Vera-Estay Evelyn, Seni Anne G, Champagne Caroline, Beauchamp Miriam H
Department of Psychology, University of MontrealMontreal, QC, Canada; Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center, MontrealQC, Canada.
Department of Psychology, University of Montreal Montreal, QC, Canada.
Front Psychol. 2016 Mar 8;7:227. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00227. eCollection 2016.
Moral reasoning (MR) is a socio-cognitive skill essential to appropriate social functioning in childhood, and evolves in quality and complexity during ontogenetic development. Past research suggests that MR is related to age, socioeconomic factors, as well as some social and cognitive skills, such as executive functioning (EF), theory of mind (ToM), empathy, and affect recognition. However, their contributions have been studied in silos rather than comprehensively, with little integration of the relative and combined contribution of these skills to MR. Furthermore, few studies have addressed the putative links between these factors in childhood, a period during which these skills are in maturation. The aim of this study was to explore what factors predict moral maturity in typically developing children (n = 76, 47.4% males, M = 9.2, SD = 1.67 years), explore the potential moderating and mediating role of executive functions and social cognition in the relationship between age and MR maturity, and identify the specific contributions of age, socioeconomic factors, EF, and social cognition, using an innovative visual MR assessment tool (So-Moral). The results indicate that MR maturity was correlated with age, EF (inhibition, verbal fluency, and attentional control), and social cognition (ToM and affect recognition). Neither EF nor social cognition moderated the effect of age on MR maturity. However, verbal fluency and third-order false beliefs had a moderating role in this link. MR maturity in children was predicted by three variables from each of the three domains: age, verbal fluency, and third-order ToM. These results contribute to a better understanding of the underpinnings of MR during childhood, suggesting that MR is not reducible to general developmental factors such as age, but that higher order skills, such EF and social cognition also contribute to moral maturity. The findings have relevance for both typically developing and clinical populations in which social skills may be reduced, as well as for the identification of potential loci for intervention in children at-risk for socially maladaptive behaviors.
道德推理（MR）是儿童时期适当社会功能所必需的一种社会认知技能，并且在个体发育过程中其质量和复杂性会不断发展。过去的研究表明，MR与年龄、社会经济因素以及一些社会和认知技能有关，如执行功能（EF）、心理理论（ToM）、同理心和情感识别。然而，它们的贡献是被孤立研究的，而不是全面研究，这些技能对MR的相对和综合贡献几乎没有整合。此外，很少有研究探讨这些因素在儿童期（这些技能正在成熟的时期）之间的假定联系。本研究的目的是探讨哪些因素能预测正常发育儿童（n = 76，47.4%为男性，M = 9.2，SD = 1.67岁）的道德成熟度，探讨执行功能和社会认知在年龄与MR成熟度关系中的潜在调节和中介作用，并使用一种创新的视觉MR评估工具（So-Moral）确定年龄、社会经济因素、EF和社会认知的具体贡献。结果表明，MR成熟度与年龄、EF（抑制、言语流畅性和注意力控制）以及社会认知（ToM和情感识别）相关。EF和社会认知均未调节年龄对MR成熟度的影响。然而，言语流畅性和三阶错误信念在这一联系中具有调节作用。儿童的MR成熟度由三个领域中的每个领域的三个变量预测：年龄、言语流畅性和三阶ToM。这些结果有助于更好地理解儿童期MR的基础，表明MR不能简化为诸如年龄等一般发育因素，而是高阶技能，如EF和社会认知也有助于道德成熟。这些发现对于社会技能可能降低的正常发育和临床人群，以及识别有社会适应不良行为风险的儿童的潜在干预位点都具有相关性。
