Current science offers only limited answers concerning the development of empathy disturbances. Indeed, few studies have attempted to empirically identify the developmental trajectory of empathy to define either normal or aberrant developmental patterns. The present study aimed to use an observational approach to assess empathy, guilt, and obedience in children, and to validate this approach by exploring how these observational measures of child moral behavior associated with characteristics theoretically linked to moral development and antisocial behavior. We utilized a videotaped Picture Tearing task in which the child is presented with a moral dilemma. Trained coders rated the tasks for several child behaviors (e.g. guilt, gaze avoidance, defiance) using a coding scheme adapted from the Lab-TAB (Goldsmith et al., 1993). Variations in moral behavior were investigated using person-centered (cluster analysis) and variable-centered (factor analysis) methods, then associations between resulting behaviors and other relevant child characteristics (temperament, externalizing behaviors) were examined concurrently and over time. In general, results indicated that empathic verbalizations and defiance were consistently associated with externalizing pathology. This association was observed concurrently; empathy did not predict externalizing over time. Overall, these results suggest that compliant without complaint is the most adaptive response at this age. Furthermore, the Picture Tearing task does provide useful data about empathic behavior and its associations in young children. Recommendations are made for adaptations to the task and coding scheme to improve the measurement of moral behavior in future research.
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