Casus belli: a coalitional theory of moral outrages

The killing of Trayvon Martin. The Orlando massacre. The attack on Pearl Harbor. These grave events are dramatically different from one another on surface properties but are brought together by a feature of our psychology tailored to solving the problem of collective deterrence. An extension of the Recalibrational Theory of Anger, the coalitional theory of moral outrages suggests that a suite of motivational goals is brought to bear on the unique problem of collective deterrence. Unlike the deterrence of one...

Evidence that Parallel Distributed Networks Dissociate Episodic and Social Functions Within the Individual

Association cortex is organized into large-scale, distributed networks. One such network, often called the default network, has been linked to diverse forms of internal mentation, opening debate about whether shared anatomy supports multiple forms of cognition or subtle distinctions in cortical organization have yet to be resolved. Using recently developed procedures for high-resolution analysis in ten individuals, we probed whether multiple tasks from...

Model-free and model-based learning processes in the updating of explicit and implicit evaluations 

Evaluating stimuli along a positive–negative dimension is a fundamental computation performed by the human mind. In recent decades, research has documented both dissociations and associations between explicit (self-reported) and implicit (indirectly measured) forms of evaluations. Together, these two forms of evaluation are central to organizing social cognition and drive behavior in intergroup relations, consumer choice, psychopathology, and close...