect 126–7

reconstruction 58

Mencken, H. L. 125

midbrain 8, 104

Miike, Takashi 105

Milgram, Stanley 146–8, 149, 163

Milligan, Billy 177

mimicry 28–9, 34, 44–5, 46, 47, 48–9, 50, 65, 66, 97, 99, 139, 151–2, 154, 183, 200, 215

mindblindness 64–6

Mirren, Helen 191, 192, 194

mirror misidentification 52, 53, 215

mirror neurons 45–7, 66, 151, 215

mirror test 53–4, 54, 60, 61, 215

mirror-touch synaesthesia 47, 215

mirroring behaviour see mimicry

Mischel, Walter 78

M’Naghten Rules 87

mob mentality see herd mentality

monkeys 27–8, 35, 42–3, 46

Monty Hall problem 117–19, 131, 120

Moore’s Law 196

moral compass 68, 76, 128, 137, 145

Morris, Katherine 180

Mr Bungle the Clown 209–10

multiple personalities see dissociative identity disorders (DIDs)

multiple realizability 92

multiple sclerosis 33

multiple selves viii, xiii 179–80

Murray, Liz xiii–xiv, 122

myths see self-narratives

Nagel, Thomas 23

narcissism 188

natural selection 17, 25, 186, 198

nature vs nurture 13, 14, 74, 75

Nelson, Chuck 40

neural networks 4, 5–8, 13, 14–15, 27, 57, 67, 77, 90, 92, 194, 216

neuroethics 86

neurons 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 15, 16, 57, 67, 91–2, 203

excitatory 5, 79, 89, 125

firing 4, 5, 125, 216

inhibitory 5, 89

interneurons 4

mirror neurons 45–7, 66, 151, 215

motor neurons 4, 8

sensory neurons 4

Von Economo neurons (VENs) 67

neurotransmitters 74, 79, 105

9/11 121, 161, 162, 163–4, 174

Nisbett, Richard 155, 158

nucleus accumbens 29, 132

object attachment 128–31, 132–3

obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) 103–4, 105, 130

olfactory bulb 170

orbital cortex 29, 74–5, 76

ostracism 33, 138–40, 143, 210

P300 signals 129

paedophilia 86

Panksepp, Jaak 32

paraylsis 95

Parfit, Derek 81

Pariser, Eli 198, 199

Parkinson’s disease 33, 105

Parks, Ken 87

Pavlov, Ivan 203

peek-a-boo 43

peer pressure 69, 143, 190

Penfield, Wilder 7–8

Penk, Steve 136

Perry, Bruce 76–7

personality traits 173–4

Piaget, Jean 56, 58

Pickering, Jo 207–8

piggy in the middle 138

Pinker, Steven 18, 115

polarization 136, 193, 199, 200

political extremism 136

Pollard, David 205–8, 208

positive illusions 174–5

post-natal depression 152

post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 162, 163

power stance 108

pre-industrial societies 22

prefrontal cortex (PFC) 69, 79, 86, 104

prejudice 107, 141, 152, 160

Premack, David 61

priming 111, 153–4, 159, 176

probabilities 119, 120

procrastination 123

propanolol 162

prosopagnosia 27

Provine, Robert 31

psychopaths 74–5, 76

public speaking 135

Pulp Fiction (film) 130

quantum indeterminacy 90

quantum physics 90–1

quarks 90

Quinn, Karl 193

racial stereotypes 154

Raging Bull (film) 47

randomness 90, 91

rats 14, 16, 32, 43, 203

Rayport, Mark 170–1

reaction formation 116

readiness potential (RP) 93

Reeves, Keanu 2

reflected self 216–17

reflexes 13, 95

regimentation 153

reincarnation 166

relativity 124–6, 127, 156

remembered selves 126–7

reward system 203–4

riots 137, 184

risk analysis 120–1, 124

risk taking 69, 102, 179, 190–1, 208

Ritalin 79

ritualistic behaviours 104, 105, 122

see also obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Rizzolatti, Giacomo 45–6

Rochat, Philippe 60–1, 138

role-playing 101, 145–6, 178, 179–81, 205–10

Romanian orphans 40–1

rouge test 53, 54, 61

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques 38

routines, changing 108–9

Rutter, Sir Michael 40

Ryder, Winona vii

Ryle, Gilbert 95

Sacks, Oliver 48, 49, 66, 168–9

Saleh, Kassem 209

schizophrenia 32

Schwartz, Barry 123

search engines 198

Second Life 205–8, 210

second-guessing others 64

self-concepts 133

self-consciousness 50, 61, 68, 137

self-control 32, 77–80, 106–7, 108, 109, 110, 181

see also inhibitory control

self-esteem 142, 192

self-identity 50, 128, 130, 141, 168

self-justification 116–17

self-narratives xi, xiii, 171–3, 174, 176

self-recognition 52, 53–4, 61

Seligman, Martin 122

serotonin 74, 105

sex chromosomes 70, 73, 74

sexting 209

sexual arousal 8, 86, 127–8

sexual role-playing 179–81, 208–10

Shannon, Claude 4

shopping 128, 129, 132

Simons, Dan 59

Singer, Isaac Bashevis 85

Skinner, B. F. 203

smiling 29–30, 46, 47, 75

social anxiety disorder 135–6

social coercion 99–100

social cognition 33, 139, 144

social cognitive neuroscience 22

social identity theory 142–3

social loafing 136, 156

social networking 184, 186, 188, 189, 191–3, 194, 199–201, 202–3, 208

see also group cohesion; group membership

social reinforcement 30

social rejection 138–40, 210

socially inappropriate behaviour 33, 49

sour grapes 115–16

Spears, Britney vii

Speck, Richard 73

Spiner, Brent 192

Spinoza, Baruch 89, 94

split-brain patients 96–7, 169–70

stampeding 183, 184

Stand By Me (film) 48

Stanford Prison Experiment 145–6

Star Trek 192, 197–8

statistical modelling 119–20

Steele, Claude 154

Steinberg, Lawrence 191

stereotypes 141, 154

and behaviour distortion 154

cultural 133, 154–9, 175–6

gender 70, 71–2, 73–4, 154

racial 154

sticky fixation 10

Stocker, David 69

Strawson, Galen ix

subliminal marketing 113

substance abuse x, 53, 86, 106, 110

suicide baiting 136–7

Sundén, Janny 188

supermale myth 73–4

supersitious behaviours 101–3

supplementary motor area 45

Sybil (film) 178

synaesthesia 47, 215

synchrony in social interaction 34, 47, 151, 152–3

tactile stimulation 32, 42–3

Tajfel, Henri 141

Tarzan 28, 39

tattoos 72

Taylor, Amy 205–8

teen brain hypothesis 190

teenage delinquency 190

Terms of Endearment (film) 106

testosterone 72, 108

texting 195

Thaler, Richard 131

Theophrastus 173

theory of mind 61–4, 65, 68, 168

Three Faces of Eve (film) 178

3-D printers 165

tickling 31, 32

Total Recall (film) 60

totalitarian ego 171

Tourette’s syndrome 49–50, 104, 181

trolls 194

Tuk, Mirjam 109

Turk, Dave 129

Turkle, Sherry 205

turn-taking 152, 153

Twelve Angry Men (film) 143, 144

Twenty Statements Test 133

twins xii–xii, 66, 79, 104

Twitter 188, 191–3, 199–200

uniqueness of individuals 165, 167, 173

utilization 97

Victor (feral boy) 38–9, 40

violence 76–7, 85

see also aggression

virtual worlds 205–11

vomiting 48

Waldroup, Bradley 74

Wang, Qi 175

Ward, Jamie 47

warrior gene 74, 75

Watson, J. B. 203

Wearing, Clive 55, 56

the Web 186–211

Wegner, Dan 97, 98, 99, 111

Weiner, Anthony 208

Werker, Janet 19

Whitman, Charles 85–6

Wiesel, Torsten 16

Wikipedia 196–7

Williams, Kip 138, 139

windows of opportunity 16–20, 41

Witterick, Kathy 69

Wolpert, Daniel 187

Woods, Tiger vii

Yamanashi, Masaaki 19

yawning 47–8

Zimbardo, Phil 145, 146, 148, 149

Zoolander, Derek 51, 52