Emotion-based learning systems and the development of morality

Blair, James

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2017.03.013

Cited by 49 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 114 publications

(179 reference statements)

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“…The amygdala is involved in socioemotional processes key to the development of AB, including emotion processing, threat response, and fear conditioning (LeDoux, 2000). The amygdala is activated by emotional faces, particularly fearful and angry facial expressions (Adolphs, 2010), which can serve as important cues in stimulus-reinforcement learning processes that are thought to underlie the development of morality and prosocial behavior (Blair, 2017). Thus, studies of youth AB have focused on the role of amygdala activation in response to fearful or angry facial expressions.…”

Section: The Amygdala and Emotion Processing In Abmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clarifying the Link Between Amygdala Functioning During Emotion Processing and Antisocial Behaviors Versus Callous-Unemotional Traits Within a Population-Based Community Sample

Dotterer

Waller

Hein

et al. 2020

Clinical Psychological Science

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Prominent theories suggest that disruptions in amygdala reactivity and connectivity when processing emotional cues are key to the etiology of youth antisocial behavior (AB) and that these associations may be dependent on co-occurring levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits. We examined the associations among AB, CU traits, and amygdala reactivity and functional connectivity while viewing emotional faces (fearful, angry, sad, happy) in 165 adolescents (46% male; 73.3% African American) from a representative, predominantly low-income community sample. AB was associated with increased amygdala activation in response to all emotions and was associated with greater amygdala reactivity to emotion only at low levels of CU traits. AB and CU traits were also associated with distinct patterns of amygdala connectivity. These findings demonstrate that AB-related deficits in amygdala functioning may extend across all emotions and highlight the need for further research on amygdala connectivity during emotion processing in relation to AB and CU traits within community populations.

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Section: The Amygdala and Emotion Processing In Abmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clarifying the Link Between Amygdala Functioning During Emotion Processing and Antisocial Behaviors Versus Callous-Unemotional Traits Within a Population-Based Community Sample

Dotterer

Waller

Hein

et al. 2020

Clinical Psychological Science

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“…1 These characteristics lead them to deviate from social norms by acting impulsively, irresponsibly (not necessarily criminally), ignoring or violating social rules, and even engaging in certain antisocial behaviors. 2 Cleckley classified psychopaths as primary and secondary. 3 The primary psychopaths are no apparent anxiety or guilt felt after engaging in illegal or unethical behavior and guilt.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

<p>The Characteristics of Moral Judgment of Psychopaths: The Mediating Effect of the Deontological Tendency</p>

Li¹,

Ding²,

Lai³

et al. 2020

PRBM

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Purpose: Many studies explore the relationship between moral judgment and psychopathy in western culture, but the mechanism underlying this relationship remains unclear. By far, no research about this topic in the background of Chinese culture exists. In the current study, we adopt one of the creative process-dissociation approaches to explore the relationship between the psychopath and moral judgment. Methods: Adopt the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathic Scale, the Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity and Process-dissociation approach to explore the relationship between the psychopath and moral judgment. Results: Traditional utilitarian moral score of the high psychopathy group are significantly higher than that of low psychopathy group (t= 2.97, p<0.05), people with high psychopathy utilitarian tendency U factor score and people with low psychopathy have no significant difference (F= 0.85, p = 0.36). Conclusion: Individuals with high psychopathy tend to make fewer deontological moral judgments because of their decreased deontological tendencies rather than their increased utilitarian tendencies. They may make more acceptance choices not to increase the wellbeing of the majority of people, but because of their increased acceptance of hurting others in the moral dilemma.

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“…This finding indicates that individuals with psychopathy have difficulty in learning to adjust their behaviors based on negative outcomes. Clarifying the mechanisms of learning with negative results for individuals with psychopathy is thought to be important because learning deficits may cause abnormal moral development and behavior (Blair, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Reduced Learning Ability on Avoidance in Psychopathy: A Computational Approach

2019

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Individuals with psychopathy often show deficits in learning, which often have negative consequences. Several theories have been proposed to explain psychopathic behaviors, but the learning mechanisms in psychopathy are still unclear. To clarify the learning anomalies in psychopathy, we fitted reinforcement learning (RL) models to behavioral data. We conducted two experiments to examine the effect of psychopathy as a group difference (Experiment 1) and as a continuum (Experiment 2). Forty-three undergraduates (in Experiment 1) and fifty-five undergraduate and graduate students (in Experiment 2) performed a go/no-go based learning task with accompanying rewards or punishments. Although we observed no differences in learning performance among the levels of psychopathic traits, the learning rate for the positive prediction error in the loss domain was lower for those with high-psychopathic trait than for those with low-psychopathic trait. This finding indicates that individuals with high-psychopathic traits update an action value less when they avoid a negative outcome. Our model can represent previous theories under a computational framework and provide a new perspective on impaired learning in psychopathy.

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Emotion-based learning systems and the development of morality

Cited by 49 publications

References 114 publications

Clarifying the Link Between Amygdala Functioning During Emotion Processing and Antisocial Behaviors Versus Callous-Unemotional Traits Within a Population-Based Community Sample

Clarifying the Link Between Amygdala Functioning During Emotion Processing and Antisocial Behaviors Versus Callous-Unemotional Traits Within a Population-Based Community Sample

<p>The Characteristics of Moral Judgment of Psychopaths: The Mediating Effect of the Deontological Tendency</p>

The Effect of Reduced Learning Ability on Avoidance in Psychopathy: A Computational Approach

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