Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

5-4 MORALITY, MENTAL DISORDERS, AND IQ   The 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on 27 May 2014 challenged the basis for Florida’s decision ( Hall v. Florida ). Matters of life and death are matters of morality. And the moral judgments of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices make it clear that they do not know the right answer—5 ruled one way, 4 another. Moral judgments are not easy. How do parents decide to punish? Parents are pretty quick to decide when to let their children off the hook for dropping their Sippy cups, throwing a toy, or pulling another child’s hair. Some parents laugh, some yell, some swat, and some use time out. Some do it all in an unpredictable pattern. Parents seem to have some built in sense of when a child knows better . Knowing better is the basis for holding people accountable. Kids will still go to time out for breaking a rule so they’ll learn. But serious penalties are usually reserved for intentional rule breaking th...