Alain Morin

Bio: Alain Morin is an academic researcher from Mount Royal University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Self & Psychology. The author has an hindex of 18, co-authored 52 publications receiving 1334 citations. Previous affiliations of Alain Morin include Université de Moncton & Laval University.

Self-Awareness Part 1: Definition, Measures, Effects, Functions, and Antecedents

Abstract: Self-awareness represents the capacity of becoming the object of one’s own attention. In this state one actively identifies, processes, and stores information about the self. This paper surveys the selfawareness literature by emphasizing definition issues, measurement techniques, effects and functions of self-attention, and antecedents of self-awareness. Key self-related concepts (e.g., minimal, reflective consciousness) are distinguished from the central notion of self-awareness. Reviewed measures include questionnaires, implicit tasks, and self-recognition. Main effects and functions of self-attention consist in self-evaluation, escape from the self, amplification of one’s subjective experience, increased self-knowledge, self-regulation, and inferences about others’ mental states (Theory-of-Mind). A neurocognitive and socioecological model of self-awareness is described in which the role of face-to-face interactions, reflected appraisals, mirrors, media, inner speech, imagery, autobiographical knowledge, and neurological structures is underlined.

Possible links between self-awareness and inner speech: Theoretical background, underlying mechanisms, and empirical evidence

Abstract: A neurocognitive and socioecological model of self-awareness has been recently proposed (Morin, 2003; 2004a). The model takes into account most known mechanisms and processes leading to self-awareness, and examines their multiple and complex interactions. Inner speech is postulated to play a key-role in this model, as it establishes important connections between many of its elements. This paper first reviews past and current mentions to a link between self-awareness and inner speech. It then presents an analysis of the nature of the relation between these two concepts. It is suggested that inner speech can internally reproduce and expand social and physical (ecological) sources of self-awareness. Inner speech can also create a psychological distance between the self and mental events it experiences—thus facilitating self-observation—; it can act as a problem-solving devise where the self represents the problem and self-information the solution, and can label aspects of one’s inner life that would otherwise be difficult to objectively perceive. Empirical evidence supporting the role of inner speech in self-awareness is also presented.

Human Nature and the Social Order

Abstract: “WHAT can men do, what do they do, and what do they want to do ?”—these are the uestions that Prof. Thorndike seeks to answer in a very comprehensive and elaborate treatise. His undertaking is inspired by the belief that man has the possibility of almost complete control of his fate if only he will be guided by science, and that his failures are attributable to ignorance or folly. The main approach is through biological psychology, but all the social sciences are appealed to and utilized in an effort to deal with the human problem as a whole. The relative immaturity of the sciences dealing with man is continually stressed, but it is claimed that they provide a body of facts and principles which are “far above zero knowledge”, and that even now they are capable of affording valuable guidance in the shaping of public policy. Human Nature and the Social Order By E. L. Thorndike. Pp. xx + 1020. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1940.) 18s. net.

The Impact of Prior Entrepreneurial Exposure on Perceptions of New Venture Feasibility and Desirability

Abstract: Tests Shapero's intentions-based model of new venture initiation. This model assumes that the intent to start a new business is the result of perceived desirability, feasibility, and the individual's propensity to act upon opportunities. Entrepreneurial intention is defined as the commitment to starting a new business. An understanding of these intentions is important as it helps to identify key characteristics for new firms. The decision to start a new business requires the perception that starting a new business is credible and some type of precipitating event. Data used in the analysis were collected from 126 upper-division university business students – 75 males and 51 females. The data itself show perception measures and propensity to act have a significant correlation with entrepreneurial intentions. Breadth of experience has a strong correlation to perceived feasibility while positiveness of experience is strongly correlated with perceived desirability. Results demonstrate support for Shapero's model and further indicate that measures of prior entrepreneurial exposure can be added. Implications of this analysis for researchers, training entrepreneurs, and practitioners are discussed. (SRD)

Reflecting upon Feelings: An fMRI Study of Neural Systems Supporting the Attribution of Emotion to Self and Other

Abstract: Understanding one's own and other individual's emotional states is essential for maintaining emotional equilibrium and strong social bonds. Although the neural substrates supporting ref lection upon one's own feelings have been investigated, no studies have directly examined attributions about the internal emotional states of others to determine whether common or distinct neural systems support these abilities. The present study sought to directly compare brain regions involved in judging one's own, as compared to another individual's, emotional state. Thirteen participants viewed mixed valence blocks of photos drawn from the International Affective Picture System while whole-brain fMRI data were collected. Preblock cues instructed participants to evaluate either their emotional response to each photo, the emotional state of the central figure in each photo, or (in a baseline condition) whether the photo was taken indoors or outdoors. Contrasts indicated (1) that both self and other judgments activated the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), the superior temporal gyrus, and the posterior cingulate/precuneus, (2) that self judgments selectively activated subregions of the MPFC and the left temporal cortex, whereas (3) other judgments selectively activated the left lateral prefrontal cortex (including Broca's area) and the medial occipital cortex. These results suggest (1) that self and other evaluation of emotion rely on a network of common mechanisms centered on the MPFC, which has been hypothesized to support mental state attributions in general, and (2) that medial and lateral PFC regions selectively recruited by self or other judgments may be involved in attention to, and elaboration of, internally as opposed to externally generated information.