Work

Neural computations in children’s third-party interventions are modulated by their parents’ moral values

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: One means by which humans maintain social cooperation is through intervention in third-party transgressions, a behaviour observable from the early years of development. While it has been argued that pre-school age children's intervention behaviour is driven by normative understandings, there is scepticism regarding this claim. There is also little consensus regarding the underlying mechanisms and motives that initially drive intervention behaviours in pre-school children. To elucidate the neural computations of moral norm violation associated with young children's intervention into third-party transgression, forty-seven preschoolers (average age 53.92 months) participated in a study comprising of electroencephalographic (EEG) measurements, a live interaction experiment, and a parent survey about moral values. This study provides data indicating that early implicit evaluations, rather than late deliberative processes, are implicated in a child's spontaneous intervention into third-party harm. Moreover, our findings suggest that parents' values about justice influence their children's early neural responses to third-party harm and their overt costly intervention behaviour.

Source: npj Science of Learning

DOI: 10.1038/s41539-021-00116-5

Authors: Minkang Kim, Jean Decety, Ling Wu, Soohyun Baek, Derek Sankey

Institutions: The University of Sydney, University of Chicago, Monash University

Language: English

Topic: Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,190