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A Neurocognitive Perspective on the Development of Social Decision-Making

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Abstract

In this chapter, we review evidence for the hypothesis that developmental changes in cognitive control and perspective taking are crucial in understanding age-related changes in social behavior. Studies that have examined the developmental roots of prosocial behavior using experimental economic games show that other-oriented concern and a preference for fairness emerge early in development. Continued development of intentionality understanding and strategic behavior in bargaining situations suggest that perspective taking and cognitive control undergo extended development and continue to contribute to changes in social behavior well into adolescence. Functional neuroimaging studies have shown that these behavioral changes are accompanied by an increased recruitment of brain regions implicated in cognitive control (e.g., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) and perspective taking (e.g., temporoparietal junction). Together these studies show that developmental changes in cognitive control and perspective taking and their underlying neural circuitry are associated with progressively more strategic thinking and an increased incorporation of other’s perspectives into social decision-making across development.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Eduard Klapwijk and Amy Skerry for helpful comments on an earlier version of this chapter and Anouk Haegens for help with the figures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Geert-Jan Will & Berna Güroğlu

  2. Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University Medical Center, P.O. Box 9600, Leiden, 2300 RC, The Netherlands

    Geert-Jan Will & Berna Güroğlu

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  1. Geert-Jan Will
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Correspondence to Geert-Jan Will .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Differentielle and Biologische Psychologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms- Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Martin Reuter

  2. Department of Molecular Psychology, Institute for Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany and Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, School of Life Science and Technology, Center for Information in Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China

    Christian Montag

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Will, GJ., Güroğlu, B. (2016). A Neurocognitive Perspective on the Development of Social Decision-Making. In: Reuter, M., Montag, C. (eds) Neuroeconomics. Studies in Neuroscience, Psychology and Behavioral Economics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35923-1_15

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