Task 6 - Moral Reasoning Flashcards
Brain Regions involved
MEDIAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX
plays a primary role in interpreting and understanding mental states of others and oneself
ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX
a central station for processing top-down and bottom-up stimuli and assigning appropriate control to other areas in the brain
VENTROMEDIAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX
a critical hub for caregiving behaviors, through reward-based and affective associations, which bridges conceptual and affective processes necessary to guide social behavior
INSULA
provides the foundation for the representation of both positive and negative subjective bodily feelings, which substantiates emotional awareness
POSTERIOR SUPERIOR TEMPROAL SULCUS
involved in social perception through the evaluation of socially relevant stimuli and the intentions of others
AMYGDALA
prioritizes the affective (positive and negative) relevance of sensory inputs for the goals and motivations of the perceiver
Moral Regulations
PRESCRIPTIVE MORAL REGULATION
Good deeds
Charitable giving, helping behaviors
High internalisers feel a stronger sense of obligation to show moral concern about socially distant others
Moral primes have strongest effect on low internalisers
-Internalisation primacy principle (IPP): Internalisation more important than symbolization when it comes to impact of moral cues; symbolization is more important when internalisation is low
identified one finding consistent with the IPP: demonstrating that symbolization (rather than internalization) predicted escalation of commitment to prosocial (but not selfish) initiatives
PROSCRIPTIVE MORAL REGULATION
Cheating, interpersonal mistreatment, retaliatory behaviors
High symbolizers are more resistant to influence of processing frames when evaluating unfair acts toward others but also magnify retaliatory & punitive reactions to mistreatment by others
Moral primes have strongest effect on high internalisers: cues that diminish importance of moral concerns shifts their attention away from morality to alternative logics that can justify unethical acts; BUT also have greater resources to restrain their unethical/selfish desires –> inhibition more automatic
-Internalistion-symbolisation equality principle (ISEP)
Internalisation & simbolisation both shape how individual reacts to cues in their environment;
Internalisation seems to be important in its interaction with different elements of personality and relational cues, whereas simbolization is particularly relevant for reactive proscriptive moral behaviors that occur in response to perceived harm or mistreatment of the self by others
Moral Foundations Theory (Haidt)
There are 5 psychological moral foundations on which most cultures build their systems of morality
3 that constitute the binding foundations:
- Loyalty / betrayal
- Authority / subversion
- Purity / degradation
The remaining 2 = individualizing foundations, focus on provision and protection of individual rights
- Care / harm
- Fairness / cheating
the binding foundations include a group- or collective-oriented view of morality
–>a morality concerned with keeping individual autonomy and self-expression in check for the good of one’s family/clan/country
-The loyalty/betrayal foundation: complete faithfulness to one’s obligations regarding group membership
-Authority/subversion: promotes the proper display of obedience and deference (as they relate to hierarchical relationships)
-Purity/degradation: evoked to protect against physical and spiritual contamination and contagion
These foundations can allow individuals to prosper and thrive as collectives
May be oversimplified –> people may sometimes apply the binding foundations to a set of people broader than their immediate in-group; specifically, people with a strong moral identity
Social intuitionist model
A set of causal “links” connecting three types of psychological process: intuition, judgement and reasoning
- ->backbone of the SIM consists of to links
1. Intuitive judgment link: ones judgments are driven primarily by one’s situation
2. Post-hoc reasoning link: one’s reasoning is driven primary by ones judgment, rather than the other way around
These two links are supplemented by weaker links that allow reasoning, on occasion, exert a causal influence on judgment
- Reasoned judgment: allows one’s reasoning to directly influence one’s judgment
- Private reflection link: allows one’s reasoning to influence one’s judgment by modifying one’s intuitions
Social in the SIM comes from two additional links:
- reasoned persuasion link: one person’s reasoning influences another’s judgment by influencing that person’s intuition
- Social persuasion link: one’s judgment, in the absence of explicit attempts at reasoning, influences another’s judgment by modifying that person’s intuition
GRAPHIC FOUND IN LITERATURE LIST
Greene’s dual-process model
Two natural universal and qualitatively different modes of moral thinking that depend on dissociable, and in some cases competing systems in the brain
DEONTOLOGICAL MORAL JUDGMENTS =judgments that are naturally regarded as reflecting concerns for rights and duties
are driven primarily by intuitive emotional responses
Argue that UTILITARIAN/CONSEQUENTIALIST JUDGEMENTS =judgements aimed at promoting the greater good
are supported by controlled cognitive processes that look more like moral reasoning
Differs from SIM in two critical ways:
- Emphasizes role of rule-based, controlled cognitive processes, especially the conscious application of utilitarian moral principles
- Alows that social influence may occur when people directly engage one another’s capacities for moral reasoning, that is the conscious evaluation of moral judgments/behaviors for their consistency with moral principles and other moral commitments
What is moral reasoning?
=conscious mental activity through which one evaluates a moral judgment for its (in) consistency with other moral commitments, where these commitments are to one or more moral principles and particular moral judgments
Involves an attempt to compel another individual to accept a moral conclusion on pain of inconsistency
It may be pervasive and important aspect of our moral psychology, even if it is relatively rare compared to more intuitive moral reasoning
Theory of moral judgment (Kohlberg)
Moral development proceeds through a specific series of hierarchical and discontinuous stages
Preconventional moral reasoning: self-centered, authority and punishments determine morality
Conventional moral reasoning: centered on social relationships, morality is determined by rules in the situation and needs and reciprocity
Postconventional moral reasoning: centered on ideals/ moral principles; morality is based on universal moral rules
Based his study on children’s development
Relational models theory (RMT)
=Four mental models that people employ to coordinate their behavior in social interactions
1 .Communal sharing (CS): mental models used to perceive communal features in members of the same group
- Authority ranking (AR): mental models used to rank individuals along a particular dimension (creating linear hierarchy)
- Equality matching (EM): mental models used to maintain balance in the society (turn taking, in-kind reciprocity, randomization procedures)
- Market pricing (MP): mental models used to compare commodities to common metrics such as monetary exchange, costs and benefits etc.
Moral motives within the four social-relational models are:
UNITY (moral motive in CS models): motive supports the integrity of the group through a sense of collective responsibility and common fate, if one person is harmed the entire group is harmed; facilitates cares and sacrifice between individuals
HIERARCHY (moral motive in AR models): people create and maintain hierarchies, superiors feel a sense of responsibility toward subordinates and are motivated to guide and protect them, subordinates are motivated to resect and obey to superiors; hierarchies are not immortal, they arise naturally in many cultures
EQUALITY (moral motive in EM models): motive enforces balance and reciprocity in social relations (when we feel urge to invite someone because they have invited us earlier)
PROPORTIONALITY (moral motive in MP models): directed toward calculating and acting in accordance with rates for distinct good to ensure that rewards or punishments are proportionate to their costs, effort, merit and guilt (judges in courts are expected to hand down sentences that are proportionate to the crimes)
The lack of any kind of relational motivation leads to moral indifference
Do means matter morally=
Intervention aimed at improving moral decision making and behavior
Strengthening of emotional, motivational, & cognitive capacities necessary for moral decision making (it is important to target all of them!)
Advantages more for society rather than individual in question
-narrative identity: reflects characteristics that constitute a person’s identity –> inevitably influenced by enhancement
TRADITIONAL / INDIRECT MEANS
Change thought patters & behavior and thus rewire brain
–> target: mind
For individuals with normal capacities
-Active intervention: require specific psychological / behavioral efforts on behalf of the individuals (e.g.: moral education & social learning
-Gradual manner: can be selectively endorsed or rejected
Seen as morally more “right”
BIOMEDICAL / INDIRECT MEANS
Change brain structure & function and thus an individual’s thought patterns & behaviors
–> target: brain
For individuals with impairments in moral decision making & behavior
-Passive intervention: don’t rely on active involvement of receiver to achieve their goal
May compromise autonomy & identity
-> hijacks one’s ability to withdraw consent during treatment (bypasses conscious reflection)
->Can cause drastic abrupt and/or concealed narrative identity changes (=no link to someone’s life story -> no continuity)
-> thought to adjust to psychological changes and adopt a new self-image
->Self-blindness: an individual’s explicit self-narrative may end up diverging from their implicit self-narrative
