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In this paper we begin to explore how knowledges being generated in bioscience might be brought into productive articulation with the Sociology of Education, considering the potential for emerging transdisciplinary, 'biosocial' approaches to enable new ways of researching and understanding pressing educational issues. In this paper, as in our current research, we take learning as our focus. Our work brings together collaborators from across fields: sociology of education; molecular biology and biochemistry; cognitive neuroscience; fMRI imaging; and EEG. Through the paper we explore the generative potential of an encounter between life sciences and sociology of education. Through consideration of the conceptual and methodological elements of our 'Synchrony in Learning' research and engagement with our pilot experimental approach, our research is suggesting that our central concept, learning, is undergoing metamorphosis, challenging us to understand learning as a phenomenon produced through the intra-action of a multiplicity of forces and processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The overarching aim of this study is to create a theoretical pedagogical framework within which to develop competences for students so they will be able to encounter hitherto unknown challenges related to renewable energy education and thus to apply different aspects of this rapidly developing technology. • The paper aims to make an approach to include solar energy education within the framework of an upgraded version of the socio-cultural theory for learning. • The intention is to connect this educational domain to educational neuroscience and to contemporary research on creativity. Abstract The aim in this paper is to upgrade experiences from traditional studies on solar energy education to include social, sociological and pedagogical aspects. This is done in order to develop insights beyond production of artifacts. The aim is promotion of educational means for utilization of the artifacts developed. This includes upgrading knowledge about hardware as well as about software, and in this process also to upgrade our ways of thinking. This implies changing our neurological mindset in accordance with continuous development of knowledge within these domains. The scope of this paper is thus to discuss development of curricula and pedagogical means for teaching and learning within the domain of renewable energy education. The paper also aims to make a tentative approach to include solar energy education within the framework of an upgraded version of the socio-cultural theory for learning. A tentative approach is also made, with the intention, to connect this educational domain to educational neuroscience and to contemporary research on creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How moral decision-making occurs, matures over time and relates to behaviour is complex. To develop a full picture of moral decision-making, moral development and moral behaviour it is necessary to understand: (a) how real-time moral decisions are made (including relevant social and contextual factors), (b) what processes are required to develop to enable mature moral decisions, (c) how these processes develop over time, and (d) how moral decisions relate to behaviour. In this paper, psychological and social neuroscience theories of moral decision-making and development are briefly reviewed, as is the development of relevant component processes. Various component processes and factors are seen as required for moral decision-making and development, yet there is no comprehensive framework incorporating these components into one explanation of how real-time moral decisions are made and mature. In this paper, we integrated these components into a new framework based on social information processing (SIP) theory. Situational factors, and how both cognitive and affective processes guide moral decisions was incorporated into the Social Information Processing-Moral Decision-Making (SIP-MDM) framework, drawing upon theories and findings from developmental psychology and social neuroscience. How this framework goes beyond previous SIP models was outlined, followed by a discussion of how it can explain both real-time moral decisions and moral development. We concluded with how the SIP-MDM framework could be used to guide future research and theory development in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions is a model for cross-cultural studies. To Hofstede, culture is "mental programming" derived from the social environment, shaping behaviours. Yet, intercultural researcher Dr. Nguyen Phuong-Mai suggests Hofstede's metaphor belies social determinism. With insights from Cultural Neuroscience, Nguyen proposes the Diversity Pathways model, marrying Evolutionary Biology and Cultural Sociology. Yet, unlike Hofstede's model, Nguyen's model is still developing as a unique expression of Cognitive Sociology, so is not yet realised for practical research. This paper attempts to reorient Diversity Pathways towards a practical methodological approach. To do this, it draws upon sociological insights from theorists Michel Foucault, Bruno Latour, and Jacques Derrida to analyse, and extend, a theoretical model of culture construction, offering a postmodernist pragmatic discourse. We propose a re-centring of Nguyen's model to place culture at its core while addressing critical concerns on genealogy, différance, and socio-technicality. To demonstrate the utility of our proposal, we then draw upon the construction of institutionalised racism in the United States. This tentatively introduces the model's value as a practical research tool for the discipline of Cultural Studies, introducing a new tool for researchers, which is particularly useful in underfunded, underprivileged, or remote contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuroscience research on sex difference is currently a controversial field, frequently accused of purveying a ‘neurosexism’ that functions to naturalise gender inequalities. However, there has been little empirical investigation of how information about neurobiological sex difference is interpreted within wider society. This paper presents a case study that tracks the journey of one high-profile study of neurobiological sex differences from its scientific publication through various layers of the public domain. A content analysis was performed to ascertain how the study was represented in five domains of communication: the original scientific article, a press release, the traditional news media, online reader comments and blog entries. Analysis suggested that scientific research on sex difference offers an opportunity to rehearse abiding cultural understandings of gender. In both scientific and popular contexts, traditional gender stereotypes were projected onto the novel scientific information, which was harnessed to demonstrate the factual truth and normative legitimacy of these beliefs. Though strains of misogyny were evident within the readers’ comments, most discussion of the study took pains to portray the sexes’ unique abilities as equal and ‘complementary’. However, this content often resembled a form of benevolent sexism, in which praise of women’s social-emotional skills compensated for their relegation from more esteemed trait-domains, such as rationality and productivity. The paper suggests that embedding these stereotype patterns in neuroscience may intensify their rhetorical potency by lending them the epistemic authority of science. It argues that the neuroscience of sex difference does not merely reflect, but can actively shape the gender norms of contemporary society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epigenetics has considerable potential to transform social science by embedding mutually regulative reciprocal connections between biological and social processes within the human activities it studies. This paper highlights common epigenetic methods and outlines practical considerations in the design of ‘social epigenetics' research addressing the identification of biomolecular pathways, statistical inference of causality, conceptualization of the environment as a biochemical event, heritability of epigenetic alterations and intergenerational accountability, and concept of time implied by attempts to capture complex, non-linear gene-environment interactions. Finally, we reflect on the social epigenome as a conceptual space and try to identify barriers to translation, and practical and ethical issues raised by epigenetics research. In order for social epigenetics and social science to contribute to the emergence of this putative ‘science of social science’’ and to capture meaningful human experience they will both need to change significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent theories from complexity science argue that complex dynamics are ubiquitous in social and economic systems. These claims emerge from the analysis of individually simple agents whose collective behavior is surprisingly complicated. However, economists have argued that iterated reasoning–what you think I think you think–will suppress complex dynamics by stabilizing or accelerating convergence to Nash equilibrium. We report stable and efficient periodic behavior in human groups playing the Mod Game, a multi-player game similar to Rock-Paper-Scissors. The game rewards subjects for thinking exactly one step ahead of others in their group. Groups that play this game exhibit cycles that are inconsistent with any fixed-point solution concept. These cycles are driven by a “hopping” behavior that is consistent with other accounts of iterated reasoning: agents are constrained to about two steps of iterated reasoning and learn an additional one-half step with each session. If higher-order reasoning can be complicit in complex emergent dynamics, then cyclic and chaotic patterns may be endogenous features of real-world social and economic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociophysiology was a term used early in the history of sociology and then again 25 years ago to describe interactions between the 'social' and the 'biological' worlds. Social scientists had largely viewed biology and the brain as a 'black box' that was not an active aspect of their work or theories. A landmark, unpublished conference in 1986 brought together social scientists and biologists dedicated to the idea that bringing sociological conceptualizations and approaches together with those of physiology might create new ways to understand human behavior. The umbrella question for sociophysiology was dual: how do social processes impact the physiology of the organism, and how does that altered physiology affect future social behavior? This paper summarizes that conference with the goal of providing a glimpse into the early history of social neuroscience and to demonstrate the variety of individuals and interests that were present at the emergence of this new field. The late Patricia R. Barchas organized and chaired the conference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]