Moral Dilemma Task (Trolley Problem)


Did you ever have a moral dilemma?

The Trolley Problem is a classic ethical dilemma that has been used extensively in psychological research. In the scenario, a trolley is hurtling down a track and is about to hit a group of people. The participant is given the option to either take no action and allow the trolley to continue on its course, resulting in the deaths of the people on the track, or to divert the trolley onto a different track, where there is only one person, but still resulting in someone's death. This scenario is used to study moral decision-making and the factors that influence it, such as the nature of harm, the number of people affected, and the intentionality of the action. Different variations of the Trolley Problem can also be used to study different aspects of moral reasoning, such as the role of emotion, social norms, or personal values. Overall, the Trolley Problem has proven to be a valuable tool for investigating the complex and multifaceted nature of human morality.

Resources:

Parameters
  • hide_instruction (true/false indicating if the instruction page must be shown)
  • option_A (what should be shown as option A)
  • option_B (what should be shown as option B)
  • language (option are: American English, Español, 中文)

What data is collected? How is it scored?
The following variables are recorded:
  • dilemma_response (whether the participant decided to pull the lever or not).
  • trolley_will_hit (which option given to the participant will be hit by the trolley after the choice was made).


Parameters

The following features of this task can be tweaked:

* Default values are shown (can clone task and modify these)

Do you want to hide the instruction? Yes = True No = False

false

What should be display as option A (the track where the trolley would go if the lever is pulled)

option A people

What should be display as option B (the track where the trolley is initially going towards)

option B people

Language the task should be displayed in (will not translate the option_A/B for you)

english

What participants see before taking the task

The following task is a moral dilemma.

What participants see after taking the task

Thanks for responding to this task! For more information on this task, search "Moral Dilema Task (Trolley Problem)" on MindHive.

Aggregate Variables

These data are automatically written to a csv file upon completion of the task

  • dilemma_response
  • trolley_will_hit

Duration

4 mins

Resources

  • Philippa Foot, "The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of the Double Effect" in Virtues and Vices (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1978) (originally appeared in the Oxford Review, Number 5, 1967.)
  • https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-021-01519-8
  • https://www.britannica.com/topic/trolley-problem
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem

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