EP #7 | Social Cognition & Social Motivation: Autism, Climate Change & Public Policy | Coralie Chevalier

Most actions humans take are social in nature. If they are not directly geared towards affecting others' behaviors and thoughts, they are at least likely to have some impact on their lives. One can wonder if there is something special in one’s mind that determines the behaviors that are oriented towards others. After all, we do colloquially talk of social skills or social intelligence. So, what is so special about social behaviors? Another domain that makes the question painfully apparent is that of progress requiring collective action. Indeed, why are we so reliably capable of learning a difficult new skill, or getting a job, caring for our family – which are examples of things that require much practice and commitment – and why, at the same time, are we seeing large-scale inaction regarding climate change? How can the cognitive scientist explain this? What are the cognitive, neural and environmental determinants of our social capacities? What motivates us in our social lives? Today's guest is the person to answer these questions, or at least some of them… Coralie Chevalier,  a behavioral scientist at the Institut Jean-Nicod. After having done her PhD at University College London, she did multiple postdocs at the Center for Autism Research at the University of Pennsylvania, King’s College’s Institute of Psychiatry. During her career she has worked on many topics, both fundamental and applied: autism, social motivation, grit, climate change policy, and much more… Credits:Interview: Tanay Katiyar and Jay RichardsonArtwork: Ella BergruEditing: Matthieu FraticelliMusic: Thelma Samuel and Robin BaradelCommunication: Tanay Katiyar