Events Calendar

CS Colloquium

Speaker: Dr. Morteza Dehghani , ICT, USC

Talk Title: Investigating and Modeling the Role of Cultural Narratives in Moral Decision-Making

Abstract: In dealing with conflict, two broadly different approaches to modeling the values that drive decisions and choice of behavior have emerged: a consequentialist approach based on instrumental or material values, versus a deontological approach based on moral or sacred values. Sacred values are different from secular values in that they are often associated with violations of the cost-benefit logic of rational choice models. Understanding and modeling the impacts of sacred values on decision making is especially important in resolving intergroup conflicts and negotiations. In this talk, I first examine whether the principles of analogical retrieval and mapping govern the processes by which cultural and sacred narratives are applied. To understand and model this process computationally, I have developed MoralDM as a model of recognition-based moral decision-making. This model relies on a combination of first-principles reasoning and analogical reasoning to model the recognition-based mode of decision making. To discuss the broader impact of the role of narratives on decision making, I examine Iran's stance on its national nuclear program, using it as an indicator of how sacred values can emerge from sacred rhetoric. Overall, I argue that understanding sacred values and the processes by which they emerge are vital for understanding and modeling decision-making in cultural contexts.


Biography: Morteza Dehghani is currently a Research Scientist at Institute of Creative Technologies (ICT) at University of Southern California. Before joining ICT, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Psychology at Northwestern University and a Young Investigator fellow at ARTIS. His research interests include computational social sciences, cross cultural differences in moral decision making, analogical and case-based reasoning, and cognitive modeling of different aspects of cognition. He is specifically interested in the role of cultural products in decision making and in the emergence of sacred values. His research approach consists of both conducting psychological experiments and computational cognitive modeling. He received his Ph.D. and MS in Computer Science with specialization in Cognitive Science from Northwestern University and MS and BS from University of California at Los Angeles.


Host: Prof. Ewa Deelman

Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Kanak Agrawal