Moral Reasoning as Probability Reasoning

Yiyun SHOU; Fei SONG

Moral Reasoning as Probability Reasoning

Yiyun SHOU, Fei SONG

Research output: Book Chapters | Papers in Conference Proceedings › Conference paper (refereed) › Research › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Previous studies found that the likelihood of subjects to choose a deontological judgment (e.g., allowing harm) or a consequentialist judgment (e.g., doing harm) varied across different moral dilemmas. The present paper explored if the variation can be explained by the differentiation of the perceived outcome probabilities. We generated moral dilemmas that were similar to the classical trolley and footbridge dilemmas, and investigated the extent to which subjects were sensitive to the outcome probabilities. Results indicated that the majority of subjects, including both those who initially chose a deontological decision and those who initially chose a consequentialist decision could be sensitive to outcome probabilities. The likelihood of being sensitive to the probabilities was invariant across different dilemmas. The variation of the choice behaviors across
different dilemmas might be associated with the variation of the estimated outcome probabilities.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society
Editors	D. C. NOELLE, R. DALE, A. S. WARLAUMONT, J. YOSHIMI, T. MATLOCK, C. D. JENNINGS, P. P. MAGLIO
Place of Publication	Austin, TX
Publisher	Cognitive Science Society, Inc.
Pages	2176-2181
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Print)	9780991196722
Publication status	Published - Jul 2015
Externally published	Yes
Event	The 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society - Pasadena, United States Duration: 22 Jul 2015 → 25 Jul 2015 https://cogsci.mindmodeling.org/2015/

Conference

Conference	The 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society
Country/Territory	United States
City	Pasadena
Period	22/07/15 → 25/07/15
Internet address	https://cogsci.mindmodeling.org/2015/

Keywords

probability judgment
moral reasoning
moral dilemma

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SHOU, Y., & SONG, F. (2015). Moral Reasoning as Probability Reasoning. In D. C. NOELLE, R. DALE, A. S. WARLAUMONT, J. YOSHIMI, T. MATLOCK, C. D. JENNINGS, & P. P. MAGLIO (Eds.), Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 2176-2181). Cognitive Science Society, Inc.. https://cognitivesciencesociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cogsci15_proceedings.pdf

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title = "Moral Reasoning as Probability Reasoning",

abstract = "Previous studies found that the likelihood of subjects to choose a deontological judgment (e.g., allowing harm) or a consequentialist judgment (e.g., doing harm) varied across different moral dilemmas. The present paper explored if the variation can be explained by the differentiation of the perceived outcome probabilities. We generated moral dilemmas that were similar to the classical trolley and footbridge dilemmas, and investigated the extent to which subjects were sensitive to the outcome probabilities. Results indicated that the majority of subjects, including both those who initially chose a deontological decision and those who initially chose a consequentialist decision could be sensitive to outcome probabilities. The likelihood of being sensitive to the probabilities was invariant across different dilemmas. The variation of the choice behaviors acrossdifferent dilemmas might be associated with the variation of the estimated outcome probabilities.",

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author = "Yiyun SHOU and Fei SONG",

year = "2015",

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booktitle = "Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society",

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SHOU, Y & SONG, F 2015, Moral Reasoning as Probability Reasoning. in DC NOELLE, R DALE, AS WARLAUMONT, J YOSHIMI, T MATLOCK, CD JENNINGS & PP MAGLIO (eds), Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. Cognitive Science Society, Inc., Austin, TX, pp. 2176-2181, The 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Pasadena, California, United States, 22/07/15. <https://cognitivesciencesociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cogsci15_proceedings.pdf>

Moral Reasoning as Probability Reasoning. / SHOU, Yiyun; SONG, Fei.
Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. ed. / D. C. NOELLE; R. DALE; A. S. WARLAUMONT; J. YOSHIMI; T. MATLOCK; C. D. JENNINGS; P. P. MAGLIO. Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society, Inc., 2015. p. 2176-2181.

Research output: Book Chapters | Papers in Conference Proceedings › Conference paper (refereed) › Research › peer-review

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AU - SONG, Fei

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N2 - Previous studies found that the likelihood of subjects to choose a deontological judgment (e.g., allowing harm) or a consequentialist judgment (e.g., doing harm) varied across different moral dilemmas. The present paper explored if the variation can be explained by the differentiation of the perceived outcome probabilities. We generated moral dilemmas that were similar to the classical trolley and footbridge dilemmas, and investigated the extent to which subjects were sensitive to the outcome probabilities. Results indicated that the majority of subjects, including both those who initially chose a deontological decision and those who initially chose a consequentialist decision could be sensitive to outcome probabilities. The likelihood of being sensitive to the probabilities was invariant across different dilemmas. The variation of the choice behaviors acrossdifferent dilemmas might be associated with the variation of the estimated outcome probabilities.

AB - Previous studies found that the likelihood of subjects to choose a deontological judgment (e.g., allowing harm) or a consequentialist judgment (e.g., doing harm) varied across different moral dilemmas. The present paper explored if the variation can be explained by the differentiation of the perceived outcome probabilities. We generated moral dilemmas that were similar to the classical trolley and footbridge dilemmas, and investigated the extent to which subjects were sensitive to the outcome probabilities. Results indicated that the majority of subjects, including both those who initially chose a deontological decision and those who initially chose a consequentialist decision could be sensitive to outcome probabilities. The likelihood of being sensitive to the probabilities was invariant across different dilemmas. The variation of the choice behaviors acrossdifferent dilemmas might be associated with the variation of the estimated outcome probabilities.

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BT - Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

A2 - NOELLE, D. C.

A2 - DALE, R.

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CY - Austin, TX

T2 - The 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Y2 - 22 July 2015 through 25 July 2015

ER -

Moral Reasoning as Probability Reasoning

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Keywords

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