Introduction
This article presents a preliminary hypothesis that social media can create a social contagion effect, particularly impacting individuals with autism. This rough draft aims to sketch out initial ideas and set the groundwork for further exploration and research.
Autism and Mirror Neurons
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by challenges in social interaction, communication, and repetitive behaviors. One theory that has gained traction in understanding autism is the "broken mirror hypothesis." This theory suggests that dysfunctions in the mirror neuron system contribute to the social and communication difficulties experienced by individuals with autism.
Mirror neurons are brain cells that activate both when an individual performs an action and when they observe someone else performing the same action. In non-autistic individuals, these neurons play a crucial role in understanding others' actions, empathy, and social cognition. However, in autistic individuals, the activity of mirror neurons may be reduced or function differently, impacting their ability to mimic and understand social behaviors.
Social Media and Social Contagion
Social media platforms are powerful tools for communication and social interaction, providing a space where behaviors, emotions, and ideas can spread rapidly among users—a phenomenon known as social contagion. Social contagion refers to the spread of behaviors, attitudes, and emotions through networks, similar to the spread of infectious diseases.
Hypothesis: Social Media as a Social Contagion Catalyst in Autism
The core hypothesis proposed here is that social media can act as a catalyst for social contagion, particularly affecting individuals with autism. Given the unique social cognition and mirror neuron functioning in autistic individuals, social media may amplify certain behaviors or emotional responses more intensely than in non-autistic individuals.
Observational Learning: Autistic vs. Non-Autistic Individuals
Observational learning, also known as social learning or modeling, involves acquiring new behaviors by observing others. Mirror neurons play a critical role in this process, enabling individuals to replicate observed actions.
Observational Learning in Non-Autistic Individuals
Role of Mirror Neurons:
Action Understanding: Mirror neurons help individuals understand and interpret the actions of others, facilitating the imitation of those actions.
Empathy and Emotion Recognition: These neurons enable individuals to empathize with others and recognize emotions, which is essential for learning socially appropriate behaviors.
Social Cognition: Enhanced social cognition allows for effective observational learning in various social contexts.
Observational Learning in Autistic Individuals
Challenges Due to Mirror Neuron Dysfunction:
Reduced Action Understanding: With reduced mirror neuron activity, autistic individuals might find it challenging to understand and replicate observed actions. This can hinder their ability to learn new skills through observation.
Impaired Empathy and Emotion Recognition: Difficulties in empathizing with others and recognizing emotions can affect the learning of social behaviors and emotional responses.
Social Cognition Deficits: Challenges in social cognition can lead to difficulties in learning behaviors that are contextually appropriate and socially acceptable.
Albert Bandura and Observational Learning
Albert Bandura, a prominent psychologist, is best known for his work on social learning theory, which emphasizes the importance of observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. His famous "Bobo doll" experiments in the 1960s provided strong evidence for the impact of observational learning on behavior.
The Bobo Doll Experiment:
Design: Bandura's experiment involved children observing an adult model behaving aggressively towards a Bobo doll, a large inflatable toy. The model punched, kicked, and verbally assaulted the doll.
Findings: Children who observed the aggressive model were more likely to imitate the aggressive behavior when given the opportunity to interact with the Bobo doll themselves. This demonstrated that children can learn and replicate aggressive behaviors simply by observing others.
Implications: Bandura's findings challenged the prevailing behaviorist view that learning is solely a result of direct reinforcement. Instead, his work showed that learning can occur through observation and imitation, without direct reinforcement.
Observational Learning and Behavioral Modeling
Observational learning is a form of behavioral modeling where an individual learns a behavior by repeatedly seeing it performed by another person. This process can lead to the unconscious assimilation of the observed behavior, bypassing the analytical neocortex and directly influencing the individual's behavior patterns.
Humans as Learning Machines
Humans are inherently designed to learn through observation. This capability makes us exceptionally adaptable and able to acquire new behaviors and skills simply by watching others. This learning process can be explicit, involving conscious effort and analysis, or implicit, where behaviors are unconsciously absorbed and replicated.
Explicit vs. Implicit Modeling
Explicit Modeling: Involves a conscious and analytical process of observing, understanding, and then replicating a behavior. For instance, a person might watch a tutorial and intentionally practice a new skill step-by-step.
Implicit Modeling: Refers to the unconscious assimilation of behaviors through repeated exposure. Individuals may begin to mimic behaviors they see frequently on social media without consciously deciding to do so. This can happen as a result of subtle and repetitive influences that bypass conscious awareness.
Priming and Behavioral Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement is a well-known technique for shaping behavior, involving rewards, praise, or acceptance following a desired behavior. However, behaviors can also be reinforced through priming, which is the subtle and often unconscious influence of repeated exposure to specific content or stimuli.
Priming Through Social Media
Behavioral Patterns: Social media content can prime individuals by repeatedly exposing them to certain behaviors, attitudes, or emotional expressions. Over time, this can lead to the unconscious adoption of these behaviors.
Reframing Problems: Just as behaviors can be reinforced through positive feedback, they can also be shaped by redefining or reframing problems. For example, consuming content that repeatedly frames a psychological issue in a certain way can lead individuals, including those with autism, to adopt that perspective, potentially leading to misdiagnosis or misunderstanding of their condition.
Convincer Strategies in Social Media
Convincer strategies refer to the methods by which someone becomes convinced of something. These strategies can be highly influential, especially in the context of social media.
Convincer Channels
People can become convinced by what they see, hear, read, or do. These are known as convincer channels. Social media content leverages these channels by presenting information visually (images and videos), audibly (videos and audio clips), textually (posts and articles), and interactively (engagement through likes, shares, and comments).
Visual Content: Images and videos can provide powerful visual stimuli that influence perceptions and beliefs.
Audio Content: Audio clips and videos with sound can enhance the emotional impact and persuasiveness of the message.
Textual Content: Written posts, articles, and comments can provide detailed information and arguments.
Interactive Content: Engagement through likes, shares, and comments can create a sense of social proof and validation.
Convincer Modes
The convincer mode refers to the number of times a person needs to be exposed to something through a convincer channel to become convinced it's true.
This can occur in several ways:
Number of Examples: Seeing multiple examples of the same behavior or idea can reinforce its validity.
Automatic Acceptance: Some individuals might automatically accept information as correct, especially if it aligns with their existing beliefs.
Consistency: Daily, consistent exposure to the same message can solidify its acceptance.
Over Time: Repeated exposure over a period of time can gradually convince individuals of a certain perspective.
Social Media's Influence
Constant use of social media activates all these convincer strategies, reinforcing beliefs and behaviors through repeated and varied exposure. Social media often spreads not only positive behaviors but also negative habits and mental health issues, popularizing them among users.
Systems Theory and Social Contagion
Systems theory provides a framework for understanding how different parts of a system interact and influence one another. In this context, reinforcement can be seen as a gas pedal that accelerates certain behaviors or ideas, while governors act as brakes that slow down or control the spread of these behaviors.
Reinforcement as a Gas Pedal
When society positively reinforces certain behaviors or ideas, it accelerates their spread. For instance, if mental illness is openly discussed and even celebrated on social media, it can gain traction rapidly, especially if these discussions are met with praise, support, and encouragement.
Governors as Brakes
Governors are mechanisms that control or limit the spread of certain behaviors or ideas. In the context of mental health, governors might include regulations, public health campaigns, or social norms that discourage the glamorization of mental illness. When these governors are weak or absent, the spread of maladaptive ideas can become unchecked.
Social Media and Mainstreaming Mental Illness
Social media can mainstream mental illness by providing constant positive reinforcement for discussing and sharing mental health struggles. If society also reinforces these behaviors, it acts like a gas pedal, accelerating the spread of these ideas. Without effective governors, this can lead to a situation where maladaptive ideas are widely accepted and even encouraged.
Mental Sets and Thought Viruses
Mental sets refer to a set number of ideas within a stream of thought that are repeated through the mind. The more often these ideas are repeated, the more likely they are to become ingrained attitudes. If maladaptive or mental illness-related ideas are spread through social media and reinforced by society, it can be likened to throwing gasoline on a fire, spreading these ideas rapidly.
Thought Viruses
A thought virus is a maladaptive idea that spreads through the minds of individuals, especially the most impressionable. Social media can act as a vector for these thought viruses, embedding them deeply in the mental sets of users. Positive reinforcement through social media and societal praise further entrenches these ideas.
Complex Adaptive Systems and Leverage Points
Society is a complex adaptive system with certain leverage points that can significantly influence the rest of the system. Leverage points are places within a system where a small change can lead to significant impacts.
Examples of leverage points include:
State and Federal Government: Policies and regulations can shape societal behaviors and attitudes.
Schools and Universities: Educational institutions influence the values and beliefs of younger generations.
Hospitals and Healthcare Systems: Medical institutions play a crucial role in defining and treating mental health.
Social Institutions: Any organization or platform that influences public opinion and behavior.
Normalizing Maladaptive Thought Viruses
When considering the normalization of maladaptive thought viruses, it is essential to identify which platforms are most effective at spreading these ideas. Social media platforms, especially those with short, emotionally charged content (e.g., TikTok, Instagram), are highly effective at releasing acetylcholine in the brain, a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in creating memories.
Acetylcholine and Memory Formation
Acetylcholine enhances the encoding of new memories by promoting the plasticity of neural circuits. Emotional and novel content on social media is particularly effective at triggering the release of acetylcholine, making these memories more vivid and persistent. This mechanism can lead to the rapid assimilation of maladaptive ideas, reinforcing thought viruses and spreading them throughout the system.
Conclusion
This article outlines a preliminary hypothesis that social media can create a social contagion effect in individuals with autism, influenced by differences in mirror neuron activity and social cognition. Differences in observational learning between autistic and non-autistic individuals are highlighted, emphasizing the potential for social media to uniquely impact autistic individuals and shape their social and emotional experiences.
Additionally, the role of positive reinforcement, priming, convincer strategies, and social models (Standing Ovation, Peer Effects, and Percolation) in shaping behavior, the risk of misdiagnosis in autistic individuals, and the influence of systems theory are discussed.
The article underscores the importance of accurate and comprehensive assessments and the need for effective governors to control the spread of maladaptive ideas.
Future Research Directions
To test this hypothesis, future research should focus on:
Conducting empirical studies to observe the behaviors of autistic individuals on social media.
Investigating the role of mirror neurons in social media interactions.
Exploring the emotional and behavioral impacts of social media on individuals with autism compared to non-autistic individuals.
Examining the effects of positive reinforcement, priming, convincer strategies, and social contagion models on the acceptance of diagnoses and subsequent behaviors in autistic individuals.
Assessing the impact of systems theory leverage points in normalizing or mitigating maladaptive thought viruses.
By delving deeper into these areas, we can better understand the potential for social media to act as a catalyst for social contagion and its broader implications for individuals with autism.
*This is an extremely rough draft. Please forgive me for it's crudeness.
