PNAS：预测幼儿的道德偏好

摘要 : 美国芝加哥大学一项研究发现，大脑活动的个体差异可能预测幼童对其他人的道德行为的反应。


美国芝加哥大学一项研究发现，大脑活动的个体差异可能预测幼童对其他人的道德行为的反应。幼儿有能力分辨好的与坏的行为，这提示道德认识的基本单元在生命的早期出现。然而，这种刚刚萌发的道德感的神经基础仍不明朗。Jason Cowell 和Jean Decety测量了73名1到2岁婴幼儿在参与一个社会评估任务的时候的脑波与行为应答。这些儿童观看了进行诸如分享食物等亲社会活动的角色的动画，或者诸如角色相互推打等反社会行为的动画。脑电图记录表明，由亲社会和反社会角色构成的场景引发了神经活动的独特模式。接下来，这组实验者把这些亲社会和反社会角色的实体版本放在了这些儿童面前，并观察了他们抓取的行为。此前大脑额叶表现出的对亲社会角色产生的反应比对反社会角色产生的反应更大的儿童，更可能去抓取帮助者，而有相反的神经活动模式的儿童偏爱抓取妨碍者。这组作者说，这些发现表明了把神经和行为数据结合起来从而阐明道德认识的早期根源的价值。

原文链接：

Fluid mixing and the deep biosphere of a fossil Lost City-type hydrothermal system at the Iberia Margin

原文摘要：

The Nature and underpinnings of infants’ seemingly complex, third-party, social evaluations remain highly contentious. Theoretical perspectives oscillate between rich and lean interpretations of the same expressed preferences. Although some argue that infants and toddlers possess a “moral sense” based on core knowledge of the social world, others suggest that social evaluations are hierarchical in nature and the product of an integration of rudimentary GENEral processes such as attention allocation and approach and avoidance. Moreover, these BioLogically prepared minds interact in social environments that include significant variation, which are likely to impact early social evaluations and behavior. The present study examined the neural underpinnings of and precursors to moral sensitivity in infants and toddlers (n = 73, ages 12–24 mo) through a series of interwoven measures, combining multiple levels of analysis including electrophysiological, eye-tracking, behavioral, and socioenvironmental. Continuous EEG and time-locked event-related potentials (ERPs) and gaze fixation were recorded while children watched characters engaging in prosocial and antisocial actions in two different tasks. All children demonstrated a neural differentiation in both spectral EEG power density modulations and time-locked ERPs when perceiving prosocial or antisocial agents. Time-locked neural differences predicted children’s preference for prosocial characters and were influenced by parental values regarding justice and fairness. Overall, this investigation casts light on the fundamental nature of moral cognition, including its underpinnings in general processes such as attention and approach–withdrawal, providing plausible mechanisms of early change and a foundation for forward movement in the field of developmental social neuroscience.

doi: 10.1073/PNAS.1508832112

作者：Jason M. Cowell 和Je

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