An fMRI investigation of emotional engagement in moral judgment.

The long-standing rationalist tradition in moral psychology emphasizes the role of reason in moral judgment. A more recent trend places increased emphasis on emotion. Although both reason and emotion are likely to play important roles in moral judgment, relatively little is known about their neural correlates, the nature of their interaction, and the factors that modulate their respective behavioral influences in the context of moral judgment. In two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies using moral dilemmas as probes, we apply the methods of cognitive neuroscience to the study of moral judgment. We argue that moral dilemmas vary systematically in the extent to which they engage emotional processing and that these variations in emotional engagement influence moral judgment. These results may shed light on some puzzling patterns in moral judgment observed by contemporary philosophers.

Hematologic and biosynthetic studies in homozygous hemoglobin Constant Spring.

The elongated alpha-globin chains of hemoglobin Constant Spring (alpha cs chain of HbCS ) are produced in low amounts such that the alpha cs-gene acts as a form of alpha-thalassemia; yet in the homozygous state the pathophysiological effects of this mutant are more severe than in the corresponding conditions that result from alpha-globin gene deletions. In studies designed to examine this discrepancy, we have demonstrated that a significant proportion of red cells produced in an HbCS homozygote has a much reduced red cell life span. Contrary to previous reports, we have been able to demonstrate the expected deficit in alpha-chain production in this condition and have shown that both the cessation of globin chain synthesis in vitro and the destruction of the excess beta-chains occur unusually rapidly. Comparison with various deletion forms of alpha-thalassemia suggests that, in terms of intracellular globin chain precipitates and free beta-chain pool, homozygous HbCS red cells more closely resemble those of HbH disease, with three of the four alpha-genes inactivated, than they do the more comparable alpha-thalassemia carriers with only two genes deleted.

Ambulatory estimates of maximal aerobic power from foot -ground contact times and heart rates in running humans.

Seeking to develop a simple ambulatory test of maximal aerobic power (VO(2 max)), we hypothesized that the ratio of inverse foot-ground contact time (1/t(c)) to heart rate (HR) during steady-speed running would accurately predict VO(2 max). Given the direct relationship between 1/t(c) and mass-specific O(2) uptake during running, the ratio 1/t(c). HR should reflect mass-specific O(2) pulse and, in turn, aerobic power. We divided 36 volunteers into matched experimental and validation groups. VO(2 max) was determined by a treadmill test to volitional fatigue. Ambulatory monitors on the shoe and chest recorded foot-ground contact time (t(c)) and steady-state HR, respectively, at a series of submaximal running speeds. In the experimental group, aerobic fitness index (1/t(c). HR) was nearly constant across running speed and correlated with VO(2 max) (r = 0.90). The regression equation derived from data from the experimental group predicted VO(2 max) from the 1/t(c). HR values in the validation group within 8.3% and 4.7 ml O(2) x kg(-1) x min(-1) (r = 0.84) of measured values. We conclude that simultaneous measurements of foot-ground constant times and heart rates during level running at a freely chosen constant speed can provide accurate estimates of maximal aerobic power.

Clinical experience and pre-test probability scores in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.

BACKGROUND: The Geneva and Wells pre-test probability scores are intended to replace empirical assessment of patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE). The effect of clinical experience on the inter-rater variability of these scores, and on empirical judgement, is unknown. AIM: To determine whether medical staff appointment grade affects the inter-rater variability of these pre-test probability scores, or empirical assessment, in patients with suspected PE. DESIGN: Questionnaire survey. METHODS: Doctors were grouped by grade (mean number of years since graduation+/-SEM): house officers 0.7+/-0.2, registrars 6.3+/-0.6, consultants 25+/-4 and applied pre-test probability scores to actual case scenarios. RESULTS: The Geneva score was the most consistent method of determining pre-test probability and was unaffected by clinical experience (Geneva kappa=0.73, Wells kappa=0.38, empirical kappa=0.23, p<0.001 ). With empirical judgement, inter-rater variability was inversely proportional to clinical experience (house officers kappa=0.37, registrars kappa=0.24, consultants kappa= 0.16, p<0.05). DISCUSSION: The Geneva score was the least variable method and can be applied by junior or senior doctors. Using empirical judgement, junior doctors were more likely to agree on the pre-test probability of PE than were their more senior colleagues. This may imply that as physicians gain experience, they recognize that the diagnosis of PE can be difficult to assess and are reluctant to exclude it on clinical grounds.

Appraising the threat of illness: a mental representational approach.

This article (a) describes a mental model underlying initial evaluations of illness signs and (b) reports an experiment demonstrating the model's utility by showing how the model represents evidence of defensiveness among people who test positively for a sign of illness. The model consists of a set of cognitive elements that people consider to evaluate the threat represented by a sign of possible illness. Seventy-two undergraduates were led to believe that they tested positively or negatively on a saliva test for a fictitious risk factor for a disease. In addition, half the participants were told about the existence of a simple preventive treatment for the disease, whereas the others were not. Subsequently the participants answered questions about elements of the threat-appraisal model. Analysis of their responses reveals evidence of defensiveness on several elements of the model. Those testing positively for the risk factor, especially those uninformed about its treatment, minimized threat by (a) increasing their estimates of the false-positive rate of the test, (b) decreasing their estimates of the seriousness of the risk factor, and (c) decreasing their estimates of the extent to which the disease itself is life-threatening. Applications of the model to actual illness threats and the relation between threat-related judgments and health-related behavior are discussed.

Perceiving choice and constraint: the effects of contextual and behavioral cues on attitude attribution.

We examined how features of the situation and the target's behavior in the attitude-attribution paradigm may lead observers to infer that the behavior was performed purposefully and how these perceptions may contribute to correspondence bias. Experiment 1 demonstrated that cues suggesting that essay assignment resulted from the target's purposeful action lead to correspondent inferences. When these cues were absent, observers' inferences were not correspondent. Experiment 2 demonstrated that observers are sensitive to cues emitted by the target (facial expressions of delight and disappointment) and that those cues' meaning depends on the context in which they take place. When the essay was freely chosen, the expression had little effect; observers judged that the essay accurately reflected the target's attitudes. When the essay assignment was constrained, observers used the expressions to discount the essay when judging the target's attitudes. We discuss the implications of these findings for the study of correspondent inferences and correspondence bias.

Multiple audience problem: a strategic communication perspective on social perception.

Examined how communicators send mixed messages containing an explicit surface content and a covert hidden content. In Study 1, Ss wrote constrained essays presenting either an introverted or extraverted personality. Although authors reported manipulating essay credibility and readers reported relying on credibility to make their judgments, readers succumbed to correspondence bias. In Studies 2 and 3, Ss again prepared either constrained essays (Study 2) or constrained videotapes (Study 3) and included in them a hidden message that would be understood by only their friends but not by strangers. Observers then read these essays or watched these videotapes. Friends detected and decoded the hidden messages, whereas strangers did not. We discuss these findings in terms of social perception and strategic communication.

Methods for the study of evil-doing actions.

For obvious ethical reasons, experimental studies of severe harm-doing actions are precluded. What methods are available to experimental social psychologists for the study of harm- and evil-doing activities? Three are suggested: experiments that may have a component of role-playing but still can illuminate nodes in the socialization into harm-doing process, probes into the conceptual world of individuals who are enlisted into real-world harm-doing socialization processes, and secondary analyses of case studies written by those who have been caught up in harm doing. The methodological limits of each activity are examined, and it is argued that an approach in which combinations of methods are employed to arrive at theoretical constructions can both support generalizations that provide insights into the socialization process and be sufficiently rigorous to support prudent social action recommendations.