Exam 2: Chapter 12 (Middle Childhood: Cognitive Development)

Question 1

kids in the concrete operational stage can do operations as long as…

Answer 1

they are concrete and not abstract (multiplication tables, create pnumonics)

Question 2

what stage of piagets cognitive stages are kids in middle childhood in?

Answer 2

concrete operational thought

Question 3

what age does the concrete operational stage encompass?

Answer 3

7-11

Question 4

what is the 5 to 7 shift?

Answer 4

when children are not yet firmly in the concrete operational stage, but they havent fully exited the preoperational stage (ie. Dr. Wertz son McAll was able to solve the conservation problem regarding the clay, but not the one with the water glasses)

Question 5

what are the logical ideas children can begin to do at this stage?

Answer 5

1. classification
   -putting things into categories (more in book I think)
2. transitive interference
   -can infer the unspoken link between one fact and another (ie: jim is taller than john and john is taller than David, who is the tallest? kids in this stage can correctly reason that Jim is the tallest.
3. identity
   -when something changes form kids understand that it is still the same thing, and it’s identity stays consistent
4. reversibility
   -understand that things can be undone (ie. subtraction undoes addition, and you can walk to school and see things in the opposite order when you come home from school)
5. reciprocity
   -understand that when one dimension of an object shifts, it is going to cause a change in another dimension (ex. if you stretch out the piece of clay the kids can realize not only does it get longer, but it also gets skinnier)
6. decentering
   -having the ability to focus on multiple dimensions of one situation/object at a time

Question 6

what are the two important terms within moral development?

Answer 6

1. moral dilemma
   -situations in which no choice is clearly and indisputably right
2. moral reason:
   -thinking processes that involved judgements about questions of right and wrong

Question 7

which researcher is closely tied to moral reasoning?

Answer 7

Kohlberg

Question 8

what are Kohlbergs stages of moral development?

Answer 8

(3 levels- 2 stages per level)
Level 1: preconventional moral reasoning
Stage 1: punishment and obedience orientation
Stage 2: Personal reward orientation stage 3

Level 2: conventional
Stage 3: “good girl, nice boy”
stage 4: “Law and order”

Level 3: postconventional
stage 5: social contract orientation
stage 6: universal ethical principle orientation

Question 9

Level 1 of moral development

Answer 9

Preconventional moral reasoning:
kids make judgements based on personal needs and others rules

a. stage 1: punishment and obedience orientation
“might makes right”
-kids will appear to obey and avoid punishment
-live by the don’t get caught motto

b. stage 2: personal reward orientation
“look out for #1”
-only if it benefits you

Question 10

how would a child in level 1 stage 1 of moral development respond to the cancer dilemma?

Answer 10

they would say that Heinz should not steal the drug because he will get caught and go to jail

Question 11

how would a child in level 1 stage 2 of moral development respond to the cancer dilemma?

Answer 11

they would say that Heinz should not steal the drug because his wife would die by the time he gets out of jail
OR
they would say he should steal the drug because if his wife dies, Heinz will have no one to take care of him

Question 12

level 2 of moral development

Answer 12

Conventional stage:
emphasis on social rules, functional member of society (made up of some adolescents and some adults)

stage 3: “Good Girl and Nice Boy”
-good behavior is that which pleases others and wins praise

stage 4: “law and order”
-right is obeying the law; maintain authority and respect”

Question 13

what would a child in level 2 stage 3 of development say about the cancer dilemma?

Answer 13

Heinz is justified in stealing the drug because he is doing an unselfish thing, and others will praise him for that
OR
Heinz should not steal the drug because then he will get caught and bring dishonor onto his family

Question 14

what would a kid in level 2 stage 4 of moral development say about the cancer dilemma?

Answer 14

Heinz should not steal the drug because that would be breaking the law and if he stole the drug then everyone could steal the drug and there would be no order (capitalism, or incentive to follow the law)

Question 15

level 3 of moral development

Answer 15

Postconventional:
judgements determining right from wrong based on a higher set of personal principles that may or may not be defined by society’s laws

stage 5: “social contract orientation”
-the purpose of the law is to preserve human rights, and unjust laws should be changed

stage 6: “universal ethical principle orientation”
-individuals conscience guides morality, based in a higher ethic of equality of human rights, dignity, and justice
-unjust laws may be broken because they conflict with broad moral principles

Question 16

what would a child in level 3 stage 5 say about the cancer dilemma?

Answer 16

the theft is justified because the law is not fit for situations forefitting life
OR
theft is not justified because there are also others who may need that drug

Question 17

what would a child in level 3 stage 6 say about the cancer dilemma

Answer 17

theft is justified because if laws are not fit then they should be broken