The Contribution of Emotion and Cognition to Moral Sensitivity: A Neurodevelopmental Study
The Contribution of Emotion and Cognition to Moral Sensitivity: A Neurodevelopmental Study
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DOI：
10.1093/cercor/bhr111
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发表时间：
2012-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Kinzler, Katherine D.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Decety, Jean;Michalska, Kalina J.;Kinzler, Katherine D.
情绪是否是道德判断的来源仍然存在争议。这项研究结合了神经生理学的措施，包括功能性磁共振成像，眼动追踪，瞳孔反应与行为措施评估情感和道德判断的年龄。126名年龄在4岁至37岁之间的参与者观看了描述对人和物体造成伤害/损害的故意与意外行为的场景。在道德上，突出的情景在年轻的参与者中引起了更强的移情悲伤，并与杏仁核，杏仁核和颞极的活动增强有关。虽然所有参与者都认为故意伤害是同样错误的，但随着年龄的增长，应得惩罚和恶意意图的评级逐渐变得更加不同。此外，在腹内侧前额叶皮层中检测到与年龄相关的活动增加，以响应对人的故意伤害，以及该区域与杏仁核之间的功能连接增加。我们的研究提供了证据表明，道德推理涉及情感和认知过程之间的复杂整合，随着年龄的增长逐渐变化，可以在个体发育过程中的动态交易中看到。研究结果支持了这样的观点，即消极情绪通过带来不适来提醒个体注意情境的道德显著性，从而可以作为道德判断的前因。
Whether emotion is a source of moral judgments remains controversial. This study combined neurophysiological measures, including functional magnetic resonance imaging, eye-tracking, and pupillary response with behavioral measures assessing affective and moral judgments across age. One hundred and twenty-six participants aged between 4 and 37 years viewed scenarios depicting intentional versus accidental actions that caused harm/damage to people and objects. Morally, salient scenarios evoked stronger empathic sadness in young participants and were associated with enhanced activity in the amygdala, insula, and temporal poles. While intentional harm was evaluated as equally wrong across all participants, ratings of deserved punishments and malevolent intent gradually became more differentiated with age. Furthermore, age-related increase in activity was detected in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in response to intentional harm to people, as well as increased functional connectivity between this region and the amygdala. Our study provides evidence that moral reasoning involves a complex integration between affective and cognitive processes that gradually changes with age and can be viewed in dynamic transaction across the course of ontogenesis. The findings support the view that negative emotion alerts the individual to the moral salience of a situation by bringing discomfort and thus can serve as an antecedent to moral judgment.