Moral cognition in schizophrenia

Abstract

Introduction. Disordered moral behaviour and understanding of moral rules were described early in the literature on schizophrenia; however, moral cognition has received scant attention in spite of a large literature focused on social cognitive impairments and violent behaviour in schizophrenia. Methods. We conducted a narrative synthesis of the literature on violence, moral judgement and schizophrenia. Results. Initial empirical research into moral cognition in schizophrenia did not fully account for the basic-and social-cognitive deficits now known to characterise schizophrenia. Importantly, research into moral cognition in autism and psychopathy, disorders in part characterised by social cognitive impairments indicates subtle patterns of difference to the moral cognition of control participants. Recent neuroeconomic studies of moral cognition in schizophrenia have indicated that individuals with schizophrenia display subtle dysfunction in their fairness-related behaviours, but not in their propensity to engage in altruistic punishment. Conclusions. Further research has the potential to broaden our understanding of what is intact and what is impaired in moral cognition in schizophrenia and also to inform our theories of the structures subserving moral judgement in the general population. Furthermore, a more thorough understanding of moral cognitive impairments in schizophrenia may have implications for both legal process and psychosocial rehabilitation.

A Review on Approaches to Diagnose the Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Need of the Hour.

“…They exhibit reduced brain activity in right hypothalamus and right superior temporal gyrus region. Same misbehaviour patterns have also been observed in autistic children in some cases which might be associated with poor theory of mind [98]. These two disorders often overlap in their identity and common in males.…”

“…Several studies reported that individuals involved in violence and aggressive behaviour suffers from psychosis [91][92][93][94] in most cases and it has also found that their background is associated with factors such as sexual abuse, low income, use of drugs and alcoholism [91,92,[95][96][97]. Affected individuals showed poor speech and reasoning skills which might be a neurocognitive deficit [98]. They exhibit reduced brain activity in right hypothalamus and right superior temporal gyrus region.…”

Cognitive-Emotional and Inhibitory Deficits as a Window to Moral Decision-Making Difficulties Related to Exposure to Violence

“…People with schizophrenia obtained lower scores, focusing their explanations on “power, status and possessions, compared to concepts of equality, reciprocity and trust” found in control participants (Benson, 1980, p. 676). According to McGuire et al (2014) this worst performance was linked to the inability of these individuals to correctly make inferences, required from the MJI, about the mental states of the agents involved. Interestingly, Langdon et al (2014) examined 43 patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls on Theory of mind tests and on a novel test of social judgment (adapted from autism research – Ellis et al, 1994).…”

Re-examining Kohlberg's conception of morality in schizophrenia

“…Benson, 1980). In our review (McGuire, Langdon, & Brüne, 2014), we argued that this early research was problematic due to its reliance on data collected using Kohlberg's Moral Judgement Interview (MJI; Colby et al, 1987). The MJI requires participants to generate justifications of their judgements of moral dilemmas and relies on memory for dilemma story details, and explicit elucidation of reasoning processes.…”