Humans spontaneously infer information about others to perceive the similarity in behaviors and t... more Humans spontaneously infer information about others to perceive the similarity in behaviors and traits among people in our social environments. However, evaluating the similarity among people can be achieved through multiple frames of reference: other-to-other differences (allocentric similarity) or self-to-other differences (egocentric similarity), which are difficult to dissociate with behavioral measures alone. Here, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging to test whether the similarity of brain response patterns when thinking of others and the self is predicted by models of allocentric and egocentric similarity in the trait-judgments of well-acquainted peers from 20 independent groups of people (total N = 108; within-subject design). Results show that both allocentric and egocentric similarity during person representation are reflected in brain response similarity patterns when thinking of others but do so differentially and in non-overlapping brain systems. Specifically, a...
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Papers by Jack Kapustka