Saxe's work is definitely interdisciplinary. Merely looking at the journals in which she has been published showcases the multitude of disciplines her research bridges. Psychology, Philosophy, Biology, Chemistry, Neurology, and Cognitive Science.
Saxe's study of the human mind obviously involves chemical and biological process, but the inclusion of Psychology and Philosophy covers her hypotheses as well as the influence of human behavior.
As a result, her research would also include such disciplines.
I am trying to find descriptions of what the journals her work has been published in focus on, but many of the publisher's sites merely describe the ethics expected when submitting articles for publication. Any ideas?
Monday, February 2, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Looking for Ideas
I think that Saxe may systematically scan publications focusing on her area of cognitive study; specifically the Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience journal from Oxford University. I think that Saxe would be especially partial to this journal since she attended Oxford herself. Another example is Social Neuroscience from Psychology Press. Through my research I discovered that much like the History discipline, Neuroscience also publishes compendiums of selected readings that have contributed to the field. The website for Social Neuroscience offers a list of suggested reading- the first suggestion being Social Neuroscience: Key Readings edited by John T. Cacioppo and Gary G. Berntson. (http://www.psypress.com/socialneuroscience/books.asp )
Earlier this week I mentioned that Saxe may reference common magazines for observations of children, but as my research of her area of expertise grows I have realized that her research has encompassed far more than the Popular Science brief mentioned. It seems that research in the field of Social Cognitive Neuroscience has been ongoing for quite some time (as compared to something like nanotechnology I’m sure) so Saxe has a plethora of information to examine, but it would be interesting to know- with the aid of a well –educated scientist- how much of the older research has been disproved.
Earlier this week I mentioned that Saxe may reference common magazines for observations of children, but as my research of her area of expertise grows I have realized that her research has encompassed far more than the Popular Science brief mentioned. It seems that research in the field of Social Cognitive Neuroscience has been ongoing for quite some time (as compared to something like nanotechnology I’m sure) so Saxe has a plethora of information to examine, but it would be interesting to know- with the aid of a well –educated scientist- how much of the older research has been disproved.
Monday, January 26, 2009
You found that information where???
I find it hard to believe that a scientist of Saxe's level would serendipitously scan for ideas, but isn't it the way that the best ideas come at the strangest times. Think of the eureka moment that occurs in the shower or in the middle of the night. I would think that Saxe, the the perusal of published material, may come across something that would spark an epiphany, but I doubt that she goes in search of new ideas by reading the work of others.
The journals in which her own work is published such as Annual Review of Psychology, Psychological Science, and Brain Research would offer the most fitting articles for comparison to her own work, but it could be argued that common magazines such as Parents would offer insight into her study of infants. The observations of parents of infants on a daily basis offer valuable insight into the behaviors of their children in familiar environments. Although Saxe does maintain the play lab, I can't help but think that children would behave differently at home as they would from the lab. Only with regular visits to the lab would the infants become familiar with the atmosphere. I'll admit that I'm not a scientist, but am drawing these conclusions based on my experience with my own extended family. Much like an infant will cry when held by someone who is a stranger to them, I'm struggling to accept that the children in Saxe's study are completely at ease in the play lab and that is why I would consider common parenting magazines appropriate resources for Saxe in her research.
The journals in which her own work is published such as Annual Review of Psychology, Psychological Science, and Brain Research would offer the most fitting articles for comparison to her own work, but it could be argued that common magazines such as Parents would offer insight into her study of infants. The observations of parents of infants on a daily basis offer valuable insight into the behaviors of their children in familiar environments. Although Saxe does maintain the play lab, I can't help but think that children would behave differently at home as they would from the lab. Only with regular visits to the lab would the infants become familiar with the atmosphere. I'll admit that I'm not a scientist, but am drawing these conclusions based on my experience with my own extended family. Much like an infant will cry when held by someone who is a stranger to them, I'm struggling to accept that the children in Saxe's study are completely at ease in the play lab and that is why I would consider common parenting magazines appropriate resources for Saxe in her research.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
What types of resources does Saxe use?
In attempting to study Saxe's reference sources one of the articles referenced in her MIT biographical snippet was freely available on the net, but the rest required subscriptions to online databases.
I discovered that locating Saxe's articles was quite a challenge. Stapleton Library at Indiana University of Pennsylvania was able to provide full-text digitization's for only 3 of the 12 listed articles through Ebsco. Three were available in print in the serials department. I used IUP's resources rather than Clarion's because it was far easier to search for the articles on campus rather than from a remote location where I had to constantly re-sign in for access to the various databases.
The articles "It's the Thought that Counts...," "Secret Agents...," and "Understanding Other Minds..." all utilize a great number of resources. "Understanding Other Minds..." had a 7.5 page Literature Cited list!
Overall, the articles utilized psychology oriented publications and articles and books pertaining to childhood development. Saxe's research focus on infants and their ability to recognize visual stimulants--(really stretching my scientific jargon that hasn't been used in 3 years) requires a wide variety of material discussing neurology and psychology and it is evident through the bibliographies that this has been achieved-- one resource is titled
Neuropsychology.
It seems that most of the references are trying to prove nearly the same things as Saxe, but have only completed a portion of the processes Saxe has achieved. I searched for a few of the articles Saxe referenced and found that the Psychology articles were much easier to locate in full-text format than any of the Neurology focused. The differences between institutions effects the available resources. Perhaps if IUP offered a major in Neurology more articles would be readily available...I could only imagine the presence of future Neurosurgeons in Indiana.
I discovered that locating Saxe's articles was quite a challenge. Stapleton Library at Indiana University of Pennsylvania was able to provide full-text digitization's for only 3 of the 12 listed articles through Ebsco. Three were available in print in the serials department. I used IUP's resources rather than Clarion's because it was far easier to search for the articles on campus rather than from a remote location where I had to constantly re-sign in for access to the various databases.
The articles "It's the Thought that Counts...," "Secret Agents...," and "Understanding Other Minds..." all utilize a great number of resources. "Understanding Other Minds..." had a 7.5 page Literature Cited list!
Overall, the articles utilized psychology oriented publications and articles and books pertaining to childhood development. Saxe's research focus on infants and their ability to recognize visual stimulants--(really stretching my scientific jargon that hasn't been used in 3 years) requires a wide variety of material discussing neurology and psychology and it is evident through the bibliographies that this has been achieved-- one resource is titled
Neuropsychology.
It seems that most of the references are trying to prove nearly the same things as Saxe, but have only completed a portion of the processes Saxe has achieved. I searched for a few of the articles Saxe referenced and found that the Psychology articles were much easier to locate in full-text format than any of the Neurology focused. The differences between institutions effects the available resources. Perhaps if IUP offered a major in Neurology more articles would be readily available...I could only imagine the presence of future Neurosurgeons in Indiana.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Who is Rebecca Saxe and what is she doing?
Rebecca Saxe is a former philosophy student who turned to science to study ho the human brain processes the information received by the eyes and ears. In 2005, Saxe proved that a single, specific part of the brain is dedicated to thinking about others’ desires.
Utilizing, what she has named the Playlab, Saxe is studying babies and how they interact with other babies to determine when and how the brain starts to recognize people and interact socially. Saxe explains, "[The mind] makes us make systematic mistakes over and over again, as individuals but also as societies, in how we mete out punishment and who we value, and who we think is good and who we think is bad, and how we try to change behavior for better or for worse," she says. "Maybe we can prevent ourselves from making those same mistakes again and again and again. That would be success." http://www.popsci.com/category/tags/brilliant-10-class-2008
To begin this research project I found Saxe on the MIT website. Her faculty entry describers her position at the institute and presents a short abstract (not sure if that word does the paragraph justice) exemplifying Saxe’s scientific frame of mind and the goals of her ongoing research. MIT also provides a short bibliography of Saxe’s published works. It is through the mentioned works that someone could find a more complete description of Saxe’s research.
Uniquely Human Social Cognition Saxe R (2006) Current Opinion in Neurobiology.
The perception of Causality in Infancy. Saxe R, Carey S. (2006) Acta Psychologica
It's the thought that counts: Specific brain regions for one component of Theory of Mind. Saxe R, Powell L. (2006) Psychological Science
Divide and Conquer: a defense of functional localizers Saxe R, Brett M, Kanwisher N (2006) Neuroimage.
Why and how to study Theory of Mind with fMRI. Saxe, R. (2006) Brain Research .
Secret Agents: Inferences about hidden causes by 10- and 12-month-old infants. Saxe R, Tenenbaum J, Carey S (2005) Psychological Science 16(12) p 995 - 1001.
Five-month-old infants know humans are solid, like inanimate objects Saxe R, Tzelnic T, Carey S (2006) Cognition.
Against Simulation: the Argument from Error. Saxe, R. (2005) Trends in Cognitive Science 9(4):174-9.
Dissociation between emotion and personality judgments: Convergent evidence from functional neuroimaging. Heberlein A, Saxe, R. (2005) Neuroimage .
Making sense of another mind: the role of the right temporo-parietal junction. Saxe R, Wexler A. (2005) Neuropsychologia.
My body or yours? The effect of visual perspective on cortical body representation. Saxe R, Jamal N, Powell L (2005) Cerebral Cortex.
Understanding other minds: linking developmental psychology and functional neuroimaging. Saxe R, Carey S, Kanwisher N (2004) Annual Review of Psychology 55:87-124.
A region of right posterior superior temporal sulcus responds to observed intentional actions. Saxe R, Xiao DK, Kovacs G, Perrett DI, Kanwisher N (2004) Neuropsychologia 42(11):1435-46.
People thinking about thinking people: fMRI studies of Theory of Mind. Saxe R, Kanwisher N (2003)Neuroimage. 19(4):1835-42.
( http://web.mit.edu/bcs/people/saxe.shtml )
Simply ‘Googling’ “Rebecca Saxe” provides sites and articles from MIT (http://saxelab.mit.edu/ and http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/saxe-tt0514.html ) as well as articles from forums such as Boston Review (http://bostonreview.net/BR29.1/saxe.html ) to name only a few of the results.
Utilizing, what she has named the Playlab, Saxe is studying babies and how they interact with other babies to determine when and how the brain starts to recognize people and interact socially. Saxe explains, "[The mind] makes us make systematic mistakes over and over again, as individuals but also as societies, in how we mete out punishment and who we value, and who we think is good and who we think is bad, and how we try to change behavior for better or for worse," she says. "Maybe we can prevent ourselves from making those same mistakes again and again and again. That would be success." http://www.popsci.com/category/tags/brilliant-10-class-2008
To begin this research project I found Saxe on the MIT website. Her faculty entry describers her position at the institute and presents a short abstract (not sure if that word does the paragraph justice) exemplifying Saxe’s scientific frame of mind and the goals of her ongoing research. MIT also provides a short bibliography of Saxe’s published works. It is through the mentioned works that someone could find a more complete description of Saxe’s research.
Uniquely Human Social Cognition Saxe R (2006) Current Opinion in Neurobiology.
The perception of Causality in Infancy. Saxe R, Carey S. (2006) Acta Psychologica
It's the thought that counts: Specific brain regions for one component of Theory of Mind. Saxe R, Powell L. (2006) Psychological Science
Divide and Conquer: a defense of functional localizers Saxe R, Brett M, Kanwisher N (2006) Neuroimage.
Why and how to study Theory of Mind with fMRI. Saxe, R. (2006) Brain Research .
Secret Agents: Inferences about hidden causes by 10- and 12-month-old infants. Saxe R, Tenenbaum J, Carey S (2005) Psychological Science 16(12) p 995 - 1001.
Five-month-old infants know humans are solid, like inanimate objects Saxe R, Tzelnic T, Carey S (2006) Cognition.
Against Simulation: the Argument from Error. Saxe, R. (2005) Trends in Cognitive Science 9(4):174-9.
Dissociation between emotion and personality judgments: Convergent evidence from functional neuroimaging. Heberlein A, Saxe, R. (2005) Neuroimage .
Making sense of another mind: the role of the right temporo-parietal junction. Saxe R, Wexler A. (2005) Neuropsychologia.
My body or yours? The effect of visual perspective on cortical body representation. Saxe R, Jamal N, Powell L (2005) Cerebral Cortex.
Understanding other minds: linking developmental psychology and functional neuroimaging. Saxe R, Carey S, Kanwisher N (2004) Annual Review of Psychology 55:87-124.
A region of right posterior superior temporal sulcus responds to observed intentional actions. Saxe R, Xiao DK, Kovacs G, Perrett DI, Kanwisher N (2004) Neuropsychologia 42(11):1435-46.
People thinking about thinking people: fMRI studies of Theory of Mind. Saxe R, Kanwisher N (2003)Neuroimage. 19(4):1835-42.
( http://web.mit.edu/bcs/people/saxe.shtml )
Simply ‘Googling’ “Rebecca Saxe” provides sites and articles from MIT (http://saxelab.mit.edu/ and http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/saxe-tt0514.html ) as well as articles from forums such as Boston Review (http://bostonreview.net/BR29.1/saxe.html ) to name only a few of the results.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)