Why We Need Neurosociology as Well as Social Neuroscience: Or—Why Role-Taking and Theory of Mind Are Different Concepts

Abstract

In Chap. 3, David Franks demonstrates why neurosociology and social neuroscience can be seen as complimentary to each other. Once again, neurosociology diverges from time-honored academic traditions, in this case shedding what T. D. Kemper referred to as our fortress mentality. Ironically to some, this complimentarity can only be achieved efficiently by being very clear about the units of analysis that distinguish the disciplines. This would be an interactional unit of analysis in sociology and an individual one in psychology. G. H. Mead’s role-taking and his four-staged theory of the act exemplifies the more voluntaristic sociological unit of analysis while learning theory, applicable to all mammals, distinguishes the psychological one. Suggestions are made to what kind of cross-disciplinary research could be conducted that would contribute to both fields.