chapter 12 - morality in thought and action Flashcards
evolutionary psychology
a view of psychology that emphasizes evolution of a variety of psychological adaptations that increased the fitness of individuals. In regard to moral development, the emphasis is on the universals of moral thought and behavior that have been selected as adaptive in all humans
cultural psychology
a view of psychology in which cultural differences are believed to greatly influence psychological processes and representations. This view argues against the existence of intrinsic universals of moral thought
heteronomous stage
in Piaget’s theory of moral development, a stage in which children think that rules are fixed and immutable realities that are part of the natural world
immanent justice
in Piaget’s theory of moral development, a form of reasoning about justice in which the child believes that most events that adversely affect an individual who has previously done something wrong are forms of punishment for the earlier transgression
autonomous stage
in Piaget’s theory of moral development, a stage in which children of rules as social conventions that are created by humans and can be changed by humans
social convention
a rule of human interaction that is jointly decided upon as a means of achieving some sort of coordinated activity in which both parties will benefit. Such rules are usually arbitrary, such as driving on a particular side of the road, but they must be honored by everyone once they are established
information integration theory
a theory of cognitive development that says that older children integrate different dimensions or components of a task into a coherent system for successful reasoning, whereas younger children focus excessively on one dimension or component of the task at the expense of others
moral dilemma
devised by Kohlberg to study moral reasoning, an ambiguous situation in which a person in a story must make a difficult moral decision and the participant in the study must say which choice is better and why. The pattern of reasoning used by the participant is more important than the actual choice selected
individualist culture
a culture in which the rights of the individual are deemed to be more important than the rights of the group
collectivist culture
a culture in which the rights of the group are deemed to be more important than the rights of the individual
constructivist approach
an approach to moral development that sees the child as constructing moral interpretations of a situation by evaluating the situations, the actors, and the cultural context
altruism
behavior in which an individual acts for the benefit of another at his or her own personal expense
moral modules
forms of moral reasoning that have evolved to deal with specific kinds of moral problems encountered by individuals and groups
impersonal moral situation
a moral situation in which the individuals involved are not salient and in which it is possible to adopt a moral stance that appeals to abstract moral principles and patterns of reasoning
personal moral situation
a moral situation in which individuals are depicted in personal ways that invoke strong, immediate judgments that often bypass more abstract and reflective moral reasoning
social intuitionist model
a model of moral judgment in which perceived violations of norms and rights automatically trigger emotions like anger or contempt without consideration of abstract moral principles
prosocial behavior
behavior that benefits other individuals, groups, or the society as a whole, often at a cost to the person who engages in the behavior
antisocial behavior
behavior that hurts or impairs another individual or a group. Such behavior can include both verbal and physical aggression as well as cheating and lying
instrumental helping
prosocial behavior to help someone else achieve a goal, even though there is no obvious benefit to the helper
self-regulation
the ability to regulate our own emotional states and reactions to situations and others. This may also include the ability to understand and evaluate our emotional states and the consequences of those states for ourselves and others
delay of gratification
the ability to hold off engaging in an action that will bring a desired reward
resilience
the ability of some children to have very positive behavioral and psychological outcomes, despite growing up in an environment that normally is associated with a high incidence of behavioral and psychological problems
social aggression
a kind of aggression that includes such behavior as malicious teasing, social exclusion from a group, and humiliation
conduct disorder
a pattern of frequent and recurring antisocial behaviors in children and adolescents, whereby the children regularly violate the rights of others as well as violating social norms or rules
emotional empathy
a form of empathy that involves directly witnessing another person’s emotional state and feeling the same emotion in a relatively immediate and direct way
cognitive empathy
a form of empathy that requires social cognitive skills and the ability to take another’s perspective and that involves understanding en representing the emotional and mental points of view of others
modeling theory
an approach to learning and socialization based on the idea that children and adults reproduce behaviors that they observe others performing; also called social learning theory
id
one of three components of the mind described by Freud that emerges first in development and represents an individual’s basic desires and drives
ego
one of three components of the mind described by Freud that normally emerges in development after the id and before the superego and that enables the child to channel and direct the id
superego
one of three components of the mind described by Freud; it represents the emergence of conscience, an internal sense of right and wrong
