Easier said than done

In moral behavior, (virtual) reality is something else altogether

2014-01-15

(Press-News.org) Contact information: Federica Sgorbissa
pressroom@sissa.it
39-040-378-7644
International School of Advanced Studies (SISSA)
Easier said than done In moral behavior, (virtual) reality is something else altogether

The brakes of your car fail suddenly and on your path are five people who will certainly be hit and killed. You can steer, but if you do another pedestrian will find himself on your course. Just one. What do you do: do you take action and kill one person or do you do nothing and cause five people to die? This is an example of a "moral dilemma", the type of problem cognitive psychologists use for studying the cerebral foundations of moral behaviour. Obviously, such experiments can only be conducted in a hypothetical manner, and not "in the field", but could this limitation have led cognitive psychologists to incorrect theoretical interpretations? An alternative to "real" reality is virtual reality: a group of researchers, including Indrajeet Patil, Carlotta Cogoni and Giorgia Silani of SISSA (the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste), in collaboration with the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory of the University of Udine, has carried out experiments involving virtual reality and found that human behaviour might be very different from what is seen in conventional tests relying on moral dilemmas.

In fact, with virtual reality the subjects' behaviour appears to be far more utilitarian than expressed in hypothetical judgements: "in tests with virtual reality people are far more likely to choose to steer and kill only one person", explains Patil, the first author of the paper. "In classic moral dilemmas, that is, when the subjects are only required to express a judgement on what they would do, they are more likely to state that they would not take any voluntary action that would result in a person being killed".

"Our results suggest that caution is needed when using data from a single type of experiment. Clearly, in most cases it isn't possible to test the scenarios envisaged in the moral dilemmas in the real world, but virtual reality, although not completely replacing "real" reality, can in any case provide a valuable method to support research."

More in detail …

In the experiments carried out by Patil and co-workers the same subjects took part in two experimental sessions. In one they responded to hypothetical moral dilemmas presented to them in text format. In another they had to make immediate decisions (press a button to steer the car or do nothing) in the same situations as represented in virtual reality.

Data were also collected on the subjects' level of emotional arousal by recording electrodermal activity, the electrical activity of the skin.

"The measurements of the subjects' emotional arousal during the experiments suggest that when arousal is greater – in a virtual reality setting, which is closer to a real-life situation – the subjects respond in a utilitarian manner, that is, they choose to take action to save the greatest number of people. In a hypothetical and therefore less emotionally charged setting, the type of response was 'deontological': the moral aspect of the action was assessed independently from the practical consequences of that action. Voluntarily killing a person was considered unacceptable". As a result, when faced with moral situations in real life we may take decisions that are morally at variance from our ethical convictions.

INFORMATION:

VIDEO: Examples of "virtual reality" moral dilemmas http://goo.gl/tYsUH7

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New study shows: Large landmasses existed 2.7 billion years ago

2014-01-15

New study shows: Large landmasses existed 2.7 billion years ago A Cologne working group involving Prof. Carsten Münker and Dr. Elis Hoffmann and their student Sebastian Viehmann (working with Prof. Michael Bau from the Jacobs University Bremen) have managed for the ...

Genes and calls reveal 5-fold greater diversity of Amazon frog species

2014-01-15

Genes and calls reveal 5-fold greater diversity of Amazon frog species Amazonian biodiversity has been studied for hundreds of years. Early explorers of Amazonian plants and animals included renowned naturalists of the stature of Alexander von Humboldt and A. R. Wallace. ...

Multihormone reverses metabolic damage of high calorie diet

2014-01-15

Multihormone reverses metabolic damage of high calorie diet Importantly, the scientists found out that treatment of obese mice with this GLP-1/Glucagon co-agonist improves metabolism ...

An international study allows a better prediction of the risk of hereditary cancer

2014-01-15

An international study allows a better prediction of the risk of hereditary cancer An international study has developed a refined method to identify people at risk for certain inherited cancer as a result of Lynch syndrome. The study, published ...

Scientists warn: Conservation work in zoos is too random

2014-01-15

Scientists warn: Conservation work in zoos is too random The world's zoos work hard and spend enormous resources on the conservation of endangered species, but the resources are not always optimally spent. One big problem is international legislation and the need of more ...

Ramularia and the 4 Rs

2014-01-15

Ramularia and the 4 Rs Resistance gene causes susceptibility to second disease The gene that has provided spring barley with resistance to powdery mildew for over 30 years increases susceptibility to newly-important disease Ramularia leaf spot. Scientists ...

Women with a high economic status claim to have better sex

2014-01-15

Women with a high economic status claim to have better sex A higher socioeconomic status has been associated with a more satisfying sex life An analysis based on the first Spanish National Sexual Health Survey, carried out in 2009, ...

Study explores possible costs, benefits of making movies with 'Oscar appeal'

2014-01-15

Study explores possible costs, benefits of making movies with 'Oscar appeal' WASHINGTON, DC, January 15, 2014 — What do Hollywood moguls holding their breath this week for an Oscar nomination have in common with the influence peddlers on K Street in ...

UD-developed smart gels deliver medicine on demand

2014-01-15

UD-developed smart gels deliver medicine on demand Researchers at the University of Delaware have developed a "smart" hydrogel that can deliver medicine on demand, in response to mechanical force. Over the past few decades, smart hydrogels have been created ...

Low national funding for LGBT health research contributes to inequities, analysis finds

2014-01-15

Low national funding for LGBT health research contributes to inequities, analysis finds PITTSBURGH, Jan. 15, 2014 – Only one-half of 1 percent of studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) between 1989 and 2011 concerned ...