Kohlberg Flashcards
What is heteronomous moral reasoning
Weights the outcome of the action to determine how bad it is
What is autonomous moral reasoning
Takes into account the intent of the person committing the action
What was the aim of kohlbergs study
Kohlberg wanted to provide research that would back up his theory of moral development inspired by Piaget
What was the sample
75 boys aged 10-16 until they were 22-28 years of age
What was stage one of the procedure
Every boy was presented with moral dilemmas including the Heinz dilemma every 3 years
What was stage two of the procedure
Using the answers the boys gave, kohlberg ranked them in six categories (1 being the least morally developed to 6 - most morally developed) if about 50% of their responses to any of these moral concepts fall into that stage
What was stage 3 of the procedure
This formed his theory of stages of moral development
What is longitudinal research
A research method that follows a number of participants over an extended period of time
What are strengths of longitudinal research
Due to following the same participants it reduces the effect of participant variables
Can show development of individuals and how these differ by gender, culture, environment etc
What were weaknesses of longitudinal research
Time consuming
Retention rate - people may drop out before the end of the study
Where else was kohlbergs research conducted
Taiwan, Turkey, Mexico, Malaysia, Canada and the UK
What are strengths of cross cultural research
Reduces ethnocentrism
Comparisons can be made to help generalise the results
What are weaknesses of cross cultural research
Effort and time to conduct
Expensive
Same procedure often not appropriate for different cultures
What are the three levels of morality
Pre-conventional
Conventional
Post-conventional
What are the six stages of morality
Obedience and punishment orientation
Self interest orientation
Conformity to exoectations and rules
Authority and social order orientation
Social contract orientation
Universal ethical principles
What is the obedience and punishment orientation
The child responsive to cultural norms but able to behave in an immoral way if authority structure is missing
What is the obedience and punishment orientation
The child responsive to cultural norms but able to behave in an immoral way if authority structure is missing
What is the self interest orientation stage
The child behaves in a self centred way
What is the conformity to expectations and rules stage
Child is now seeking approval from other and begins to consider the intention of the act
What is the authority and social order orientation stage
The child sees right behaviour as duty to show respect and maintain social order
What is the social contract orientation stage
Child now does what is right based on law plus personal values and opinions. Sees laws as changeable
What is the universal ethical principles stage
Child no bases judgement on universal human rights of justice, equality, reciprocity and respect for the individual
What ethics were kept
Consent was gained by the boys every 3 years
Had the right to withdraw every 3 years by not answering questions
The names of participants were left confidential
Participants knew the true aim of the study and were not lied to
What ethics were broken
Harm my have been experienced through being given troubling dilemmas
How was the internally reliable
Procedure was very standardised
Standardised by ensuring 50% of answers must fit in a stage to deem the boy in that stage
How was it externally reliable
75 is quite a large sample size so able to establish a consistent effect
Further samples within the other countries
How was it internally valid (construct)
Possible social desirability bias
Possible demand characteristics
Extraneous variables
Dilemmas may have instead been testing intelligence
How was it externally valid (population)
Wide range of cultures so generalisable to other places
Only male participants used
How is it externally valid (ecological)
How you respond to a hypothetical dilemma may not be how you respond if you were actually in the scenario
