Cognitive explanations - AO1 Flashcards
What did Kohlberg propose?
People’s decisions and judgements on issues of right or wrong can be summarised in stage theory or moral reasoning
The higher the stage the more sophisticated the reasoning
Based on responses to moral dilemmas such as the Heinz dilemma
What did Kohlberg et al (1973) do?
Using his moral dilemmas found a group of violent youths were at a significantly lower level of moral development than non-violent youths
Offenders are more likely to be classified at the pre-conventional level whereas non-offenders have generally progressed to the conventional level and beyond
What is the pre-conventional level?
Need to avoid punishment and gain rewards and is associated with less mature, childlike reasoning
Adolescents and adults at this level may commit a crime if they can get away with it or gain rewards in the form of moeny and increased respect
What did Chandler (1973) find?
Offenders are often egocentric and display poor social perspective-taking skills than non-offender peers
What is true about those who reason at higher levels of moral reasoning?
Tend to be sympathetic more with the rights of others and exhibit more conventional behaviours such as honesty, generosity and non-violence
What are cognitive distortions?
Errors or biases in people’s information processsing system characterised by faulty thinking
Researchers have linked faulty thinking to the way in which offenders interpret people’s behaviours and justify thier own actions
What is hostile attribution bias?
Tendency to judge ambiguous situations or the actions of others as aggressive or threatening when in realsity they may not be true
Offenders may misread non-aggressive cues and this may trigger a disporportionate, violent response
What did Schonenburg and Jusyte do?
Presented 55 violent offenders with images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions
When compared to matched control group the violent offenders were significantly more likely to perceieve the images as angry and hostile
What did Dodge and Frame (1982) do?
Roots of hostile attribution behaviour may be apparant in childhood
Showed children a video clip of an “ambiguous provocation” (intention was neither clearly hostile nor clearly accidental)
Children who had been identified as “aggressive” and “rejected” prior to the study viewed the behaviour as more hostile than those classed as “non-agressive” and “accepted”
What is minimalisation?
Type of deception that involves downplaying the significance of an event or emotions
A common strategy when dealing with feeling of guilt
What did Barbaree do?
Suggests individuals who commit sexual offences are prone to it
Among 26 incarcerated rapists, 54% denied they had committed an offence at all and a further 40% minimised the harm they caused to the victim
