Regulating Social Behavior
How do people regulate their social behavior, especially when unconscious prejudices and stereotypes threaten to bias our responses? David Amodio studies the mechanisms of self-regulation by integrating ideas and methods from social psychology, neuroscience, and psychophysiology. His research has elucidated the sources of implicit bias, rooted in separate systems for learning and memory, as well as the interacting neurocognitive mechanisms involved in the control of social responses. This work has led to a better understanding of why self-regulation sometimes fails and why some people are better at self-regulation than others. It has also informed basic theories of cognitive neuroscience regarding the way that goals and motivations shape cognitive and perceptual mechanisms of response control. In 2010, Amodio was among the inaugural recipients of the APS Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions.
