Cognitive Processes, Visual Imagery and Moral Judgement - Research Paper Example

? Cognitive Processes 3341 Amit, E., & Greene, J.D. . You see, the ends don’t justify the means: Visual imagery and moral judgement. Psychological Science, 23 (8), 861-868. Question Primarily, the research attempts to answer the questions “Does visual imagery affect the moralistic, deontological and utilitarian judgment of an individual? Assuming that it does, how does visual imagery affect the decision making process?” Further, the research also explores the idea of “the ends don’t justify the means” in relation to the capacity of visual images are factors in the moral decision making process. In particular, the research focuses on how images influence the application of levels of judgment, such as the deontological and utilitarian ones. Relatively, along with the primary questions, the research also seeks to answer the following questions to substantiate its claim: In the context of moral problems, does visual imagery channel the hastened application of a specific, judgment style? How does visual imagery influence the decision making of an individual, particularly in most morally conflicting situations such as choosing between the greater good over the individual, personal rights of a person? To set the moral parameters of the study, Amit and Greene (2012) refer deontological judgment as the “automatic emotional action” of an individual wherein the primary concern of the decision maker is the morality of the means, or the ways to achieve a greater moralistic action (p. 861). Further, Amit and Greene (2012) define utilitarian judgment as a “consequentialist judgement” wherein the decision maker focuses on the “greater good” of an action. Alternatives The induction of the primary question opens two possible answers. The first answer relates to the capacity of images in intensifying the moral weight of actions. For instance, the presence of visual images during the decision making process gives the decision maker a visual representation of the actual event, particularly in the actual moment during which the conflict happened. This alternative is derived from the study conducted by Caruso and Gino (2010) on “Blind Ethics” wherein the authors contend that decision makers often conclude that “moral behaviors are more ethical” while “immoral behaviors as more unethical” with their eyes closed (p. 280). As a response to the “blind ethics” hypothesis, Amit and Greene (2012) contend that images may serve as aids in heightening the use of a specific judgment style (p. 861). This alternative may be considered a further investigation on the blind ethics theory, particularly on the actual influence of visual images on making moral judgments. To support this hypothesis, Amit and Greene (2012) suggest that this hypothesis is viable in the context of the “dual-process” theory of moralistic judgment wherein the quality of moral decisions are affected by the personal interpretations and emotions of the decision maker (p. 861). Method Experiment 1. For the first experiment, 51 participants, excluding one dyslexic, comprised the study, ranging from 18-50 years old, and were all native English speakers. The experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that participants who are inclined more with analyzing cognitive tasks using visual stimuli process ideas in a deontological manner, while those who are more inclined with verbal stimuli are adaptive of the utilitarian approach. First, the participants underwent visual-verbal working memory tasks using a software called DirectRT installed in a computer. The tasks included trials which are composed of one target item followed by two probe items; the items have a balance of visual and verbal items. Participants were asked to identify one of the two probe items that resemble that of the target using a left or right arrow provided by DirectRT. The resembling probe items were also evenly and randomly distributed across the participants, and they were free to choose the probe that is similar to the target item without time pressure. Visual target item has also one counterpart of the verbal target item, but the challenge is that, each trial, a probe item, either resembles only one similar feature with the target or two. Following the visual-verbal memory task is a test of moral responses in situations involving saving several lives in exchange of killing one person. Justifications for their responses were done using a 7-point scale, 1 being the lowest and 7 the most appropriate. Each dilemma is presented on screen using the software MediaLab. Lastly, participants were asked about their personal views about liberalism and conservatism in the context of social and economic, and their spiritual lives, as well. Experiment 2. The second experiment aims to establish a causal relationship between interferences from visual and verbal working memory tasks on moral reasoning. This time, 43 participants who responded to moral dilemmas in Experiment 1, also did working memory tasks 3 s after the first and second interference tasks using the 7-point scale once again. The said two working memory activities used 5 s each, making it 10 s in every moral dilemma. The visual interference included 10 visual shapes, and the participant is asked whether the item was similar to the 2 previous items already presented. Five shapes can be found. The same process goes to the verbal working memory using a 56-point Times New Roman words displayed. Similar to Experiment 1, the participants were also asked moral questions involving moral dilemmas using stimuli presented in a DirectRT software. After that, the participants answered a questionnaire. The third experiment consists of 370 participants with ages 17-70; it explores the content of the moral conflict relative to the way the participants judged those situations. The participants were gathered using Mechanical Turk found at Amazon.com. A series of ethical conflicts were presented to the participants wherein they are required to pass their judgment on the morality and ethicality of the possible solutions to the problems. These conflicts include the Footbridge Dilemma and Trolley Dilemma wherein the participants were asked to judge the ethicality of the solutions to those problems. Since Experiments 1 and 2 did not discuss the role of imagery in moral decisions, Experiment 3 focuses on answering how visual imagery is relevant to deontological judgment. The Footbridge dilemma, using the self-reports of the elements noticed in the visual imagery, tests how people visualize harm, while the Trolley dilemma serves as the central dilemma. Both Footbridge and Trolley dilemmas have the same consequences, but the nature of the action relies on being a means or merely a side effect. After the experimentation process, the researchers then proceeded to identify the connection between the moral judgments of participants in relation to the influence of either visual or verbal interference in their decision-making process. Lastly, the research ends with the discussions of the interpretations and implications of the results, particularly in relation to visual imagery and moral decision making. Predictions Based on the first alternative question, it can be predicted that decision making process will now rely more on anticipating the possible consequences of that decision largely due to mental images formed and associated with it. In other words, the decision making process of participants who scored more on the visual memory tasks tend to become futuristic, and to some extent, very careful with their acts. In addition, they also have the tendency to do away with logic in making decisions, because admittedly, there are some emotions associated between visual imagery and the decision itself. Moreover, verbal representations which are used as cognitive aids during decision making processes heightens the likelihood of passing utilitarian judgments. Relatively, the duality of making decisions relates to the “dual-process theory” of moral decisions wherein people tend to process moral dilemmas based on their personal interpretations of what is moral and immoral before passing on their judgment (Evans, 2008, p. 266). In other words, the research predicts that humans can be very subjective of their decisions based on their personal measuring stick of moral and immoral. Specifically, the research predicts that visual images are more likely to trigger an emotional response than verbal representations, which also relate to the higher likelihood of deontological decision making. Relatively, the research also predicts that the presence of verbal representations during decision making may give rise to the utilitarian judgment style, which seeks to pass decisions for the greater good. For Experiment 3, the authors predict that majority of the participants will side on the Footbridge dilemma by spontaneously visualizing the harm an action triggers. In addition, the authors also predict that the respondents will follow a similar pattern by responding more on making deontological decisions using the Footbridge dilemma than with that of the Trolley dilemma. Lastly, the authors predict that they will find an explanation based on the contents of the respondents’ imagery in order to explain why Footbridge dilemma triggers more deontological decisions. Likewise, the third experiment suggests that visual imagery is predicted as supporting deontological judgment because people have the natural tendency to see harm as a means to an end rather than something that is to be avoided as an end, as suggested in the Footbridge dilemma. Results The researchers record the results after each experiment. The results revealed a negative correlation between the visualizer-verbalizer score to -3.7 and .007, respectively, which means that participants who were aided with verbal representations in their decision making tend to make utilitarian judgment while participants who were aided with visual representations tend to make deontological judgment. The results of the second experiment substantiate the findings of the first experiment, particularly in the influence of images in strengthening the emotional response of individuals in moral crisis. For instance, in the second experiment, the researchers discovered that giving visual interference allows participants to resort to deontological moral decisions while giving verbal interference allows participants to develop their moral reasoning in more utilitarian ways. Overall, the research emphasized that the context of passing moral reasoning lies in the actual ethicality or unethicality of the action, particularly on the intention of the person making the solution. For instance, the research discoveries that the participants judged the ethical/unethical actions based on their perception about whether the person intends to act for the greater good or for the good of a single person. This coincides with the notion of ‘the ends do not justify the means’ wherein people may disregard the actual morality of their means to achieve the greater good, which is perceived as a more moralistic decisions. Inferences The research results suggest that visual images affect the decision making process, particularly in deciding the morality of actions relative to either the deontological or utilitarian way. For instance, Amit and Greene (2012) contend that the presence of visual images depicting the moral problem fuels the rise of emotional factors in decision making, which is associated with deontological judgments, while the absence of images give rise to utilitarian decisions (p. 867). Further, the research seems to support the idea that verbal representations of moral dilemmas give way to utilitarian judgments, which are considered higher forms of moral decisions. Another significant insight from the research is that people tend to make different decisions when they face moral dilemmas themselves. Specifically, Amit and Greene (2012) state that people tend to make different moral decisions when they are either not involved or are directly involved in a moral problem (p. 867). With this insight, the research calls for further study of the actual influence of visual imagery for making personal and impersonal decisions to resolve moral problems. In particular, with its conclusion of the viability of verbal representation as aides for more utilitarian decisions, the research suggests that studies on the extent to which verbal representations hasten utilitarian decisions is useful to substantiate the use of such strategy on decision making scenarios, especially in the psychological sense. References Amit, E., & Greene, J. D. (2012). You see, the ends don’t justify the means: Visual imagery and moral judgement. Psychological Science, 23 (8), 861-868. Caruso, E. M., & Gino, F. (2011). Blind ethics: Closing one’s eyes polarizes moral judgements and discourages dishonest behaviors. Cognition, 119 (2), 280-285. Evans, J. St. B. T. (2008). Dual-processing accounts of reasoning, judgement, and social cognition. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 255-278. Read More