心理学报 2010, Vol. 42, No.1, 111−119 Acta Psychologica Sinica DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2010.00111 111 The Value of Brain Imaging in Psychological Research Richard Gonzalez and Marc G. Berman (Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, USA) Abstract: We take the view that commonly used brain imaging techniques add new and informative data to psychological research. As with any new measure, we need to decide how to use it in an appropriate way. How does the measure help answer theoretical questions in ways that existing measures cannot? Is the measure best used as a dependent variable or as a predictor variable? How does it relate to other psychological variables of interest? This new imaging technology provides exciting glimpses into the workings of the brain and its relation to psychology. Researchers need to figure out how the information provided can be used to advance the understanding of psychological phenomena. Key words: fMRI; statistical modeling; psychological theory Introduction Functional brain imaging offers the ability to examine a person’s brain while that individual engages in a psychological activity of interest. The promise of brain imaging techniques is that they permit tracking the brain in real time. They provide the researcher the opportunity to look “under the hood.” In this paper, we consider how such information is useful in addressing psychological research questions, including how anatomical localization can relate to psychological processes and how dissociation can provide a test of underlying psychological process. We write from the perspective of a traditional psychologist interested in learning more about what these techniques offer. We provide advice about how one can add these techniques to a research program to maximize the chance of useful discovery and facilitate incremental knowledge. We limit our attention to the broad category of brain imaging techniques with special attention to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Received date: 2009-06-11 Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Richard Gonzalez, E-mail: gonzo@umich.edu Background: It is all about the measure Brain imaging techniques measure different variables. Electroencephalograph (EEG) measures electrical activity in the cortex, magnetoencephalography (MEG) measures magnetic fields that are biproducts of electrical activity in the cortex, fMRI measures oxygen levels in blood, and voxel-based morphology of magnetic resonance (MR) images measures cortical thickness. These different techniques can be construed as different measured variables. Their use in scientific research becomes relevant as long as the variable is related to the underlying psychological process under study. As with any empirical science the paradigm includes measured variables, which can be formulated as either dependent or predictor variables in theoretical and statistical models; the value of those measures is driven mostly by the scientific advances they facilitate. The basic thesis of this paper is the following: brain imaging presents a new measured variable and the value of such a measurement is driven not by any provocative construal we provide about “brain activation” and colorful images of the brain that “light up” but by the scientific advances, the theoretical developments, and the empirical testing afforded by such measurements. This is true of any