Development area: Kohlberg Flashcards
What did Kohlberg base his theory about stages of moral development on?
Piaget’s ideas about how children around the age of 9/10 understand that intentions are more important than the consequences
What was Kohlberg’s aim?
To provide evidence for his stage theory of moral development from childhood into adulthood and to see if some basic stages are universal
What research method did Kohlberg use?
Self report, longitudinal
How was Kohlberg’s study longitudinal?
Because he interviewed the boys every 3 years for 12 years
Describe the sample used in Kohlberg’s study
75 boys from middle and lower class families in Chicago aged 10-16, he later extended this sample to other american cities and countries
What did Kohlberg give to the boys every 3 years?
Hypothetical dilemmas
What was then recorded about the boys’ answers to the dilemma’s?
The reasons behind their answer
What are 2 strengths of longitudinal studies?
Easy to compare differences over time
Reduces individual differences as same P’s are used
What are 2 weaknesses of longitudinal studies?
Loss of P’s
May be costly/difficult to track P’s
What other places around the world did Kohlberg collect data in?
Great Britain, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico, Turkey
Why did Kohlberg make the effort to collect data in these different countries?
As moral values may vary across cultures and by doing this he could avoid the study being ethnocentric
Give 2 strengths of cross cultural research
Helps avoid ethnocentrism
Helps researchers to identify flaws in their work
Give 2 weaknesses of cross cultural research
Can be difficult to avoid cultural bias Practical difficulties (e.g. language, misuse of research)
What is level one of the stage theory? (age?)
Pre-conventional morality (4-10 yrs)
What is stage 1?
Obedience orientation