Kohlberg Flashcards
What was the aim of Kohleberg’s study?
To investigate development in morla readoning throughout adolesence and early adulthood. A secondary aim was to assess the extent to which these changed hold true in a range of cultural contexts.
What was the sample in kohlberg’s study?
75 American boys. At the start of the study they were aged between 10 and 16 and at the end 22-28. Boys from Taiwan, Mexico, Uk, Turkey were also studied
What was the procedure in Kohleberg’s study?
Every 3 year ps were given a series of morla dilemmas. Each dilemma involved options with different moral implications. Once the p understood the dilemma they were asked what the character in the dilemma should do?. Based on ps responses to the dilemmas at different ages they went through a series of levels and stages.
What stages did the preconventional level include in Kohlbergs study?
1-Orientation towards punishment
2.Orientation towrads self-interest.
What stages did the conventional level include in Kohlbergs study?
3-Good-boy-good-girl orientation
4-Orientation towards authority.
What stages did the postconventional level include in Kohlbergs study?
5- Social contract orientatiom
6- Orientation towrads consicience and ethical principals
What were th conlsuion s given in kohlbergs study?
There are three levels and six stages in the devlopment of moral reasoning and these can be measured.
People can only pass through the levels in the order listed and each new stage replaces the reasoning typical of the earlier stage.
Not everyone achieves all the stages.
Discuss 2 weaknesses of the sample used in the study by Kohlberg
All the ps are male so doesn’t represnt if moral reasoning is the same with females.
The main study is only with US ps so not represntative of other cultures that may have differnt morla reasoning.
Explain why the study by kohlberg can be described as longitudinal
a longitudinal study uis a study that is conducted over a long period of time and Kohlbverg’s main study is over a period of 12 years where ps are interviews in intervals of 3-5 years.
Describe what is meant by moral dilemma in Kohlberg’s study
A moral dilemma is a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between 2 cources of choices. For exmple Koholberg chose dilemmas that were designes to measure 25 moral themes such as: ‘Is it important to save the life of one inportant person or a lot of unimportant people?’
Outline one of the stages of moral development.
stage 2; orientation towards self interest. Right is whatever suits one’s own needs. Sharing and reciprocal helping take place but just on a ‘you scratch my back i’ll scratch yours basis.
What is the key theme for Kohlberg’s study?
Moral development
What are the main principals of the developmental area?
- Theories focus on development, particularly in childhood
- Covers a range of theoretical areas such as biological, social, emotional and cognitive
- Believes there are clear and identifiable changes that occur during the lifetime
- Changes during our lifetime occur due to both nature and nurture
Kohlberg believed that stages in moral development were universal but that reasoning behind morla thinking might differ between cultures. Outline one example shown in the study on one difference in reasoning between the USA and another culture.
At age 16 in the USA the most common stage was stage 5, whereas in Mexico and Taiwan development was slower, with stage 3 most common at 16.
