Distributive justice and cognitive enhancement in lower, normal intelligence

Social Justice Theories as the Basis for Public Policy on Psychopharmacological Cognitive Enhancement

Psychopharmacological cognitive enhancements could lead to a higher quality of life of healthy individuals with lower cognitive capacities, but the current regulatory framework does not seem to enable access to this group. This article discusses why Sen’s Capability Approach could open up such access, while two other modern social justice theories – utilitarianism and Rawls’ Justice as Fairness – could not. In short, the utilitarian approach is proven to be inadequate, due to practical reasons and having a low chance of real-world success. Rawls’ Justice as Fairness seems to be problematic because of conflicting stances that follow from his First Principle of Justice. The Capability Approach has the greatest chance of success in the context of these substances, because of arguments that can be identified under the banners of agency/self-respect and the way the public views those who take the capability path out of their poor situation. The article also discusses general and practical problems with psychopharmacological cognitive enhancement that should be addressed when writing new policy on this topic.

Childhood Social Functioning and Young Adult Intimate Partner Violence in Girls With and Without ADHD: Response Inhibition as a Moderator

Objective: Examine the moderating effects of response inhibition on the longitudinal association between social preference/relational aggression measured in childhood, and intimate partner violence (IPV) measured in young adulthood, among women with (n = 140) and without (n = 88) histories of childhood ADHD. Method: During childhood, social preference was measured through confidential peer sociometric nominations, yielding negative and positive peer regard; relational aggression was assessed via staff behavioral observations; and response inhibition was assessed using commission errors from the continuous performance task. During young adulthood, IPV was ascertained via a clinician-administered, semistructured interview. Results: Social preference and relational aggression independently predicted IPV; this prospective link was moderated by response inhibition. Conclusion: In combination with low social preference or high relational aggression in childhood, poor response inhibition predicted the highest levels of young-adult IPV. Given the developmental significance of peer relationships, additional research on the causes of and treatments for poor social functioning in ADHD is warranted.

An ethics toolbox for neurotechnology

Advances in neurotechnology will raise new ethical dilemmas, to which scientists and the rest of society must respond. Here I present a "toolbox" of concepts to help us analyze these issues and communicate with each other about them across differences of ethical intuition.