Liane Young

We've looked at prison inmates with a clinical diagnosis of psychopathy, and we've looked at high functioning adults with autism. And so we've seen sort of a range of behavioral patterns across different populations of people in terms of how they use and how they deploy theory of mind capacities for moral judgments in particular.

We've looked at prison inmates with a clinical diagnosis of psychopathy, and we've looked at high functioning adults with autism. And so we've seen sort of a range of behavioral patterns across different populations of people in terms of how they use and how they deploy theory of mind capacities for moral judgments in particular.

We've looked at prison inmates with a clinical diagnosis of psychopathy, and we've looked at high functioning adults with autism. And so we've seen sort of a range of behavioral patterns across different populations of people in terms of how they use and how they deploy theory of mind capacities for moral judgments in particular.

I mean, we've all been in a situation where a joke falls flat because the person who's telling the joke... isn't able to appropriately assess the mood in this space or what other people know or don't know and so on. And so certainly there are many cases of that.

I mean, we've all been in a situation where a joke falls flat because the person who's telling the joke... isn't able to appropriately assess the mood in this space or what other people know or don't know and so on. And so certainly there are many cases of that.

I mean, we've all been in a situation where a joke falls flat because the person who's telling the joke... isn't able to appropriately assess the mood in this space or what other people know or don't know and so on. And so certainly there are many cases of that.

And then there are sort of the opposite cases where we really admire individuals for having a keen sense of what other people are thinking and feeling and able to shape a conversation or discussion in that way.

And then there are sort of the opposite cases where we really admire individuals for having a keen sense of what other people are thinking and feeling and able to shape a conversation or discussion in that way.

And then there are sort of the opposite cases where we really admire individuals for having a keen sense of what other people are thinking and feeling and able to shape a conversation or discussion in that way.

Yeah, you're right. And so it can be very complicated trying to figure out how theory of mind plays out in any given situation. You know, in my lab, when I'm particularly on Zoom, it can be a lot harder to read the room, if you will, figure out, you know, as a group, how people are doing and how to shape that space.

Yeah, you're right. And so it can be very complicated trying to figure out how theory of mind plays out in any given situation. You know, in my lab, when I'm particularly on Zoom, it can be a lot harder to read the room, if you will, figure out, you know, as a group, how people are doing and how to shape that space.

Yeah, you're right. And so it can be very complicated trying to figure out how theory of mind plays out in any given situation. You know, in my lab, when I'm particularly on Zoom, it can be a lot harder to read the room, if you will, figure out, you know, as a group, how people are doing and how to shape that space.

Yes, absolutely. So we usually have our subjects read stories that we write about other people who are performing actions that have effects on other people in the scenario. So in one story, we have a person named Grace who put some powder into a co-worker's coffee. And in one scenario, she thinks the powder is sugar. but the powder turns out to be poison and she ends up poisoning her friend.

Yes, absolutely. So we usually have our subjects read stories that we write about other people who are performing actions that have effects on other people in the scenario. So in one story, we have a person named Grace who put some powder into a co-worker's coffee. And in one scenario, she thinks the powder is sugar. but the powder turns out to be poison and she ends up poisoning her friend.

Yes, absolutely. So we usually have our subjects read stories that we write about other people who are performing actions that have effects on other people in the scenario. So in one story, we have a person named Grace who put some powder into a co-worker's coffee. And in one scenario, she thinks the powder is sugar. but the powder turns out to be poison and she ends up poisoning her friend.

So that's a version of the scenario in which someone causes harm to someone else by accident because of a false belief. In another version of the story, Grace puts powder into her co-worker's coffee. She thinks the powder is poison, but it turns out to be sugar. So that's a situation in which She has a harmful intention, but no harm is done.

So that's a version of the scenario in which someone causes harm to someone else by accident because of a false belief. In another version of the story, Grace puts powder into her co-worker's coffee. She thinks the powder is poison, but it turns out to be sugar. So that's a situation in which She has a harmful intention, but no harm is done.

So that's a version of the scenario in which someone causes harm to someone else by accident because of a false belief. In another version of the story, Grace puts powder into her co-worker's coffee. She thinks the powder is poison, but it turns out to be sugar. So that's a situation in which She has a harmful intention, but no harm is done.

So in these two cases, there is a conflict between the intention of the agent and the outcome of the agent's action. And so we can ask our volunteer participants, for their moral judgments of both the person, the agent performing the action, and also the action itself, whether this action is morally permissible or morally forbidden.

So in these two cases, there is a conflict between the intention of the agent and the outcome of the agent's action. And so we can ask our volunteer participants, for their moral judgments of both the person, the agent performing the action, and also the action itself, whether this action is morally permissible or morally forbidden.