Welcome to the University of Chicago Child Neurosuite, a laboratory focusing on developmental social neuroscience research with babies and young children.
We study the development of moral evaluation, sensitivity to fairness, distributive justice, empathy, and prosocial behavior in infants and children, by combining neuroscience, genetics and behavioral economics methods.
We are also conducting the largest cross-cultural investigation of moral reasoning and generosity in children aged 3 to 12 in fourteen countries around the world.
“Research on the development of morality is arguably one
of the most exciting academic domains with great
significance for education, public policy and mental health.”
Dr. Jean Decety
Director of the Child Neurosuite
Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Our brains are wired for morality:
Frontiers for Young Minds
Babies’ moral brains and their parents’ values of justice:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
The neuroscience of morality and generosity in children:
Current Biology
The role of affect in the neurodevelopment of morality:
Child Development Perspectives