The Moral Self? Psychologists on Obedience, Empathy and Positive Thinking

Stanley Milgram ( ) (1974)

Remote Condition (heard but couldn’t see learner) 65 % compliance Voice Feedback Condition (vocal complaints ) 62.5 % compliance Proximity Condition (learner right next to teacher) 40% compliance Touch-Proximity Condition (teacher had to put learner’s hand on electric plate to shock) 30 % compliance Milgram’s Experimental Conditions Obedience Studies of 1961

Ethics in Human Experimentation 1973, APA “Ethical Principles in the Conduct of Research with Human Participants” 1975, Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare: new regulations on human subject research—mandatory review by an institutional review board (IRB), committee created to ensure well-being of subjects, and informed consent.

Martin Seligman Director, Positive Psychology Center, Prof. Psychology University of Pennsylvania Happiness: a)positive emotion or pleasure a) engagement b) meaning

DSM-IV-TR (Text Revision) (2000) Issues of Reliability And Validity

CSV: Character Strengths and Virtues (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) Wisdom and Knowledge; creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness, lover of learning, perspective Courage: authenticity, bravery, persistence, zest Humanity: kindness, love, social intelligence Justice: Fairness, leadership, teamwork Temperance: forgiveness, modesty, patience, self-regulation Transcendence: appreciation of beauty, excellence, gratitude, hope, humor religiousness.

Positive Psychology Seligman, Martin E. P. (1991). Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life. Seligman, Martin E. P. (1993). What You Can Change and What You Can't: The Complete Guide to Successful Self-Improvement. Seligman, Martin E. P. (2002). Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment.

January 17, 2005

Vittorio Gallese Giacomo Rizzolatti Premotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions Giacomo Rizzolatti, Luciano Fadiga, Vittorio Gallese and Leonardo Fogassi Istituto di Fisiologia Umana, Università di Parma, Parma, Italy Cognitive Brain Research Volume 3, Issue 2, March 1996, Pages

Iacoboni and Dapretto Redgrave Nature Reviews Neuroscience 7, 942–951 (December 2006)

Mirror Neurons First described in inferior frontal cortex in monkey Fire not only when the monkey is moving his hand or its mouth, but also when he sees someone else performing the same action. These neurons ‘mirror’ the behavior of the other animal/human, as though the observer were performing the action. Important for understanding the actions of other people, learning new skills by imitation. Some argue they are the basis for understanding emotions, and may be the neuronal substrate of empathy. Function according to a “Perception-Action Theory.” With thanks to Nouchine Hadjikhani MartinosSCAN 2007

Mirror Neurons - localization STS - superior temporal sulcus IPL - inferior parietal lobule IFC - inferior frontal cortex Nouchine Hadjikhani MartinosSCAN 2007

First Issue of new Journal, Social Neuroscience, March 2006 Textbooks like this one began appearing in 2004 & 2005

Psychology’s Moral Project? “This project has been, first in philosophical terms, then increasingly in ‘scientific’ psychological terms, to supply a cultural authoritative foundation for conventional morality in a society which is constitutionally pluralistic in terms of religion and ideology.” Graham Richards, 1995

Psychology’s Selves The Reflective Self The Phrenological Self The Animal and Emotional Self The Perceiving Self The Otherworldly Self The Hysterical Self The Feebleminded Self The Laboring Self The Engineered Self The Expressive Self The Therapeutic Self The Cognitive and Computational Self The Moral Self?

THEMES in the History of Psychology 1) representations of mind 2) places where science is enacted or practiced 3) methods, tools, technologies and techniques 4) popular, literary, and visual understandings 5) practical domains of application 6) moral values and ideas of normality

Psychological Sciences as: “ techniques for the disciplining of human difference: individualizing humans through classifying then calibrating their capacities and conducts, inscribing and recording their attributes and deficiencies, managing and utilizing their individuality and variability.” Nikolas Rose, Inventing Ourselves (1998) p. 105

“this is a psy-shaped space, a space that lies between the biological materiality of the body with its nerves and fluids and the moral complexity of human conduct with its dilemmas of right and wrong, good and evil. And from now on, all our recipes for styles of life, our ethical systems, our recipes for assuaging misery and for improving ourselves and our conduct, our judgments of others will have to take account of the influences of, and impacts upon, this psy shaped space.” Nikolas Rose, Governing the Soul (1999)