Ch. 11 Function of Emotion 3/4

Adaptive function of emotions:

Fear alerts us to escape from danger. Anger directs us to attack an offender. Disgust tells us to avoid something that might cause illness.

The Trolley Dilemma

. A runaway trolley is headed toward five people on a track. The only way you can prevent their death is to switch the trolley onto another track, where it will kill one person. Should you pull the switch?

The Footbridge Dilemma.

You are standing on a footbridge overlooking a trolley track. A runaway trolley is headed toward five people on a track. The only way you can prevent their death is to push a heavy-set stranger off the footbridge and onto the track so that he will block the trolley. Would it be right to push him?

The Lifeboat Dilemma.

You and six other people are on a lifeboat in icy waters, but it is overcrowded and starting to sink. If you push one of the people off the boat, the boat will stop sinking and the rest of you will survive. Would it be right to push someone off? Would it make a difference if that person already had a serious illness?

The Hospital Dilemma.

You are a surgeon, and five of your patients will die soon unless they get organ transplants. Each needs the transplant of a different organ, and you haven’t been able to find organ donors for any of them. A nurse bursts into your office: “Good news! A visitor to the hospital has just arrived, who has the same tissue type as all five of your patients! We can kill this visitor and use the organs to save the other five!” Would it be right to do so?

Dilemma answers:

Most people say (hesitantly) that it is right to pull the switch in the trolley dilemma, fewer say yes in the footbridge and lifeboat dilemmas, and almost no one endorses killing one person to save five others in the hospital dilemma.

Brain scans when contemplating these dilemmas activates:

brain areas known to respond to emotions, including parts of the prefrontal cortex and cingulate gyrus

People with the strongest autonomic arousal:

the least likely to decide to kill one to save five others

hen you make a moral decision:

you compare the utilitarian aspect (for example, five people die versus one person dies) and the emotional aspect (how you would feel about performing the action).

entromedial part of the prefrontal cortex:

becomes active when they compare the utilitarian and emotional aspects to make a decision

What would happen after damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex?

People with such damage tend to make decisions without much consideration of the emotional impact (are more likely than average to choose the utilitarian option of killing one to save five

Phineas Gage:

An explosion sent an iron rod through the prefrontal cortex. He exhibited impulsive behavior and poor decision making, two common symptoms of prefrontal damage.

Antonio Damasio:

Prefrontal cortex damage who expressed almost no anger, sadness, or pleasure. Contrary to the idea that unemotional means logical, he made bad decisions that cost him his job, his marriage, and his savings. When tested in the laboratory, he successfully predicted the probable outcomes of various decisions.

What brain activity influences decisions on moral dilemmas?

The ventromedial prefrontal cortex compares utilitarian (cognitive) information and the expected emotional outcome. People with damage in this area tend to put less weight on the emotional aspects