Lecture 1 - Introduction

The Social Brain: Critical Perspectives on Science, Society and Neurodiversity

Richard Ramsey

Today

Part 1

Introduction to the course

Part 2

Read articles and discuss

Part 1 - Introduction

Who will be teaching?

Dr. Richard Ramsey
Please just call me Rich

I’m originally from Leeds (UK)
BSc. and PhD (University of Birmingham, UK)
Postdoctoral work (UK and Belgium)
Since 2011, I’ve co-directed a cognitive neuroscience lab as a faculty member at Bangor University (UK) and Macquarie University (Australia)
I’ve been at ETH since 2023

What are my lab’s research interests?

Themes

Cognitive neuroscience
Person perception
Loneliness
Meta science
Open science

Methods

Experimental psychology
Human neuroscience (e.g., fMRI)
“Big Data”
Computational modelling
Pupillometry

Course website

Course website
This has all the good stuff
Let’s take a look…

Contact details

Speak to me in class - this is the best place to raise questions and discuss ideas.

Email: richard.ramsey [at] hest.ethz.ch

Notes on lectures

Slides will be posted on the course website before each lecture.

Most important of all: if you don’t understand something, then PLEASE interrupt me and ask a question. No doubt other students in the class are stuck with the same issue.

Part 1 - Syllabus

Course content

Themes

Research quality and integrity
Social neuroscience
Neurodiversity

Skills

Critical evaluation of scientific evidence, data and theory
Develop independent thinking skills
Appreciate how understanding neurodiversity impacts basic research and society in general

Learning Outcomes

To examine critically how neuroscientific concepts, theories, and findings relate to broader historical, moral, and social contexts, enhancing reflective competencies.
To question the production and validation of scientific evidence within the context of the replication crisis, enabling students to evaluate how knowledge is created, validated, and communicated.
To understand how conceptualising cognitive variation as a natural continuum challenges deficit-focused models, promoting more inclusive frameworks for society.
To develop effective communication skills for translating complex scientific concepts to diverse audiences, fostering public understanding of science.

Format

Lectures will be split into two sections with a short break in the middle.

I will present material in the first half.

In the second half, students will break into small groups and have time to read and discuss relevant papers from that week’s material.

Small group work

Students have the opportunity to discuss any questions arising from the previous lecture, as well as coursework.
A journal article will be provided from the previous lecture as a starting point for this discussion.
Group discussion sessions are an excellent way to clarify understanding and develop ideas for your assignment.

Schedule

Week	Date	Title	Description
1	Sep 16	Intro	Introduction to the course
2	Sep 23	Crisis Part 1	Is psychological science in a crisis?
3	Sep 30	Crisis Part 2	The reform movement in psychological science
4	Oct 7	Crisis Part 3 (Recorded lecture)	A problem in theory?
5	Oct 14	Crisis Part 4 (No lecture - reflective writing)	Does the crisis extend beyond psychology?
6	Oct 21	Social Neuroscience 1	An introduction to social neuroscience
7	Oct 28	Social Neuroscience 2	Reading faces and bodies
8	Nov 4	Social Neuroscience 3	Understanding others
9	Nov 11	Neurodiversity 1	Re-thinking neurodiversity
10	Nov 18	Neurodiversity 2	Guest lecture: A view from the clinic
11	Nov 25	Neurodiversity 3	Loneliness
12	Dec 2	Neurodiversity 4	Autism
13	Dec 9	Neurodiversity 5	Attention and impulsivity
14	Dec 16	Essay Writing	Guidelines and best practices

Topics

Introduction
Crisis and reform
Social neuroscience
Neurodiversity
Essay writing Q&A

Part 1 - Assessment

Assessment type

There is one piece of assessment in this course, which is a written assignment in essay format.
2000 words maximum.
Submission date: Monday January 6th, 2026.
There is NO exam
Just email me the file. If I do not write back to you with confirmation within a few days, then email me again.

Assessment format

You can write your essay in two different ways.

1. Address a general question.

e.g., Is psychology a science or a pseudoscience?

2. Address a more specific question.

e.g., Should Autism be considered one diagnosis or multiple different diagnoses?

You decide the focus of your essay based on what you find interesting.

Assessment structure

Example structure (it seems obvious, but nonetheless…):

Introduction
Main body of the essay
Conclusion

Assessment content

Things to cover:

Identify an open research question, which warrants further attention
Provide a brief background to the topic
Highlight a gap in knowledge (what we do not know)
Be critical
Identify a novel research question or research direction
State your hypotheses and/or aims
Discuss the implications of the research (why is it worth doing?)

Part 1 - Writing tips

Narrow focus

Your essay should have a narrow focus, I do not want a detailed literature review.
You are not being assessed on the breadth of your knowledge. Therefore, I will not mark you down for having a narrow focus.
However, I expect a very clear and well-supported rationale for your critical viewpoint and future direction.
I will reward attempts to think on your own

Keep it simple !!!

Find an experiment or topic from my lectures that interests you
Go away and read around the topic
Think of a feature that limits understanding – i.e., be critical – and suggest a way to extend current knowledge

Plan, plan and plan some more

Plan your written assignment BEFORE you start to write. You will find it easier to write if you organise your ideas first into a structure.
Consider the balance of your assignment, in terms of the amount of text per section.
Make multiple plans, rather than one. One page A4 per plan.
Review the plans and consider revision and/or consolidation.

Writing style

Clarity is crucial
If you can say it with less words, do so (i.e., keep sentences short).
Try to link paragraphs to promote the flow and pace of your writing
Have a friend or classmate read it

Part 1 - Reflective writing

Week 5

In week 5, there is no lecture.
Instead, there is an assignment, which is NOT marked.
I repeat, it is not marked, but it is compulsory to hand it in via email by Monday October 20th at 9am.
Please write between 500 and 750 words on the extent to which the reproducibility crisis extends beyond psychology and human neuroscience.

Reflective writing objectives

I would like you to reflect on the extent to which the reproducibility crisis extends beyond psychology and human neuroscience.
Most of you have varied backgrounds, which span computer science, physics, chemistry, biology, maths etc.
Therefore, I would like you to situate what you have learnt in the last 4 weeks within a broader context of scientific research more generally.

Part 1 - Summary

Introduction
Syllabus
Assessment
Writing tips
Reflective writing

Take a break

Part 2 - Read articles and discuss

Discussion material

Here are some accessible (i.e., non-technical) blog posts that cover the main themes in the course.
Read these to kick-start a discussion in your group.

Acknowledgements

Unless otherwise specified, icons and images were used under license from The Noun Project
Slides were created with Quarto and RevealJS