Kohlberg Flashcards
What is the background to Kohlbergs study?
Jean piaget put forqward a cognitive account of moral development to do with the ways in which children think
- Heteronomous moral thinking weighs the outcome of the action to determine how bad it is. The higher magnitude of the consequence, the worse the action is and worse the person should be punished
- Autonomous moral reasoning takes into account the intent of the person comitting the action. Worse the intentions were, worse they should be punished
What is the aim of kohlbergs study?
Investigate whether his theory about moral development progressing through six distinct stages is backed up by evidence (and to use this evidence to illustrate further what makes each stage distinct)
What was the sample?
75 boys aged 10-16 until they were 22-28 (followed and studied same boys for 12 years)
What was the procedure?
- Every boy was presented with moral dillemas including the heinz dilemma (every 3 years)
- Using the answers of the boys, Kohlberg ranked the in 6 catagories (1 being the least morally develoed to 6 most morally developed), If about 50% of their responses to any of these moral concepts fall into the stage
- This formed his theory of stages of moral development
Why was the American part of Kohlbergs study longitudinal?
A research method that follows a number of participants over an extended period of time.
Kohlberg followed the same boys for 12 years
Strengths of longitudinal studies
See behaviour changes/development
Reduces participant variables
Weaknesses of longitudinal studies
Demand characterisics- same people
Takes time and effort
Less likely to want to participate
Low retention rate
What places in the world did Kohlberg collect data in?
US
Malasia
Turkey
Taiwan
Mexico
Canada
UK
Strengths of cross culteral studies
No ethnocentrism
Population validty increases (more diverse)
Weaknesses of cross culteral studies
Lots of travelling, expensive
Time consuming
Cant translate procedure (not relevent)
Paying for care in other countries
Language barrier
What were the pre conventional findings of Kohlbergs study?
Obediance and punishment oreintation- the child is responsive to culteral norms but able to behave in a moral way if authority structure is missing
Self interest oreintation- Child behaves in a self centred way
What were the conventional findings of Kohlbergs study?
Conformity to expectations and rules ‘good boy good girl’- child is now seeking approval from others and begins to consider the intention from the act
Authority and social order orientation- the child sees right behaviour as duty to show respect and maintain social order
What were the post conventional findings of Kohlbergs study?
Social contract orientation- child does whats right based on law plus personal values and opinions. Sees law as changeable
Universal ethical principals- child now bases judgement on universal human rights of justice, equality, receiprocity and respect for the individual
What were the conclusions of Kohlbergs study?
The stages follow an invariant developmental sequence
All movement is forward in sequence and doesnt skip steps
The nature of the sequence is not significantly affected by widley varying social, cultural or religious conditions, its ‘universal’
‘Moral thought… seems to behave like all other kinds of thought’ with each step of development being ‘a better cognitive organisation than the one before it, one which takes account of everything present in the previous stage, but making new distinctions and organising them into a more comprehensive or more equillibrated structure
How can Kohlbergs study be defended in terms of ethics?
Consent gained by boys each year
Had the right to withdraw
Ppts names kept confidential
Ppts kept aware of true aim
Werent lied to (deception)
How can Kohlbergs study be critised in terms of ethics?
Harm may have been experinced through given troubling dillemas
Internal relaibility of the study?
Standardised and replicable (same dillemas every 3 years)
Ensured 50% of answers must fit in a stage to deem the boy in that stage
External reliability of this study?
75 is quite a large sample size so able to establish a consistent effect
Further samples within other countries
Internal (construct) validity of this study?
Possible social desirability bias
Possible demand characteristics
Extraneous variables (education, upbringing)
The dillemas may have instead been testing intelligence
External (population) validity of this study?
Wide range of cultures used to generalise other places
Only male ppts used
External (ecological) validity of this study?
Respond to a hypothetical dillema may not be how you respond if you were actually in the scenario
What grounds can this study be accused of cultural bias (ethnocentrism)?
Assumed moral development would be the same for everyone based just off the US sample
Why might Kohlberg claim that his research isnt ethnocentric?
He repeated it in different countries and found similar results
What is the heinz dilemma?
The Heinz dilemma is a famous ethical thought experiment used to assess moral development, where a man named Heinz must decide whether to steal a life-saving drug for his dying wife from a pharmacist who is charging an exorbitant price, even though he cannot afford it, prompting discussion on the morality of breaking the law to save a life; it is often used in the context of Kohlberg’s stages of moral development
