Social cognition in children with neurofibromatosis type 1

INTRODUCTION

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a genetic pathology that can lead to impaired social functioning that has a negative impact on patients' quality of life. To date, although the hypothesis of impaired social cognition has been proposed as a potential explanation for these difficulties, very few studies have focused on theory of mind in children with NF1. Furthermore, other complex sociocognitive abilities have never been investigated. The aim of the present study was to assess theory of mind, moral reasoning, and social information processing in children with NF1 compared with a control group.

METHOD

We administered the Paediatric Evaluation of Emotions, Relationships and Socialization® to 38 children with NF1 aged between 8 years and 16 years 11 months (mean = 11.4, SD = 2.3) and 43 control children with comparable sociodemographic characteristics.

RESULTS

Patients performed significantly worse than controls on moral reasoning and social information processing tests, but there was no significant difference on theory of mind.

CONCLUSIONS

These results seem to confirm the presence of social cognition difficulties in NF1 that could explain, at least in part, their social difficulties, although not all dimensions are concerned. The differences between the processes we assessed are discussed in relation to the methodologies used to measure them, and raises questions about the complementarity of traditional tools and more ecological assessments.

The development of moral reasoning in urban, high-social class families from Gujarat, India: A longitudinal study from middle childhood to late adolescence

The aims of the present study were to quantitatively test hypotheses based on the cultural-developmental approach among children and adolescents in Vadodara, India, and to use qualitative analyses to examine the use of indigenous moral concepts. The study included 72 participants who were interviewed at two different age points, separated by approximately 4.5 years. At Time 1, participants were in middle childhood (Mage = 8.22 years) and in early adolescence (Mage = 11.54 years). At Time 2, the same participants were in early adolescence (Mage = 12.87 years) and late adolescence (Mage = 15.77 years). Three findings stood out: (1) As expected, the degree of use of Autonomy increased over the course of adolescence, as did the types of moral concepts. (2) The degree of use of Community significantly increased from middle childhood to adolescence. Duty, within Community was evoked prominently and consistently across all age points suggesting that aspects of social membership emerge early in Indian children's moral reasoning and remain important through adolescence. (3) The use of Divinity was prominent in middle childhood and its use decreased significantly through early adolescence; with a trend for a decrease in its use from early to late adolescence. While much of the reasoning in middle childhood was dominated by a concern for Punishment Avoidance from God, by adolescence Customary Traditional Authority and God's Authority gained prominence. Findings highlight aspects of adolescent moral reasoning that are largely missing in Western studies and point to the utility of emic, indigenous approaches to study moral development.

Online Moral Disengagement: An Examination of the Relationships Between Electronic Communication, Cognitive Empathy, and Antisocial Behavior on the Internet

A consequence of the proliferation of online communication is the concerning presence of antisocial behavior observed in virtual spaces. Research suggests the cognitive component of empathy is hindered by features of electronic communication which facilitates antisocial behaviors online. Investigations into how features of online communication inhibit cognitive empathy are lacking, and findings on moral disengagement and antisocial behavior have yet to be integrated with studies on cognitive empathy and electronic communication. The current study explores these relationships. One hundred and three undergraduate students completed several measures including the Online Moral Disengagement Scale, Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy, and Online Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior Scale. Results showed a positive correlation between compulsive internet use and online moral disengagement, as well as a negative correlation between cognitive empathy and moral disengagement online. It was hypothesized that online moral disengagement would mediate the relation between cognitive empathy and antisocial behavior online but this mediation was not supported. However, a moderated relationship was revealed between cognitive empathy and moral justification, by liberalism. This moderation can be explored further and built upon by future research to deepen our understanding of how political ideology relates to virtual behavior. Furthermore, the findings concerning components of empathy and moral disengagement, and their role within the perpetration of antisocial conduct online, can inform future research as well as interventions focused on fostering prosocial behavior online and curbing cyberaggression.

Multidimensional profiles of Head Start children's social behaviors predict their interpretations of physical aggression

Preschool children's reasoning regarding moral events differs according to adversity and relates to aggression. Understanding morality in young children is paramount for understanding their aggressive behaviors. The study aims to identify patterns of aggression and prosocial behavior using Latent Class Analysis (LCA) and investigate how patterns of aggression and prosocial behavior relate to reasoning about prototypic moral events. One hundred six children (Mage  = 4.40 years old, SD = 0.55 years old, Range: 3.08-5.33 years old, 51% boys) enrolled in Head Start programs and their caregivers participated. In the fall caregivers completed surveys on forms (i.e., the manifestation of behavior) and functions of aggression (i.e., motivation of behavior), and prosocial behavior. The following spring children completed two moral reasoning tasks that measured children's judgment and reasoning of harm, and their attributions of transgressors' reasoning. The LCA revealed a 3-class solution: (1) high levels of relational aggression and moderate levels of prosocial behavior (bistrategic controllers), (2) low levels of both aggression and average prosocial behavior (uninvolved), (3) high levels of all types of aggression and low levels of prosocial behavior (high aggression). Subsequent analyses suggest that uninvolved children prioritize adhering to authority over other concerns, and bistrategic controllers focused on goal-oriented reasoning. Overall, our findings support that recognizing patterns of behavior may be useful in understanding children's moral reasoning.

When Do Korsakoff Patients Justify Immoral Behaviors? The Influence of Premorbid Delinquency and Self-Other Perspectives in Moral Decision-Making and Moral Reasoning

Korsakoff's syndrome (KS) is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder caused by a vitamin B1 deficiency. KS is characterized by profound amnesia and often accompanied by poor executive functioning, decreased social-cognitive abilities, and difficulties in behavioral regulation. As moral behaviors and attitudes may provide insight in socio-behavioral interactions, the current study aimed to evaluate everyday moral maturity by administering self- versus other-oriented moral dilemmas in a group of KS patients (n = 20) and healthy controls (n = 20). Responses were scored according to the Kohlberg stages of moral reasoning. Furthermore, we assessed premorbid delinquency and current neurocognitive functioning as possible relevant factors. Our results show that KS patients were prone to lower levels of moral maturity when confronted with moral dilemmas relating to themselves, compared to dilemmas relating to (un)personal others in KS patients, while healthy subjects showed an opposite pattern. Moral immaturity could find its origin already before the onset of the KS diagnosis, as suggested by the elevated premorbid levels of delinquent behavior and correlation between premorbid delinquency and moral maturity in KS. Lower moral maturity could therefore be a possible predisposing factor to both delinquency and later development of Korsakoff's syndrome.

Factors Influencing the Likelihood of Alcohol and Tobacco Use in Adolescent Athletes: Type of Sport, Age, and Action Tendencies in Sport

This article proposes a new approach to understand substance use among adolescent athletes. Thus, this article describes an investigation of the likelihood of alcohol and tobacco use in adolescent athletes considering the type of sport, age, gender, and their action tendencies. A total of 552 athletes with an age range of 12-16 years were engaged in medium-high-contact sports (n = 291) and non-contact sports (n = 261). They completed the Children's Action Tendency Scale, the Sport Children's Action Tendency Scale, and the Personal and Social Responsibility Questionnaire. The results showed that 16-year-old athletes were the most likely to drink alcohol and to smoke tobacco (p < 0.001). Likewise, it was found that practicing a medium-high-contact sport was a risk factor for alcohol and tobacco use (p < 0.01). The more aggressive athletes were more likely to have smoked tobacco during the last month (p = 0.019) and also to drink more alcohol that the less aggressive ones (p < 0.001). Finally, the athletes who showed more submissiveness were less likely to have drunk alcohol in the last year and the last month (p < 0.001). These findings show the predictive value of new factors associated with alcohol and tobacco use among adolescent athletes. Preventive measures should be targeted, since a new link between the action tendencies in sport and substance use has been found.

Moral reasoning through the eyes of persons with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia

Introduction

Persons with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) can exhibit apparently antisocial behaviors. An example is their tendency to adopt utilitarian choices in sacrificial moral dilemmas, i.e. harmful actions to promote overall welfare. Moral cognition models interpret such tendencies as deriving from a lack of emotional engagement and selective impairment in prosocial sentiments.

Methods

We applied a qualitative approach to test those theoretical assumptions and to further explore the emotional experiences and values of people with bvFTD while they contemplate moral scenarios. We conducted semistructured interviews with 14 participants: 7 persons with bvFTD and 7 older healthy controls. Transcripts were coded using ATLAS.ti 5.0.

Results

During the moral reasoning task, persons with bvFTD reported more positive emotions than negative and showed significantly less cognitive precision in their moral reasoning compared to controls. Persons with bvFTD also organized their choices predominantly around kindness and altruism, and their responses reflected higher rule compliance. Our study showed that bvFTD persons' utilitarian responses to moral dilemmas did not arise from an emotionally disengaged or antisocial perspective. Instead, they were underpinned by positive emotionality and prosocial values.

Discussion

These findings enrich current understandings of moral cognition and highlight the importance of incorporating mixed methods approaches in dementia research that take into consideration the viewpoint of cognitively impaired individuals.

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.

Children's developing understanding of economic inequality and their place within it

Income inequality is growing in many parts of the world and, for the poorest children in a society, is associated with multiple, negative, developmental outcomes. This review of the research literature considers how childrens' and adolescents' understanding of economic inequality changes with age. It highlights shifts in conceptual understanding (from 'having and not having', to social structural and moral explanations), moral reasoning and the impact of the agents of socialization from parents to the media and cultural norms and discourses. It also examines how social processes affect judgements and the importance of an emerging sense of self in relation to questions of economic inequality. Finally, the review covers methodological considerations and suggests pathways for future research.

"What If It Was Your Dog?" Resource Shortages and Decision-Making in Veterinary Medicine-A Vignette Study with German Veterinary Students

The here presented vignette study was part of a survey on ethical judgement skills among advanced veterinary students at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation. The vignette describes a fictitious dilemma in veterinary practice due to medication supply shortages. First, the students should make an ethically justified decision: who of the two patients in the waiting room gets the last dosage of a medication. Important factors were the animal patients' characteristics (age, state of health, life expectancy), the patient owners' wellbeing, and context-related criteria. Second, the students were asked for decisional changes if one of the patients was their own dog. They reacted in four different ways: (1) for a professional, this should not make a difference; (2) most likely being "egoistic" and preferring their own dog; (3) giving the medication to the other dog; and (4) avoiding a decision. Finally, the students judged a list of possible solutions to the dilemma on a 9-point scale. They preferred patient-related criteria to patient-owner-related criteria in this task. In the overall results, it became obvious that no "gold standard" or guidelines for situations of medication shortages exist, yet, which presents an important subject for future research and veterinary ethics teaching.

To kill or not to kill: A systematic literature review of high-stakes moral decision-making measures and their psychometric properties

Introduction

The present systematic review investigates the psychological tools available for capturing high-stakes decisions involving life-death content and their psychometric properties. Valid measurement of these individual differences will provide crucial information in the personnel selection and training in fields where high-stakes moral issues exist (e.g., military, medicine). To our knowledge, this is the first systematic examination of such instruments.

Methods

Systematic searches of 6 electronic databases were conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. An appraisal tool evaluated the quality of identified measures. Twenty studies met pre-determined inclusion criteria. Moral decision-making was assessed with either a self-report scale (n = 3) or moral dilemmas (n = 17).

Results

The findings identified two measures, the Defining Issues Test and the Oxford Utilitarianism Scale as psychometrically sound measures of moral decision-making. However, they are unlikely to be considered "gold standard" measures due to their theoretically specific, but limited, scope. Overall, the findings suggest that research in the area has been scattered. There is a lack of consensus on the definition of moral decision-making, and a lack of cross-validation on how different measures of moral decision-making relate to each other. This presents a gap between theory and empirical measurement in moral decision-making. Further work is needed for a unified conceptualization of moral decision-making to pave the way to both theory development and the development of well-validated measurement tools, and this review provides a critical foundation for both.

Corrigendum: Evolutionary emergence of collective intelligence in large groups of students

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.848048.].

Mapping Conscience: Network Analysis Into the Differences in Maturation of Offending and Non-Offending Adolescents

Conscience is a diagnostically relevant concept in forensic psychiatry, but often misinterpreted as an all-or-none phenomenon. We conceptualize the conscience as a psychic function in which elements like empathy, self-conscience emotions such as shame, guilt and pride, and moral orientation work together. The differences in conscience functioning can be described in terms of developmental levels of integration. We conducted network analyses on data collected via a questionnaire survey held among 52 offending and 243 non-offending juveniles. We displayed two networks: One representing the non-offenders' normative and one representing the offenders' defiantly maturing conscience. As was hypothesized, in the non-offenders network, almost all elements clustered into one clinically meaningful network, indicating integration of the different elements of the normative maturing conscience. In the offenders network, the correlations between the elements were sporadic, indicating a lack of integration of the defiantly maturing conscience. The difference between the two networks was more prominent for empathy and moral orientation than for self-conscious emotions. This research supports the theory of differences in maturation of conscience instead of being an all-or-none phenomenon and calls for further research, taking a deeper look at the significance of integration of the conscience and its implications for offending behaviour.

Moral judgements among neurotypical children, autistic children and adults with intellectual disability

Background: The present study investigates the possible differences between neurotypical children (NT), autistic children, and adults with intellectual disability (ID) related to (i) morality of the agent, (ii) morality of the action, and (iii) culpability in inappropriate situations. Method: Eighty-four Spanish participants (32 NT, 30 autistic children, and 22 adults with ID) responded to a task of moral transgression with an unambiguous structure (bad intention - bad outcome), where the stories were classified as first-order Theory of Mind (ToM) (based on simple desires) and second-order ToM (based on revenge). Results: Autistic group judged similarly to NT group. However, adults with ID had greater difficulty judging the (ii) morality of the action (compared with the autistic and NT group) and (iii) culpability (compared with the NT group). Also, ID adults encountered problems responding the moral questions in the balloon story (second-order ToM) and ice-cream story (first-order ToM). Conclusions: Autistic and NT children were able to make similar moral judgements, however adults with ID did not respond in the same way - as they were more benevolent in their judgements.

Longitudinal paths between parents' use of rewards and young adolescents' moral traits and prosocial behaviors

BACKGROUND

Although prior research shows supportive evidence that parental practices are associated with adolescents' prosocial behaviors, limited evidence exists on the effects of parents' use of social and material rewards on distinct forms of prosocial behaviors, and the mediating effects of sociocognitive and socioemotive traits in these relations.

AIMS

The present study was designed to examine the longitudinal relations among parents' use of social and material rewards, youth prosocial traits, and prosocial behaviors.

MATERIALS & METHODS

Participants were 417 adolescents (M age = 14.70 years; 225 girls) from Valencia, Spain who completed surveys on parents' use of social and material reward practices, prosocial moral reasoning, empathic concern, and six types of prosocial behaviors.

RESULTS

Path analyses showed that parents' use of social rewards was indirectly, positively related to emotional, dire, altruistic, public (negatively), and compliant prosocial behaviors via empathic concern. The use of social rewards was also indirectly positively linked to altruistic prosocial behaviors via both empathic concern and prosocial moral reasoning. In contrast, parents' use of material rewards predicted less prosocial moral reasoning, which in turn, was linked to more altruistic, prosocial behaviors.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

The implications for parental socialization and self-determination theories of prosocial and moral development are discussed.

Assessment of Moral Development Among Undergraduate Pharmacy Students and Alumni

Objective. This study's principal aim was to assess the moral development of undergraduate pharmacy students and alumni at a university in Jordan.Methods. Using the Professional Ethics in Pharmacy (PEP) test, the moral reasoning of 512 pharmacy students and alumni was assessed in a cross-sectional design. The main assessment measure was the Principled Morality Score, which reflects an individual's level of moral judgment development and is given as a percentage, where higher values indicate greater moral development.Results. The response rate was 49%. The median Principled Morality Score was 16.7, with no significant differences observed across all five cohorts. No significant differences in median Principled Morality Scores were found between men and women (16.7 vs 20, respectively). Also, no significant differences in median Principled Morality scores were observed between students who had completed the ethics course versus those who had not completed the ethics course at the time of data collection (median Principled Morality Score 20 vs 16.7, respectively). No trends in median Principled Morality Scores were observed.Conclusion. In this study, the professional moral reasoning of prospective pharmacists was lower than expected. A further longitudinal study of the cohort, which attempts to correlate moral development with age, sex, education level, and moral education strategy, is warranted.

The Influence of Sociocultural Beliefs on Adolescents' Moral and Tolerance Evaluations Toward Corruption

In the present research, we examine how sociocultural beliefs facilitate more positive and tolerant evaluations toward corruption. Ninety-six adolescents from 6th grade (M = 11.9 years), 11th grade (M = 16.6 years), and college (M = 20.5 years), from Colombia-a country with high levels of corruption-evaluated how morally right and acceptable were bribery and nepotism across a baseline condition without sociocultural information, and three experimental conditions including sociocultural beliefs about illegality, institutional illegitimacy, and survival. Results suggest that compared to the baseline, the sociocultural beliefs in the three experimental conditions lead to more positive and tolerant evaluations, and less severity and more acceptability towards corruption in different degrees. Implications for moral reasoning about corruption are discussed.

Evolutionary emergence of collective intelligence in large groups of students

The emergence of collective intelligence has been studied in much greater detail in small groups than in larger ones. Nevertheless, in groups of several hundreds or thousands of members, it is well-known that the social environment exerts a considerable influence on individual behavior. A few recent papers have dealt with some aspects of large group situations, but have not provided an in-depth analysis of the role of interactions among the members of a group in the creation of ideas, as well as the group's overall performance. In this study, we report an experiment where a large set of individuals, i.e., 789 high-school students, cooperated online in real time to solve two different examinations on a specifically designed platform (Thinkhub). Our goal of this paper 6 to describe the specific mechanisms of idea creation we were able to observe and to measure the group's performance as a whole. When we deal with communication networks featuring a large number of interacting entities, it seems natural to model the set as a complex system by resorting to the tools of statistical mechanics. Our experiment shows how an interaction in small groups that increase in size over several phases, leading to a final phase where the students are confronted with the most popular answers of the previous phases, is capable of producing high-quality answers to all examination questions, whereby the last phase plays a crucial role. Our experiment likewise shows that a group's performance in such a task progresses in a linear manner in parallel with the size of the group. Finally, we show that the controlled interaction and dynamics foreseen in the system can reduce the spread of "fake news" within the group.

How German and Italian Laypeople Reason about Distributive Shortages during COVID-19

(1) Background: The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to investigate how moral reasoning is influenced by individuals' exposure to a crisis and by personal, societal and temporal proximity. We examined how Italians and Germans judged different behaviors that arose because of the pandemic, which affected health and societal matters. (2) Methods: Over the course of four months and three assessment periods, we used an observational online survey to assess participants' judgments regarding seven scenarios that addressed distributive shortages during the pandemic. (3) Results: Overall, there was no clear answering pattern across all scenarios. For a variation of triage and pandemic restrictions, most participants selected a mean value, which can be interpreted as deferring the choice. For the other scenarios, most participants used the extremes of the scale, thereby reflecting a clear opinion of the public regarding the moral issue. In addition, moral reasoning varied across the two countries, assessment periods, fear, and age. (4) Conclusions: By using scenarios that were taken from real-life experiences, the current study addresses criticism that moral research mostly relies on unrealistic scenarios that lack in external validity, plausibility, and proximity to everyday situations. In addition, it shows how lay people regard measures of public health and societal decision-making.

Neurodevelopmental Conditions and the NGRI Defense

Guina et al. summarize the literature on neurodevelopmental conditions and crime, focusing on the use of the insanity plea for this population. There have been a small number of cases in several jurisdictions, using both cognitive and volitional prongs, generating questions about the use of the defense for people with neurodevelopmental conditions. There are theoretical scenarios in which the defense seems appropriate, such as the argument that higher order moral reasoning is contingent on a series of developmental steps, including the development of theory of mind. Other lines of argument could be based on differences in conceptual thinking, reasoning, language, memory, attention, executive functioning, emotional regulation, and impulsivity. There are multiple barriers, however, to the use of the defense, including its antiquated language, which does not reflect our current conceptualizations of mental conditions and disorders. Another barrier is associated with the implicit stigmatization of defining a different way of being as a disorder, a position at the core of the important and burgeoning neurodiversity movement. It is not clear whether neurodevelopmental conditions will become the basis for an increasing number of insanity pleas, but more information in the form of primary data and good analysis is a critical next step.

Moral reasoning, emotion understanding, and callous-unemotional traits in early-to-middle childhood

Relatively little is known about features of moral reasoning among young children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., lack of guilt and empathy). This study tested associations between CU traits and emotion attributions (i.e., identification of others' emotional states) and justifications (i.e., explanations for those emotional states), across social scenarios involving discreet versus salient distress cues. The participants were boys aged 6-to-10 years (N = 50; Mage  = 7 years 7 months), who were interviewed about 12 hypothetical scenarios (eight with discreet and four with salient distress cues). Regression models indicated that CU traits, in interaction with high levels of antisocial behaviour, were associated with reduced emotion attributions of fear in discreet but not salient immoral scenarios. Higher CU traits were also associated with reduced justifications referencing others' welfare in discreet scenarios, and increased references to action-orientated justifications in salient scenarios. These findings suggest that CU traits are associated with early moral reasoning impairments and that salience of distress may be important to these processes.

Psychological and Behavioral Outcomes From the Perspective of Moral Culture: A Study of College Students

Although the issue of moral identity and morality is under investigation for the last many years, there is still a need to investigate its role in how it promotes behavior. This study tends to extend this string of literature and attempted to investigate the mediating role of moral reasoning among the elements of moral culture, prosocial behavior, and psychological wellbeing. For this purpose, college students were selected as participants in this study. For this purpose, a two-wave strategy was followed to collect data. In the first wave of questionnaire distribution, 600 college students were contacted to complete the response. A hidden secret code was allotted to each questionnaire to trace the respondent for the second wave. From the distributed 600 questionnaires, 507 questionnaires were received back. At this stage, demographic characteristics and questions related to both the independent variables were asked from the respondents. While in the next wave, 448 questionnaires were received back from the redistributed questionnaires in the second wave. After discarding the incomplete and partially filled questionnaires (17 questionnaires) there were left 431 useable responses. These responses were used to run the tests through structural equation modeling (SEM) through assessment of measurement and structural model. Results indicate that symbolization promotes positive changes in the psychological wellbeing of the students and prosocial behavior of the college students. Moreover, internalization can promote psychological wellbeing. However, the impact of internalization on the prosocial behavior of college students has not been found statistically significant. Moreover, it can be safely concluded that moral reasoning has the potency to mediate the relationship of symbolization and psychological wellbeing as well as prosocial behavior. Moral reasoning also mediates the relationship between internalization and psychological well-being and prosocial behavior.

Gender Differences in Theory of Mind, Empathic Understanding, and Moral Reasoning in an Offending and a Matched Non-Offending Population

Previous research suggests that a lack of pro-social skills is characteristic of an offending personality. Two hundred male and female offenders and matched controls completed measures to assess: Theory of Mind, empathic understanding, and moral reasoning. Significant differences between the offenders and the control group, as well as between the male and female participants, were detected in theory of mind, empathic understanding and moral reasoning with offenders scoring lower than the control group, and with males scoring lower than females on most tests. The ability to assess Theory of Mind, empathic understanding, and moral reasoning, and subsequently to identify reduced ability, is not only useful for researchers but will also allow practitioners to tailor existing (or develop new) interventions specific to the needs of individuals. This could be particularly useful in terms of recidivism when applied to those involved in anti-social or offending behavior.

Effects of Integrated Moral Reasoning Development Intervention for Management of Violence in Schizophrenia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Moral cognition is an important and multidimensional, but often overlooked, determinant of violence. Very few interventions have systematically examined the role of moral reasoning, anger management and problem-solving together in violence. A randomized controlled trial was conducted to comprehensively evaluate the sustained effects of an integrated Moral Reasoning Development Intervention (MRDI) in the management of repetitive violence in schizophrenia. This study placed special emphasis on essential components related to moral reasoning and violence in patients with schizophrenia. Evaluations, including measures of violence, moral reasoning, ethical valuation and judgement, decision-making, conflict management style, and personality traits, were performed at baseline, end of intervention, and 1-month follow-up after intervention. We found that MRDI was superior to treatment-as-usual, in improving moral reasoning and related variables and violence outcomes (p < 0.05). In comparison with the treatment-as-usual group (n = 22), patients in the MRDI group (n = 21) showed improved levels of moral reasoning, with decreased levels of violent behaviors. The MRDI participants also experienced significantly greater improvements or changes (p < 0.05) in their ethical valuation and judgement, decision-making style and preferences, and conflict management style. Our findings provide important implications for risk assessment and violence management and prevention.

Assessing and Optimizing Socio-Moral Reasoning Skills: Findings From the MorALERT Serious Video Game

Background

Social cognition and competence are a key part of daily interactions and essential for satisfying relationships and well-being. Pediatric neurological and psychological conditions can affect social cognition and require assessment and remediation of social skills. To adequately approximate the complex and dynamic nature of real-world social interactions, innovative tools are needed. The aim of this study was to document the performance of adolescents on two versions of a serious video game presenting realistic, everyday, socio-moral conflicts, and to explore whether their performance is associated with empathy or sense of presence, factors known to influence social cognition.

Methods

Participants (12–17 years, M = 14.39; SD = 1.35) first completed a pre-test measure of socio-moral reasoning based on three dilemmas from a previously validated computer task. Then, they either played an evaluative version (n = 24) or an adaptive (n = 33) version of a video game presenting nine social situations in which they made socio-moral decisions and provided justifications. In the evaluative version, participants’ audio justifications were recorded verbatim and coded manually to obtain a socio-moral reasoning maturity score. In the adaptive version (AV), tailored feedback and social reinforcements were provided based on participant responses. An automatic coding algorithm developed using artificial intelligence was used to determine socio-moral maturity level in real-time and to provide a basis for the feedback and reinforcements in the game. All participants then completed a three-dilemma post-test assessment.

Results

Those who played the adaptive version showed improved SMR across the pre-test, in-game and post-test moral maturity scores, F(1.97,63.00) = 9.81, p_HF < 0.001, ϵ² = 0.21, but those who played the Evaluative version did not. Socio-moral reasoning scores from both versions combined did not correlate with empathy or sense of presence during the game, though results neared significance. The study findings support preliminary validation of the game as a promising method for assessing and remediating social skills during adolescence.

Coping with COVID-19: Insights from cognition and emotion research

Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing efforts to contain its spread have caused major problems with public health, along with social and economic disruptions. This Special Issue addresses how coping with the pandemic has been shaped by the interplay between cognition and emotion. The various contributions to this Special Issue explore the impacts of the pandemic on: (a) How people were confronted with new risks and realities; (b) Active processes of emotional resilience and ruminative coping; and c) Moral decision-making. Taken together, this work shows how research on cognition and emotion can illuminate the social and emotional strains of the pandemic, while helping to identify risk factors that exacerbate these problems and pointing to ways to successfully address and mitigate these problems, such as emotion regulation, social support, and perspective taking. The editorial closes by briefly reporting on the present state of the journal and changes in the editorial team.

The concept of lying, moral reasoning and children's willingness to lie at the request of an adult

This research aims to understand how children conceptualise lying and how they associate it with moral reasoning within a narrative that contains everyday moral transgressions. This study also explores whether children are willing to lie when they are asked to do so by close adults, such as mothers, fathers and teachers, even after declaring that lying is wrong. We interviewed children (N = 146) from first to fourth grade on these themes, and discovered a developmental trend in the concept of lying, which is associated with other moral reasoning dimensions. Most children could define lying in a reasonable and accurate manner, and considered it inappropriate behaviour, but half admitted to lying after a close adult requested it.

Universality and Cultural Diversity in Moral Reasoning and Judgment

Many theories have shaped the concept of morality and its development by anchoring it in the realm of the social systems and values of each culture. This review discusses the current formulation of moral theories that attempt to explain cultural factors affecting moral judgment and reasoning. It aims to survey key criticisms that emerged in the past decades. In both cases, we highlight examples of cultural differences in morality, to show that there are cultural patterns of moral cognition in Westerners' individualistic culture and Easterners' collectivist culture. It suggests a paradigmatic change in this field by proposing pluralist "moralities" thought to be universal and rooted in the human evolutionary past. Notwithstanding, cultures vary substantially in their promotion and transmission of a multitude of moral reasonings and judgments. Depending on history, religious beliefs, social ecology, and institutional regulations (e.g., kinship structure and economic markets), each society develops a moral system emphasizing several moral orientations. This variability raises questions for normative theories of morality from a cross-cultural perspective. Consequently, we shed light on future descriptive work on morality to identify the cultural characteristics likely to impact the expression or development of reasoning, justification, argumentation, and moral judgment in Westerners' individualistic culture and Easterners' collectivist culture.

Moral Reasoning Enables Developmental and Societal Change

Moral reasoning is an essential part of how humans develop and a fundamental aspect of how human societies change over time. On a developmental timescale, reasoning about interpersonal disagreements and dilemmas spurs age-related changes in moral judgments from childhood to adulthood. When asked to distribute resources among others, even young children strive to balance competing concerns with equality, merit, and need. Over the course of development, reasoning and judgments about resource distribution and other moral issues become increasingly sophisticated. From childhood to adulthood, individuals not only evaluate acts as right or wrong but also take the extra steps to rectify inequalities, protest unfair norms, and resist stereotypic expectations about others. The development of moral reasoning also enables change on a societal timescale. Across centuries and communities, ordinary individuals have called for societal change based on moral concerns with welfare, rights, fairness, and justice. Individuals have effectively employed reasoning to identify and challenge injustices. In this article, we synthesize recent insights from developmental science about the roles of moral reasoning in developmental and societal change. In the concluding section, we turn to questions for future research on moral reasoning and change.

Morality of the Heart: Heart Rate Variability and Moral Rule Adherence in Men

Moral rules are a cornerstone of many societies. Most moral rules are concerned with the welfare of other individuals, reflecting individuals’ innate aversion against harming other individuals. Harming others is associated with aversive experiences, implying that individuals who are sensitive to the aversiveness of these experiences are more likely to follow moral rules than individuals who are insensitive to the aversiveness of these experiences. Individuals’ sensitivity for aversive experiences depends on individuals’ ability to integrate the underlying neural and physiological processes: Individuals who are more efficient in integrating these processes are more sensitive to the aversiveness that is associated with moral rule violations than individuals who are less efficient in integrating these processes. Individuals who differ in their ability to integrate these processes may, thus, also differ in their inclination to follow moral rules. We tested this assumption in a sample of healthy individuals (67 males) who completed measures of moral rule adherence and integration abilities. Moral rule adherence was assessed with self-report measure and integration abilities were assessed with a resting state measure of heart rate variability (HRV), which reflects prefrontal–(para-)limbic engagement during the integration of physical and neural processes. We found a positive association between individuals’ HRV and individuals’ moral rule adherence, implying that individuals with efficient integration abilities were more inclined to follow moral rules than individuals with inefficient integration abilities. Our findings support the assumption that individuals with different integration abilities also differ in moral rule adherence, presumably because of differences in aversiveness sensitivity.

Physical Presence during Moral Action in Immersive Virtual Reality

Research on morality has focused on differences in moral judgment and action. In this study, we investigated self-reported moral reasoning after a hypothetical moral dilemma was presented on paper, and moral reasoning after that very same dilemma was experienced in immersive virtual reality (IVR). We asked open-ended questions and used content analysis to determine moral reasoning in a sample of 107 participants. We found that participants referred significantly more often to abstract principles and consequences for themselves (i.e., it is against the law) after the paper-based moral dilemma compared to the IVR dilemma. In IVR participants significantly more often referred to the consequences for the people involved in the dilemma (i.e., not wanting to hurt that particular person). This supports the separate process theory, suggesting that decision and action might be different moral concepts with different foci regarding moral reasoning. Using simulated moral scenarios thus seems essential as it illustrates possible mechanisms of empathy and altruism being more relevant for moral actions especially given the physical presence of virtual humans in IVR.

The Interplay Between Absolute Language and Moral Reasoning on Endorsement of Moral Foundations

Morality – the subjective sense that humans discern between right and wrong – plays a ubiquitous role in everyday life. Deontological reasoning conceptualizes moral decision-making as rigid, such that many moral choices are forbidden or required. Not surprisingly, the language used in measures of deontological reasoning tends to be rigid, including phrases such as “always” and “never.” Two studies (N = 553) drawn from two different populations used commonly used measures of moral reasoning and measures of morality to examine the link between individual differences in deontological reasoning and language on the endorsement of moral foundations. Participants low on deontological reasoning generally showed less endorsement for moral principles when extreme language was used in the measures (relative to less extreme language).

African Conceptions of Age-Based Moral Standing: Anchoring Values to Regional Realities

Is age discrimination ethically objectionable? One puzzle is that we sometimes assume that the target of both age discrimination and ageism must be older people, yet in poorer nations, older people are generally shown more respect. This article explores the ethical question. It looks first at ethical arguments favoring age discrimination toward younger people in low-income, less industrialized countries of the global South, using sub-Saharan Africa as an illustration. It contrasts these with arguments favoring age discrimination toward older people in high-income, more industrialized countries of the global North, particularly the United States and United Kingdom. Finally, it considers what role, if any, differences in life expectancy, infant and child mortality, and prospects for healthy lives should play in the moral embrace of a particular view by a community. It argues that there can be reasons to favor different types of discrimination in different parts of the world.

'Prescription' for Purposeful Adaptation of Professionalism-and-Ethics Teaching Strategies for Remote Delivery

This case report outlines the strategies underpinning the adaptation of professionalism and ethics strand (P&E) teaching for remote delivery on a Pharmacy programme in response to COVID-19 restrictions. In line with national and University guidance, P&E teaching detailed in this report was delivered online in late 2020. Sessions were generally live and recorded, although some content was pre-recorded using video-capture software. All learning activities, recordings and supporting resources are accessible to students on the University’s Virtual Learning Environment. This report reflects on the curriculum, pedagogy and content of P&E teaching, with particular emphasis on teaching related to professional identity formation and moral reasoning competencies development. Design, development and delivery of remote online teaching is considered in the context of P&E teaching. Strategies used to plan for adaptation and delivery of interactive online teaching sessions aligned with P&E teaching are described. Key findings support a scholarship of teaching approach when planning for adaptation to remote online teaching. Purposeful consideration of existing curricular, pedagogical and instructional design enables the teacher to identify critical P&E teaching activities potentially compromised by the move to the online environment. Informed integration of available instructional tools to teaching activities follows. The report concludes with recommendations for future research.

Moral Reasoning about Aggressive Behavior in Relation to Type of Aggression, Age and Gender in South Korean Pupils

Studies of moral reasoning in relation to aggressive behaviors have paid limited attention to different types of aggression, and have mainly been conducted in Western societies. We describe findings from a study of 157 children, aged 6 or 11 years, from two schools in South Korea. Using a cartoon scenario methodology, we assessed moral reasoning about eight types of aggression: verbal, physical individual, physical group, social exclusion, rumor spreading, breaking one’s belongings, sending a nasty text via mobile phone, and sending a nasty message/email via computer. Four aspects of moral reasoning were assessed: moral judgment, harmfulness, reason for judgment, and causal responsibility. Many significant differences by type of aggression were found, especially for social exclusion (seen as less wrong and harmful, and more the victim’s responsibility), physical group aggression (seen as more wrong or harmful, and a matter of fairness, especially in older children and boys), and cyber aggression (seen more as the aggressor’s responsibility). Older children gave more reasons based on welfare, and fewer “don’t know” responses for reasons and attributions. Gender differences were relatively few, but girls did make more use of welfare in the moral reasoning domain. Findings are discussed in relation to previous research and the cultural context in South Korea.

Actor perspective and moral reasoning: Do levels of criminal thinking moderate this relationship among non-criminals?

A large body of literature has explored moral decision-making; however, fewer have examined the explicit role of criminal thinking (CT). This study sought to determine whether moral judgment is influenced by CT in the general population and if this relationship further depends on the type of scenario (i.e., immoral vs. illegal) and/or the actor orientation (i.e., self vs. other). Using a sample of 239 U.S. adults and hypothetical case vignettes, results showed that those who endorsed higher levels of CT rated socially deviant behaviors, regardless of the type of scenario, as significantly more morally acceptable than participants who endorsed lower levels of CT. However, this difference was more pronounced for the immoral dilemma compared to the illegal dilemma. Specifically, proactive CT processes led to higher justification for the immoral dilemma. Neither general nor reactive CT were significantly associated with moral reasoning for the illegal dilemma. Among a mostly non-offending sample, this finding makes sense as it appears participants' levels of criminal thinking may have been high enough to rationalize an immoral dilemma but not so high as to allow for rationalization of an illegal dilemma. No significant differences were found concerning actor orientation. This research not only has important implications for better understanding traits associated with moral decision-making in everyday choices, but it may also have practical application in legal contexts. However, further research is needed in these contexts. Findings were also limited by a lack of racial diversity among participants.

Moral reasoning and moral conflict in patients of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - Frontotemporal dementia spectrum

The aim of this study was to investigate the moral reasoning and moral conflict in patients of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - frontotemporal dementia (ALSFTD) spectrum. Ten ALS patients without cognitive impairment, 10 ALS patients with cognitive or behavioral impairment, 10 ALSFTD patients and 23 controls were examined with neuropsychological and behavioral tests as well as with a set of eight well -designed moral dilemmas. The responses to the moral dilemmas were used as proxies to evaluate interpersonal moral reasoning. Reactivity to change, reaction time and arousal were used as markers of moral conflict. ALSFTD patients showed more "utilitarian" responses and less moral conflict than control participants. ALS patients without dementia showed a trend toward slower reaction time, which could be largely attributed to physical disability. No significant changes in arousal were found in ALS patients compared with control participants. Behavioral changes (apathy and dysexecutive symptoms) were partly responsible for the changes found in patients of the ALSFTD spectrum. Our results suggest that most ALS patients without dementia, but not those with concomitant dementia, would be able to deal with the conflict of complex moral decisions, such as end-of-life decisions, at least in mild to moderate stages of the disease.

Moral reasoning, moral decision-making, and empathy in Korsakoff's syndrome

Korsakoff's syndrome (KS) is a neuropsychiatric disorder, caused by a vitamin B1 deficiency. Although it is known that patients with KS display diminished theory of mind functioning and frequently exhibit marked antisocial interactions little attention has so far focused on the integrity of moral decision-making abilities, moral reasoning, and empathy. In an experimental cross-sectional design, 20 patients diagnosed with KS, and twenty age-, education-, and gender-equivalent healthy participants performed tests assessing moral decision-making, moral reasoning maturity, empathy, and executive functioning. Participants were administered the Moral Behaviour Inventory (MBI) for everyday moral dilemmas, and ten cartoons of abstract moral dilemmas. Responses were scored according to the Kohlberg stages of moral reasoning. Empathy and executive functioning were assessed with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB). In contrast to frontal traumatic brain injury patients, KS patients did not display a utilitarian bias, suggesting preserved moral decision-making abilities. Of interest, KS patients had significantly lower levels of moral reasoning maturity on everyday moral dilemmas, and abstract moral dilemmas. In patients, empathy was moderately related to the level of moral maturity on both tasks, while executive functioning was not. In conclusion, KS patients have preserved moral decision-making abilities, but their moral reasoning abilities are poorer in everyday and abstract situations. Lower moral reasoning abilities and lower levels of empathy together may be responsible for adverse social functioning in KS.

Moral reasoning as a catalyst for cultural competence and culturally responsive care

The importance of developing cultural competence among healthcare professionals is well recognized. However, the widespread reports of insensitivity and deficiencies in care for culturally diverse patients illuminate the need to review how cultural competence development is taught, learnt and applied in practice. Unless we can alter the 'hearts and minds' of practising nurses to provide the care that they know they should, culturally insensitive care will continue operating in subtle ways. This paper explores the ideas behind nurses' actions and omissions when caring for culturally diverse patients and proposes the need to examine cultural competence development through a moral reasoning lens. Examining cultural competence development through a moral reasoning lens can help empower nurses, whilst nurturing commitment and courage to providing quality care that meets the needs of culturally diverse patients. The model of morality provides a framework that explores how moral motivation and behaviour occur and can provide a vehicle for critically examining the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to provide culturally responsive care.

Is It Still Double Edged? Not for University Students' Development of Moral Reasoning and Video Game Play

Previous research with video game play and moral development with adolescents, found both positive and negative relationships. This study aimed to extend this research to explore moral development and video game play with university students. One hundred and thirty-five undergraduate students (M = 20.29, SD = 2.70) took part in an online survey. The results suggested higher moral reasoning for participants who described themselves as gamers and those which do not play, compared those who play but do not identify as gamers. It was suggested that males had higher moral scores and more mature reasoning than females. The results of a regression analysis suggested that there were no significant predictors for moral development from either game play or the demographic variables. The findings suggest that moral development could be less influenced by sex, age, and video game play factors such as video game content and amount of game play, than was previously thought for this age group.

All People

In early March 2020, the March-April Hastings Center Report was very nearly assembled and contained nothing about Covid-19, which was still just beginning to make itself publicly known in the United States. Two weeks later, the editorial line-up was undergoing a remix, and essays that lay out sweeping agendas for the response to the worldwide crisis were in preparation. The central theme in the agenda that Lawrence O. Gostin and colleagues develop is that the pandemic requires a sharp break from usual ethical norms yet simultaneously demands a return to core ethical commitments. A similar theme is sounded by Mildred Z. Solomon and colleagues in a commentary calling for federal actions to keep the health care system functioning. Other essays in the issue take up an assortment of topical issues-including international patient dumping-that were simmering along prior to the pandemic, and the two articles take up foundational questions about the nature of moral reasoning.

ADHD and Judgments of Impulsivity in Rule Violations

Participants with ADHD (n = 45) and participants without ADHD (n = 130, total n = 175) judged hypothetical moral and conventional rule violations that varied the impulsivity of the act, the ADHD diagnosis, and the gender of the actor in order to examine (1) social reasoning about impulsiveness and (2) whether participants infer impulsiveness from the characteristics of the actor, including gender and ADHD-status. Moral violations were judged more negatively than conventional violations, even when they were impulsive. The characteristics of the actor influenced judgments in that participants judged boys' behavior as more acceptable, as having less control, and as deserving of less punishment compared to girls. In addition, actors who were described as having ADHD were judged overall more positively. Participants with ADHD judged that all actors should receive similar punishment, regardless of the actor's ADHD diagnosis, while participants without ADHD judged actors with ADHD should receive less punishment than those without.

Conscience as a Regulatory Function: An Integrative Theory Put to the Test

The subject of this study is an integrative theory of the conscience. According to this theory, conscience is operationalised as a regulatory function of one's own behaviour and identity, resulting from an interplay of empathy, self-conscious emotions such as guilt and shame, and moral reasoning. This study aimed to evaluate conscience in an adult forensic psychiatric sample by assessing the underlying factors proposed by Schalkwijk. Offenders (n = 48) appeared to show less affective but not less cognitive empathy, less identification with others, less personal distress in seeing others' suffering, less shame and shame-proneness, and lower levels of moral reasoning than non-offenders (n = 50). In coping with self-conscious emotions, offenders used the same amount of externalising coping strategies, but fewer internalising coping strategies.

Design and psychometric properties of an instrument to assess metacognition in moral reasoning in medicine

AIM

The present study aims at designing and assessing the psychometric properties of MCMR instruments to lead the medical ethics education to further goals and more definite steps.

DESIGN

This is a cross sectional study.

METHOD

This study was conducted in two phases; identifying the items and designing the instrument. In the preliminary phase, the qualitative study was carried out using conventional content analysis method. In the second phase, psychometric evaluation of instrument was done using face and content validity, construct validity and reliability.

RESULTS

On the first phase of this study, 135 items were identified. After determining face and content validity, 111 items reached the stage of exploratory factor analysis. This instrumental analysis indicated the existence of 74 items and ten factors whose variance of the total is explained as 46.883%. Cronbach's alpha value was 0/75. And the intra-cluster correlation coefficient was 0.808.

Moral reasoning explained by personality traits and moral disengagement: A study among Dutch nurse practitioners and physician assistants

AIM

To explore the direct and indirect effect of the personality meta-traits 'Stability' and 'Plasticity' on moral reasoning among nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs).

BACKGROUND

Moral reasoning is influenced by being prone to moral disengagement and personality traits. Moral disengagement is observed among professionals in many fields, including healthcare providers. Moral disengagement is known to be provoked by environmental stressors and influenced by certain personality traits.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional approach was used including self-report questionnaires.

METHODS

A convenience sample of Dutch NPs (N = 67) and PAs (N = 88) was surveyed via online questionnaires between January and March 2015, using (a) the Defining Issues Test; (b) the BIG five inventory; and (c) the Moral Disengagement Scale. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed for estimating the construct validity of two meta-traits of personality and to test unidirectional influences on moral reasoning.

RESULTS

Only the Stability trait was a direct predictor of moral reasoning whereas both Stability and Plasticity were precursors of moral disengagement. Both personality meta-traits had statistically significant indirect effects on moral reasoning through a low level of moral disengagement. The influence of both personality traits on the level of moral reasoning was increased by strong self-censure on entering into morally disengaged interactions.

CONCLUSION

The personality meta-trait 'Stability' is an indicator of moral reasoning and is explained by a lower propensity to morally disengage among highly stable people. Although the meta-trait Plasticity exerts an indirect effect through moral disengagement on moral reasoning, it is not a direct indicator of moral reasoning.

It's Double Edged: The Positive and Negative Relationships Between the Development of Moral Reasoning and Video Game Play Among Adolescents

Due to the concerns over the effects of video game play, this study investigated adolescents' moral development and their video game play. 166 adolescents aged 11-18 years (M = 13.08, SD = 1.91) attending an English school completed an online survey, which included a measure of moral development and questions regarding video game play. In contrast to previous research, male participants were found to have significantly (p = 0.02) higher moral reasoning scores than females. The results also suggested a transition in moral development, which takes place between the ages of 12-14. The results of moral development and video game played suggested both positive and negative relationships. Regression analysis suggested that there was a significant positive relationship between the more types of game genres played and higher moral scores. Although not significant, the results suggested a trend for the following variables; years playing video games, mature content, engagement, moral narrative, Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, and length of time playing video games which all had a negative relationship with moral scores. The implications of these results are discussed with regards to moral education and the variables involved in video game play, including the role of video game content.

The Psychology of Morality: A Review and Analysis of Empirical Studies Published From 1940 Through 2017

We review empirical research on (social) psychology of morality to identify which issues and relations are well documented by existing data and which areas of inquiry are in need of further empirical evidence. An electronic literature search yielded a total of 1,278 relevant research articles published from 1940 through 2017. These were subjected to expert content analysis and standardized bibliometric analysis to classify research questions and relate these to (trends in) empirical approaches that characterize research on morality. We categorize the research questions addressed in this literature into five different themes and consider how empirical approaches within each of these themes have addressed psychological antecedents and implications of moral behavior. We conclude that some key features of theoretical questions relating to human morality are not systematically captured in empirical research and are in need of further investigation.

Intention Attribution and the Development of Moral Evaluation

Research with infants and toddlers suggests that even early in development, humans evaluate others by considering the outcome of an action in relation to the intention underlying it. When someone tries but fails to do a good deed, for example, it seems that it is "the thought that counts." However, research with slightly older children in the preschool years has produced mixed results: in some cases, children are solely considering the positive or negative outcome of an action when evaluating others, while in others, intention attributions are integrated. Such contradictory findings have prompted debate about the development of moral reasoning. Here, we examine extant research on early moral evaluation and propose that differences in the way that task procedures present intention and outcome information can (1) support or preclude young children's intention attribution and (2) alter the relative saliency or predominance of each kind of information. In turn, these differences would influence the frequency and degree to which young children generate intention-oriented moral evaluations.

Assessing Veterinary Students' Ethical Sensitivity to Farm Animal Welfare Issues

Ethical sensitivity has been identified as one of the four necessary components of moral action, yet little has been done to assess ethical sensitivity to animal issues in animal-related professions. The aim of this study was to develop assessment tools to measure and enhance ethical sensitivity to animal issues, and determine relationships between ethical sensitivity and moral reasoning. Of a cohort of 115 third-year veterinary students from the University of Queensland, Australia, 104 students gave permission to use their responses to written ethical sensitivity and moral judgment tests, and 51 to use their video role-plays to demonstrate ethical sensitivity to current animal farming issues. Inter-rater reliability of scoring by an expert panel was moderate to substantial for the written assessment, but only slight to moderate for the video response. In the written test, students' mean scores for recognition of animals' emotions, expression of empathy and recognition of alternative actions and their impacts improved after teaching. Scores did not increase for identification of their own emotions, moral conflicts between stakeholders, and conflicts between legal, organizational and ethical responsibilities as a professional. There was no overall relationship between ethical sensitivity and moral reasoning scores. However, high scores for reasoning using universal principles were correlated with high scores for recognition of moral conflicts between stakeholders and between legal, organizational, and ethical responsibilities as a professional. Further development of these ethical sensitivity assessment tools is encouraged to enable veterinary and animal science students to raise and address animal ethics issues and alleviate moral distress.

Explaining professionalism in moral reasoning: a qualitative study

PURPOSE

Professionalism is one of the most fundamental elements in judgment and moral reasoning and also an essential skill accompanied by other technical and scientific skills in the medical staff. Awareness of ethical aspects involves the clinical decision-making for patients. Therefore, this study aimed at explaining the role of professionalism in moral reasoning.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This qualitative study was conducted on 17 faculty members and clinical students of medicine department. The participants were selected through purposive sampling method, and the data were collected via semistructured interviews after getting informed consent. Then, data were analyzed using conventional content analysis method.

RESULTS

Three main categories and eleven subcategories were classified as follows: professionalism principles with four subscales such as communication with patients, trust building, satisfying the patients, and moralism; professional responsibility with four subscales such as fulfillment of duties, commitment to professional rules, maintaining professional position, and dignity of the patient; professional evidence with three subscales based on data analysis such as patient's participation in decision-making, personal and other's experiences, and professional knowledge.

CONCLUSION

Training qualified people in medicine is one of the important missions of the professors. Improving the professionalism in students enables them in moral reasoning. Training professional principles, responsibility, and using professional evidence are the strategies used for job commitment in moral reasoning, and emphasis on how to train medical ethics will support graduates.