Judgments of Blame and Forgiveness: A Comparison of Young Adults, Older Adults, and Older Adults with Dementia

Introduction: Alzheimer's disease may modify moral judgment. Objective: In two studies, we assessed the impact of dementia on blame and forgiveness. Study 1 compared the ways in which young adults, older adults, and older adults with dementia cognitively integrated two factors. Study 2 assessed the number of different factors that older adults with dementia were able to integrate during these moral judgments. Method: The participants recorded their moral judgements in a blame task and in a forgiveness task. In study 1, the two questionnaires contained scenarios built from the combination of two factors. In study 2, the participants were confronted with the same tasks under three different conditions with scenarios that combined three, four or five factors. Results: The data from study 1 showed that the older adults with dementia did not combine the two factors in the same way as young adults did: the combination depended on the type of moral judgment. Study 2 revealed differences in moral judgment between older adults with dementia and adults without dementia in all tasks (i.e. with three, four or five factors combined). Conclusion: Dementia has an impact on moral judgments. Moral judgment among people with dementia is both task-and condition-dependant. ; Introduction : La maladie d’Alzheimer peut modifier les jugements moraux.Objectifs : Deux études ont été menées pour estimer l’impact de la démence sur les jugements de blâme et de pardon. La première étude a comparé la manière dont les jeunes adultes, les personnes âgées en bonne santé et les personnes âgées atteintes de démence ont intégré cognitivement deux informations. La deuxième étude a comparé leur capacité à intégrer plus de deux informations pour établir leurs jugements. Méthode : Les participants ont rendu leurs jugements moraux via deux tâches (jugement de blâme et jugement de pardon). Dans l’étude 1, deux questionnaires ont été proposés comprenant des scénarios construits à partir de la combinaison de deux informations. Dans l’étude 2, les ...