Visual encoding of social cues predicts sociomoral reasoning

Effects of victimization and perpetration in observing bullying scenes: an eye-tracker study{es}: Efectos de la victimización y la perpetración en la observación de escenas de acoso: un estudio con eye-tracker

Introduction

Previous research showed that bullying experiences are associated with different ways of interpreting and behaving in bullying dynamics. However, it remains uncertain whether these distinctions can already be present during the first step of information processing: the allocation of attention.

Aims

The study explored attentional patterns of Italian students with different bullying experiences in daily life while observing different roles represented through bullying vignettes.

Methods

Participants (72 students, Mage= 11.18) were categorized as victims, bully-victims, or not involved based on their scores on a self-report questionnaire. They observed 9 bullying vignettes on which different portraits were presented (bully, victim, pro-bully, defender, bystander) while the eye-tracker registered attentional indexes (fixation, visit and duration).

Results

Kruskal- Wallis and pairwise comparisons revealed a significant effect for the portraits of the bully and the pro-bully as bully-victims exhibited greater fixations and visits than victims, while students not involved showed no significant differences with the other groups.

Conclusion

Our research reveals that bully-victims focused more on threatening cues while victims diverged their gaze from them, confirming that the experience of bullying influences how they explore aggressive situations. Learning how involved students direct their attention helps us understand different responses, leading to powerful interventions.

Evaluation of Moral Reasoning Skills among Dental Students in the Makkah Region, Saudi Arabia

Introduction

One of the main roles of healthcare educators is to prepare students to make the right ethical decisions. This study evaluated the moral reasoning levels of dental students according to Kohlberg's six-stage moral development system.

Materials and Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted in three dental schools in the Makkah region. Senior-year students completed the self-administered Socio-moral Reflection Objective Measure (SROM), which consists of hypothetical moral dilemmas and options that mirror individual reasoning possibilities. SROM results were matched to Kohlberg's six-stage moral development system and associations with demographic variables and perceptions of educational context variables assessed.

Results

One hundred and eighty-eight senior students (mean age 23 ± 1.1 years) completed the SROM. Only 34.6% (n = 44) students reached stage four (morality of law and duty to the social order), while most students (63.8%; n = 81) were at stage three (morality of mutual interpersonal expectations); 1.6% (n = 2) were at stage two (the instrumental relativist orientation). No subject achieved stage 5. Attainment of moral reasoning was not associated with demographic or perception of educational context variables.

Conclusion

Students demonstrated a relatively low level of moral reasoning. Healthcare educators must review curricula to provide focused training for students to cultivate their moral reasoning skills. Further studies are also needed to confirm and explain this low moral reasoning level in dental students.

The role of androgens and estrogens in social interactions and social cognition

Gonadal hormones are becoming increasingly recognized for their effects on cognition. Estrogens, in particular, have received attention for their effects on learning and memory that rely upon the functioning of various brain regions. However, the impacts of androgens on cognition are relatively under investigated. Testosterone, as well as estrogens, have been shown to play a role in the modulation of different aspects of social cognition. This review explores the impact of testosterone and other androgens on various facets of social cognition including social recognition, social learning, social approach/avoidance, and aggression. We highlight the relevance of considering not only the actions of the most commonly studied steroids (i.e., testosterone, 17β-estradiol, and dihydrotestosterone), but also that of their metabolites and precursors, which interact with a plethora of different receptors and signalling molecules, ultimately modulating behaviour. We point out that it is also essential to investigate the effects of androgens, their precursors and metabolites in females, as prior studies have mostly focused on males. Overall, a comprehensive analysis of the impact of steroids such as androgens on behaviour is fundamental for a full understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying social cognition, including that of humans.

Cultural Similarities and Differences in the Development of Sociomoral Judgments: An Eye-Tracking Study

People integrate the valence of behavior and that of outcome when making moral judgments. However, the role of culture in the development of this integration among young children remains unclear. We investigated cultural similarities and differences in moral judgments by measuring both visual attention and verbal evaluations. Three- and four-year-olds from Japan and the U.S. (N = 141) were shown sociomoral scenarios that varied in agents' behavior which reflected prosocial or antisocial intention and recipients' emotional outcome (happy, neutral, or sad); then, they were asked to evaluate agents' moral trait. Their eye fixations while observing moral scenarios were measured using an eye-tracker. We found culturally similar tendencies in the integration of behavior and outcome; however, a cultural difference was shown in their verbal evaluation. The link between implicit attention and explicit verbal evaluation was negligible. Both culturally shared and specific aspects of sociomoral development are discussed.

Visual Encoding of Social Cues Contributes to Moral Reasoning in Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Eye-Tracking Study

Eye-tracking studies suggest that visual encoding is important for social processes such as socio-moral reasoning. Alterations to the visual encoding of faces, for example, have been linked to the social phenotype of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and are associated with social and communication impairments. Yet, people with ASD often perform similarly to neurotypical participants on measures of moral reasoning, supporting the hypothesis of differential mechanisms of moral reasoning in ASD. The objective of this study was to document visual encoding and moral reasoning in ASD and neurotypical individuals using a visual, ecological, sociomoral reasoning paradigm paired with eye-tracking. Two groups (ASD, Control) matched for age and IQ completed the SoMoral task, a set of picture situations describing everyday moral dilemmas, while their eye movements and pupil dilation were recorded. Moral understanding, decision-making, and justification were recorded. Participants with ASD presented a longer time to first fixation on faces. They also understood fewer dilemmas and produced fewer socially adaptive responses. Despite a similar average level of moral maturity, the justifications produced by participants with ASD were not distributed in the same way as the neurotypical participants. Visual encoding was a significant predictor of moral decision-making and moral justification for both groups. The results are discussed in the context of alternative mechanisms of moral reasoning in ASD.