Activities

 

Current research projects associated with Moral Attitudes and Decision-Making include:

  • Attention and Moral Judgment (eye-tracker research): Nina Strohminger, KIE Post-Doctoral Fellow
  • Scrupulosity: Obsession with Morality (survey and planned patient research): Jesse Summers, Philosophy Post-Doctoral Fellow
  • Sexual Risk Taking and Moral Identity (survey research): Elizabeth Victor and Cameron Hopkin (Graduate Students, Psychology and Neuroscience), Robert Thomson (Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience), Phil Constanzo and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (KIE Senior Fellow and Faculty).  This online study collects data from college undergraduates and Amazon Mechanical Turk users to determine the relationship between moral identity and sexual risk behavior above and beyond previous psychosocial and personality predictor variables (e.g. sensation seeking, impulsivity, rejection sensitivity, etc.). This study is one of hopefully a series that will support an expansion of previous research in moral regulation by applying moral identity to self-regulation theories, especially regulatory focus (Higgins, 1997). More specifically, this research is investigating how how moral identity, a specific construct of morality that joins moral judgment and moral action, can be used as a regulatory process for positive health promotion and health risk prevention.
  • Influences of Moral Judgment on Politics (survey and fMRI research): Vijeth Iyengar (Graduate Student, Psychology and Neuroscience), Roberto Cabeza and Scott Huettel (Duke Center for Cognitive Neuroscience), and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
  • Confidence and Conformity in Moral Judgments (survey and planned fMRI research): Lawrence Ngo (Graduate Student, Neurobiology), Meagan Kelly (Undergraduate, Neurobiology), Scott Huettel (Duke Center for Cognitive Neuroscience), and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong. The theme of this project centers on the interaction between humility and conformity. We are interested in the manner in which different persuasion techniques affect how individuals adopt, abandon, and transmit moral beliefs in the face of disagreement.
  • Intentions and Side-Effects (survey and fMRI research): Lawrence Ngo (Graduate Student, Neurobiology), Meagan Kelly (Undergraduate, Neurobiology), Scott Huettel (Duke Center for Cognitive Neuroscience), and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
  • Implicit and Explicit Moral Attitudes (timing research): Daryl Cameron (UNC Social Psychology Graduate Student), Keith Payne (UNC Professor of Psychology), and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
  • Evolution and Morality (philosophical research): Aaron Ancell, Philosophy Graduate Student
  • Moral Virtues (philosophical research): Lauren Bunch, Philosophy Graduate Student
  • The Influence of Moral Language on Moral Choices: Tomasso Bruni (visiting Post-Doctoral Researcher, Kenan Institute for Ethics). This project concerns moral scenarios and the responses experimental participants give to them. The research question is: can the wording of the question prime participants for deontology or consequentialism? In particular, if we ask: “How much does the action described in the scenario violate someone’s rights?” (response on a 1-5 Likert-like scale), are we making participants more likely to endorse deontological responses? In contrast, if we ask: “To which extent is the action described in the scenario the best in this context?” (response on a 1-5 Likert-like scale), are we making the participants more likely to apply consequentialist thinking? The methods consist in presenting different scenarios to participants while manipulating the wording of the questions and counter-balancing for order. The experiment will be carried out through Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) using Qualtrics.
  • Cause by Omission and Norms: Paul Henne (Philosophy Graduate Student), with Angel Pinillos (Professor of Philosophy, Arizona State University)
  • Measuring Morality (survey of 1,500 adults on questions devised by scholars from sociology, psychology, and linguistics): Stephen Vaisey, Associate Professor of Sociology and KIE Senior Fellow

Beginning in June, 2012, the researchers have been meeting regularly to provide project feedback, discuss trends in the field, and invite outside speakers. Over the past summer, the group was joined by Duke’s Boundaries of Social Cognition Research Lab. Stay tuned for information on weekly presentations for Fall 2013.

2013-2014 Events

  • Daniel Batson and Brian Hare debate “Are Humans Ever Altruistic?” Sep. 5
  • MADLAB researchers weekend retreat in early September
  • On September 11, Alan Alda will lead a panel discussion about neuroscience and the law with professors Nita Farahany, Scott Huettel, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong and Ahmad Hariri, in preparation for the new PBS series Brains on Trial. The panel will be recorded for later broadcast on WUNC-TV.
  • Guest speakers will include:
    • Julian Savulescu (Uehiro Professor of Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford): October 25, 3:30-5:30 pm, West Duke 202
    • Daniel Dennett (Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University): February 6, 4:00-5:00 pm, Love Auditorium