An Event-Related Potential Study of Adolescents' and Young Adults' Judgments of Moral and Social Conventional Violations

• Autores: Ayelet Lahat, Charles C. Helwig, Philip David Zelazo
• Localización: Child development, ISSN 0009-3920, Vol. 84, Nº. 3, 2013, págs. 955-969
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The neurocognitive development of moral and conventional judgments was examined. Event-related potentials were recorded while 24 adolescents (13 years) and 30 young adults (20 years) read scenarios with 1 of 3 endings: moral violations, conventional violations, or neutral acts. Participants judged whether the act was acceptable or unacceptable when a rule was assumed or removed. Across age, reaction times were faster for moral than conventional violations when a rule was assumed. Adolescents had larger AB amplitudes than adults for moral and neutral, but not conventional, acts. AB amplitudes were larger when a rule was removed than assumed for moral, but not conventional, violations. These findings suggest that the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying moral and conventional judgments continue to develop beyond early adolescence.