DEVELOPMENTAL-Kohlberg Flashcards
What is the background to the study?
Psychodynamic perspective-Morality is the result of the superego, which represents the chuids internalisation of rules imposed by parents.
Behaviourist perspective-
Morality is the result of children observing and imitating adult role models
Piaget- Heteronomous thinking: Moral thinking weights the outcome of the action to determine how bad it is.
Autonomous thinking: takes into account the intent of the person committing the action
What was Kohlberg’s aim?
To investigate whether his theory about moral development progressing through six stages is backed up by evidence.
What was Kohlbergs sample?
75 boys from chicago, both middle and lower class. Ages 10-16.
He later added people from other countries
What was the pocedure?
For 12 years, Kohlberg studied the same group of 75 boys at three year intervals to measure their moral development. At the start they were aged 10-16, and at the end 22-28. The boys were given moral hypothetical dilemmas. He then analysed their reasoning to determine their stage of moral development. Kohlberg also explained moral dilemmas in other cultures: malaysia, great britain, canada, taiwan, mexico and turkey.
Kohlberg’s study is longitudinal. What does this mean?
Kohlberg studied the same group of participants multiple times over 12 years.
What are the strengths of longitudinial studies?
-Participant variables are controlled
-Patterns of behaviour can be established
What are the weaknesses of longitudinal studies?
-Participant attrition
-Takes a very long time to complete, and takes a lot of money
Kohlberg’s research was cross cultural. What does this mean?
Kohlberg performed his study to various cultures, such as mexico, malaysia canada, taiwan, turkey, great britain
What are the strengths of cross cultural research?
-Less ethnocentric as considering other cultures
What are the weaknesses of cross cultural research?
-Moral dilemmas may still be biased toward a certain culture
-Expensive
What are the three levels of Kohlberg’s theory?
Pre-Conventional:
People are well behaved because of the physical consequences of their actions.
Conventional:
People conform to the social norms and expectations of their family, social group or nation
Post-Conventional:
People may set their own moral principles that differ from societal norms
What did Kohlberg conclude?
People’s moral development follow an invariant developmental sequence. Everyone regardless of culture, will always go through the same six stages in order. People cannot skip or go back stages.
How can Kohlberg’s study be evaluated ethically?
Consent:
Kohlberg gathered consent from his participants
Right to withdraw:
Participants could easily quit by not cooperating every three years.
Protection from harm: Nothing within Kohlberg’s study could produce any anxiety or harm.
How could Kohlberg’s study lack ecological validity?
participants were presented with hypothetical moral dilemmas, which may not mirror real-life situations and could lead to responses that differ from actual behaviour
How could Kohlberg’s study lack construct validity?
When given the dilemmas, participants may lie due to demand characteristics or social desirability.
How can the reliability of Kohlberg’s study be supported?
Kohlberg had a large sample size of 75, and more people from other cultures. This can show that results are not just down to a fluke.
Kohlberg’s study was very standardised, as all participants had the same moral dilemmas with the same moral questions.
How does Kohlberg’s study lack population validity?
His original sample were all boys from america, so would be unable to be generalised to a wider population.
