The social mind is the mind that grows and develops in the brain regions of observable sciences. It includes understanding other people and understanding with other people. The brain regions primarily observed in action are the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), also labeled as the social part of the brain, and posterior superior temporal sulcus. These are ‘inside the head’ places but external forces like social interactions shape this thinking over time. The areas of the brain that are engaged change slightly in different age groups. As an individual grows, they also increase in social interactions.

By the time an individual enters teenage years, the mPFC is shared in activity. When a person thinks about themselves and when they think about others, this triggers activity in mPFC. It is biologically easy to see how social interactions help shape a person’s self-identity over time. This may fade in adulthood, but it is interesting to note that empathy takes place primarily in the prefrontal areas of the brain where the mPFC is taking place in the prefrontal cortex. This social learning and sharing that is all happening in the same brain center gives one the ability to take cognitive perspective of other people that helps give understanding to other people’s experiences, intentions, and needs. Empathic responses will vary among the sex of a person as well as to whether the other person is liked or not.

Community and Culture will shape learning by exposure to social environments. This happens in the family, in the neighborhood, and in the schools. Every person learns differently, they are a unique person. But they also learn socially as they, in a way, take on their social environments and shape their understanding in the same part of the brain as they do without them. These things shape beliefs and principles not only in the way to learn but even moral and ethical ways in handling information. An accommodation by teachers and an awareness to these things can bring a healthy learning to a person. Alternatively, neglect or maliciousness can result in negative attitudes and stunted learning.

A good example is the differences seen between generation X and generation z. One generation did not grow up with smart phones and the other did. Each individual developed but the social interactions and environments were very different between the groups, especially during the socially formative teenage years. In todays working environments there are great differences in learning. Generation X tends to be more individualistic and ready to learn on their own while generation z likes collaboration and socially oriented learning experiences. This is an obviously simplistic example but demonstrates the kind of gap that can occur.

https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2020.529762

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3524680/#:~:text=However%2C%20empathy%20allows%20us%20to,needs%20%5B3%2C4%5D.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3524680/#:~:text=Studies%20using%20fMRI%20have%20shown,39%2C49%2C50%5D.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273043298_The_Influence_of_Culture_on_Learning_Styles