IMPLICATIONS TO ETHICS EDUCATION OF RECENT NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH ON EMOTIONS

As it is currently taught, instruction in engineering ethics centers on cognitive learning even to the extent of suppressing the involvement of emotions in ethical decision making. The common belief is that emotional involvement will increase the likelihood of poor judgment. Recent neuroscience research with positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging indicates that emotions actually play a significant role in ethical decision making. It then follows that emotions should be part of ethics education: That is, discussions of ethics should not be limited to cognitive thought. Instruction to improve emotional maturity must be accompanied by teaching of cognitive subject matter if long-term learning is to occur. Emotions influence the solution of ethical problems as they affect the accuracy of the problem assessment and the accuracy, intensity, and duration of an emotive response. Specific emotions that relate to ethical decisions are listed. A theory of emotive learning is presented, and its application to the teaching of engineering ethics is discussed. Strategies for emotive learning are also presented.