Lasana T. Harris, Assistant Professor

Research Summary:
I use a social neuroscience approach to human behavior that combines social psychological theory with neuroscience methodology. I use the tools of cognitive neuroscience such as functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) and facial electromyography (EMG) to address social psychological and philosophical questions. My research interests broadly defined concern the effects of social cognition on affect, cognitive processes, and decision-making. Research in my lab focuses specifically on person perception, prejudice, dehumanization, anthropomorphism, social learning and emotions, and moral decision making.


Representative Publications
Harris, L. T., & Fiske, S. T. (2009). Social neuroscience evidence for dehumanised perception. European Review of Social Psychology, 20, 192-231.
Harris, L. T., & Fiske, S. T. (2008). Brooms in Fantasia: Neural correlates of anthropomorphizing objects. Social Cognition, 26, 209-222
Harris, L. T., McClure, S., Van den Bos, W., Cohen, J. D., Fiske, S. T. (2007). Regions of MPFC differentially tuned to social and nonsocial affective stimuli. Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, 7, 309-316.
Harris, L. T., & Fiske, S. T. (2006). Dehumanizing the lowest of the low: Neuro-imaging responses to extreme outgroups. Psychological Science, 17, 847-853.
Harris, L. T., Todorov, A., & Fiske, S. T. (2005). Attributions on the brain: Neuro-imaging dispositional inferences, beyond Theory of Mind. NeuroImage, 28, 4, 763-769.
Fiske, S. T., Harris, L. T. & Cuddy, A. J. C. (2004). Why ordinary people torture enemy prisoners. Science, 306, 5701, 1482-1483.

Specialties:

Social Psychology
Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience

Representative Publications:   (search)

1. L.T. Harris & S.T. Fiske (Winter, 2011). Dehumanized perception: A psychological means to facilitate atrocities, torture, and genocide?. Zeitschrift fur Psychologie / Journal of Psychology, 219(3), 175-181.  [abs]
2. L.T. Harris; S. T. Fiske (January, 2010). Neural regions that underlie reinforcement learning are also active for social expectancy violations.. Social Neuroscience, 5(1), 76-91.

Lab Personnel: 
Beatrice Capestany (Lab Manager)