
Using fMRI to Dissect Moral Judgment
Title:
Using fMRI to Dissect Moral Judgment
Author:
Van Bavel, Jay
Personal Author:
Publication Information:
Cambridge, MA MyJoVE Corp 2016
Physical Description:
online resource (560 seconds)
Series:
Science Education: Social Psychology
General Note:
Title from resource description page
Abstract:
Source: William Brady & Jay Van Bavel-New York University In examining the roles of reason and emotion in moral judgments, psychologists and philosophers alike point to the trolley dilemma and the footbridge dilemma. With the trolley dilemma, most people say that it is appropriate to pull a switch to stop a train from hitting five people by diverting it to kill one person. However, with the footbridge dilemma, most people say it is inappropriate to push a large man off of a bridge in order to hit a train (killing him) and stop it from running into five people. Reason would dictate that in both of the foregoing dilemmas, one life should be sacrificed to save five lives. But to many people, pushing the large man just "feels wrong" because it triggers more negative emotions than pulling a switch. In this case, emotion seems to trump reason. In recent years, psychology and neuroscience have entered the debate over the roles of reason and emotion in moral judgment. Researchers can scan brain activity as individuals make making moral judgments. Research shows that different brain areas associated are active during contemplation of the footbridge dilemma versus the trolley dilemma. Inspired by Greene, Sommerville, Nystrom, Darley and Cohen, this video demonstrates how to design moral dilemma tasks and integrate them into experiments using using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology.1
Reading Level:
For undergraduate, graduate, and professional students
Subject Term:
Electronic Access:
https://www.jove.com/t/10306