V Chiasson1,2, E Vera-Estay1,2, G Lalonde1, J J Dooley3,4, M H Beauchamp1,2. 1. a Department of Psychology , University of Montreal , Montreal , Canada. 2. b Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center , Montreal , Canada. 3. c Cuyahoga County Court Psychiatric Clinic , Cleveland , OH , USA. 4. d Department of Psychology , Cleveland State University , Cleveland , OH , USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: There is increasing recognition that socio-cognitive skills, such as moral reasoning (MR), are affected in a wide range of developmental and neuropsychological conditions. However, the lack of appropriate measures available to neuropsychologists poses a challenge for the direct assessment of these skills. This study sought to explore age-related changes in MR using an innovative visual tool and examine the developmental sensitivity of the task. METHOD: To address some of the methodological limitations of traditional measures of MR, a novel, visual task, the Socio-Moral Reasoning Aptitude Level (So-Moral), was used to evaluate MR in 216 healthy participants aged 6-20 years. RESULTS: The findings show a linear increase in MR from childhood to late adolescence with significant group differences between childhood (6-8 years) and preadolescence (9-11 years), and between early adolescence (12-14 years) and middle adolescence (15-17 years). CONCLUSIONS: Interpreted in light of current brain development research, the results highlight age-related changes in MR that offer insight into typical MR development and opportunities for comparisons with clinical populations. The findings also provide evidence of the potential of the So-Moral as a developmentally appropriate measure of MR throughout childhood and adolescence.
OBJECTIVE: There is increasing recognition that socio-cognitive skills, such as moral reasoning (MR), are affected in a wide range of developmental and neuropsychological conditions. However, the lack of appropriate measures available to neuropsychologists poses a challenge for the direct assessment of these skills. This study sought to explore age-related changes in MR using an innovative visual tool and examine the developmental sensitivity of the task. METHOD: To address some of the methodological limitations of traditional measures of MR, a novel, visual task, the Socio-Moral Reasoning Aptitude Level (So-Moral), was used to evaluate MR in 216 healthy participants aged 6-20 years. RESULTS: The findings show a linear increase in MR from childhood to late adolescence with significant group differences between childhood (6-8 years) and preadolescence (9-11 years), and between early adolescence (12-14 years) and middle adolescence (15-17 years). CONCLUSIONS: Interpreted in light of current brain development research, the results highlight age-related changes in MR that offer insight into typical MR development and opportunities for comparisons with clinical populations. The findings also provide evidence of the potential of the So-Moral as a developmentally appropriate measure of MR throughout childhood and adolescence.
Entities:
Keywords:
Moral reasoning; age-related changes; developmental sensitivity; neuropsychological assessment; social cognition
Authors: Emma J Thompson; Miriam H Beauchamp; Simone J Darling; Stephen J C Hearps; Amy Brown; George Charalambous; Louise Crossley; David Darby; Julian J Dooley; Mardee Greenham; Mohinder Jaimangal; Skye McDonald; Frank Muscara; Lyn Turkstra; Vicki A Anderson Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2018-02-08 Impact factor: 2.692
Authors: Mathieu Garon; Baudouin Forgeot d'Arc; Marie M Lavallée; Evelyn V Estay; Miriam H Beauchamp Journal: Front Hum Neurosci Date: 2018-10-15 Impact factor: 3.169