Department of Psychology, Northeastern University.
Cogn Neuropsychol. 2021 May;38(3):205-230. doi: 10.1080/02643294.2021.1976127. Epub 2021 Sep 16.
Laypeople prefer brain explanations of behavior (Weisberg, Keil, Goodstein, Rawson, & Gray, 2008). We suggest that this preference arises from 'intuitive Dualism'. For the Dualist, mentalistic causation elicits a mind-body dissonance, as it suggests that the immaterial mind affects the body. Brain causation attributes behavior to the body, so it alleviates the dissonance, hence, preferred. We thus predict stronger brain preference for epistemic traits - those perceived as least material, even when no explanation is required. To test this prediction, participants diagnosed clinical conditions using matched brain- and behavioral tests. Experiments 1-2 showed that epistemic traits elicited stronger preference for brain tests. Experiment 3 confirmed that epistemic traits are perceived as immaterial. Experiment 4 showed that, the less material the trait seems, the stronger the surprise (possibly, dissonance) and brain preference. Results offer new insights into public perception of science, the role of intuitive Dualism, and the seductive allure of neuroscience.
外行人更喜欢用大脑来解释行为（Weisberg、Keil、Goodstein、Rawson 和 Gray，2008）。我们认为这种偏好源于“直观二元论”。对于二元论者来说，心理因果关系引起了身心不和谐，因为它暗示了非物质的心灵会影响身体。大脑因果关系将行为归因于身体，因此减轻了不和谐，因此更受欢迎。因此，我们预测对于认知特质——那些被认为最不具有物质性的特质，即使不需要解释，也会有更强的大脑偏好。为了检验这一预测，参与者使用匹配的大脑和行为测试来诊断临床病症。实验 1-2 表明，认知特质会引发对大脑测试的更强偏好。实验 3 证实了认知特质被认为是非物质的。实验 4 表明，特质看起来越不具有物质性，就会引起越强的惊讶（可能是不和谐）和大脑偏好。研究结果为公众对科学的看法、直观二元论的作用以及神经科学的诱人魅力提供了新的见解。
