Chiasson V, Vera-Estay E, Lalonde G, Dooley J J, Beauchamp M H
a Department of Psychology , University of Montreal , Montreal , Canada.
b Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center , Montreal , Canada.
Clin Neuropsychol. 2017 Apr;31(3):515-530. doi: 10.1080/13854046.2016.1268650. Epub 2017 Jan 12.
There is increasing recognition that socio-cognitive skills, such as moral reasoning (MR), are affected in a wide range of developmental and neuropsychological conditions. However, the lack of appropriate measures available to neuropsychologists poses a challenge for the direct assessment of these skills. This study sought to explore age-related changes in MR using an innovative visual tool and examine the developmental sensitivity of the task.
To address some of the methodological limitations of traditional measures of MR, a novel, visual task, the Socio-Moral Reasoning Aptitude Level (So-Moral), was used to evaluate MR in 216 healthy participants aged 6-20 years.
The findings show a linear increase in MR from childhood to late adolescence with significant group differences between childhood (6-8 years) and preadolescence (9-11 years), and between early adolescence (12-14 years) and middle adolescence (15-17 years).
Interpreted in light of current brain development research, the results highlight age-related changes in MR that offer insight into typical MR development and opportunities for comparisons with clinical populations. The findings also provide evidence of the potential of the So-Moral as a developmentally appropriate measure of MR throughout childhood and adolescence.
人们越来越认识到，社会认知技能，如道德推理（MR），在广泛的发育和神经心理状况中会受到影响。然而，神经心理学家缺乏合适的测量方法，这对直接评估这些技能构成了挑战。本研究旨在使用一种创新的视觉工具探索道德推理与年龄相关的变化，并检验该任务的发育敏感性。
为解决传统道德推理测量方法的一些方法学局限性，一种新颖的视觉任务——社会道德推理能力水平（So-Moral），被用于评估216名6至20岁健康参与者的道德推理。
研究结果显示，从童年到青春期后期，道德推理呈线性增长，童年期（6至8岁）与青春期前（9至11岁）以及青春期早期（12至14岁）与青春期中期（15至17岁）之间存在显著的组间差异。
根据当前的大脑发育研究进行解读，这些结果突出了道德推理与年龄相关的变化，为典型的道德推理发展提供了见解，并为与临床人群进行比较提供了机会。研究结果还证明了So-Moral作为整个童年和青春期道德推理的一种适合发育阶段的测量方法的潜力。
