Caravita Simona C S, Astrologo Lisa, Biancardi Giulia, Antonietti Alessandro
Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 20123 Milano, Italy.
Department of Clinical Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada.
Brain Sci. 2019 Nov 20;9(12):331. doi: 10.3390/brainsci9120331.
Moral domain theory posits that moral knowledge is organized in separate domains related to moral and socio-conventional rules, with the latter being reliant on a statement made by authority. Domains may be contingent on different neuropsychological processing that may vary with age. Behavioral indices were measured in three age groups, to detect differences in the neuropsychological processing allegedly involved in the evaluation of rule transgressions in different domains. Acceptance of the transgressions was also investigated. Twenty-four children, 32 early adolescents, and 31 adolescents judged acceptability of rule transgressions when an authority figure allowed the transgression. Across age, moral-rule transgressions were less accepted and took significantly longer to be evaluated. In evaluating moral rule scenarios, children had the longest reaction times. Older adolescents took the least amount of time evaluating socio-conventional rule scenarios. Results suggest differences in the neuropsychological processing underlying decision making for moral and socio-conventional domains and that rule comprehension and distinction amongst domains increase by age.
道德领域理论认为，道德知识是在与道德规则和社会习俗规则相关的不同领域中组织起来的，后者依赖于权威人士的陈述。不同领域可能取决于不同的神经心理加工过程，而这些过程可能会随着年龄的变化而有所不同。研究人员对三个年龄组的行为指标进行了测量，以检测在不同领域中对违规行为进行评估时所涉及的神经心理加工过程的差异。同时，研究人员还对违规行为的可接受性进行了调查。当权威人物允许违规行为时，24名儿童、32名青少年早期和31名青少年对违规行为的可接受性进行了判断。在所有年龄段中，道德规则违规行为的可接受程度较低，且评估所需的时间显著更长。在评估道德规则情景时，儿童的反应时间最长。年龄较大的青少年评估社会习俗规则情景所需的时间最少。研究结果表明，道德领域和社会习俗领域决策背后的神经心理加工过程存在差异，并且随着年龄的增长，对规则的理解和不同领域之间的区分能力也会提高。
