Moral cognition & norms

1. A Theory of Appropriateness That Accounts for Norms of Rationality
   Joel Z. Leibo, Alexander Sasha Vezhnevets, Manfred Diaz et al.2026 · Preprint

   Develops a formal account of appropriate action that can represent rational norms alongside goals and outcomes.

2. Learning and Sustaining Shared Normative Systems via Bayesian Rule Induction in Markov Games
   Ninell Oldenburg, Tan Zhi-Xuan2024 · AAMAS · Peer-reviewed

   Builds agents that infer obligative and prohibitive norms from observed compliance, letting groups converge on shared institutions such as resource management and compensation rules.

1. CLASH: Evaluating Language Models on Judging High-Stakes Dilemmas from Multiple Perspectives
   Ayoung Lee, Ryan Sungmo Kwon, Peter Railton et al.2025 · ICLR · Peer-reviewed
2. Machine Theory of Mind and the Structure of Human Values
   Paul de Font-Reaulx2025 · NeurIPS · Workshop paper
3. MoReBench: Evaluating Procedural and Pluralistic Moral Reasoning in Language Models, More than Outcomes
   Yu Ying Chiu, Michael S. Lee, Rachel Calcott et al.2025 · ICLR · Peer-reviewed
4. Relational Norms for Human-AI Cooperation
   Brian D. Earp, Sebastian Porsdam Mann, Mateo Aboy et al.2025 · Preprint
5. Resource Rational Contractualism Should Guide AI Alignment
   Sydney Levine, Matija Franklin, Tan Zhi-Xuan et al.2025 · IASEAI · Peer-reviewed
6. Ethical learning, natural and artificial
   Peter Railton2020 · Oxford University Press · Book chapter
7. A Common Framework for Theories of Norm Compliance
   Adam Morris, Fiery Cushman2018 · Social Philosophy and Policy · Peer-reviewed
8. The Naïve Utility Calculus: Computational Principles Underlying Commonsense Psychology
   Julian Jara-Ettinger, Hyowon Gweon, Laura E. Schulz et al.2016 · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · Peer-reviewed

Older work the field builds on, often from outside it.

1. An Evolutionary Approach to Norms
   Robert Axelrod1986 · American Political Science Review
2. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action
   Elinor Ostrom1990 · Book
3. The Grammar of Society: The Nature and Dynamics of Social Norms
   Cristina Bicchieri2006 · Book
4. The Secret of Our Success
   Joseph Henrich2015 · Book
5. A Natural History of Human Morality
   Michael Tomasello2016 · Book