Kohlberg (1968) - 'The child as the moral philosopher'

Question 1

What is morality

Answer 1

The principles that help an individual to distinguish right from wrong

Question 2

What is moral development

Answer 2

The process of the emergence, change, and understanding of morality from infancy through to adulthood

Question 3

Which psychologist influenced Kholberg’s research

Answer 3

• The work of Jean Piaget
• who saw moral development as going through stages

Question 4

What is Kholberg base his definitions of morality on

Answer 4

Socratic notions of justice

Question 5

What was Kholberg’s aim

Answer 5

To investigate the development of moral reasoning in children to create a series of stages that could be applied to all children

Question 6

What was the methodologies used

Answer 6

• self reports (in the form of semi-structured interviews)
• the study included cross-cultural comparisons (to see if moral development is innate)
• the study was longitudinal, spanning 12 years (see how moral development develops over time)
• the sample of 75 American boys

Question 7

How do we know that Kholberg used a longitudinal study + why use this methodology

Answer 7

• It took place over 12 years (participants started ages 10-16 and finished ages 22-28)
• links to the 1st assumption of developmental psychology because it allowed Kohlberg to see the changes that individuals go through in their lives, by seeing their morals develop
• links to the 2nd assumption of developmental psychology because it allowed Kholberg to see whether changes develop steadily or if they go through stages

Question 8

How do we know that Kholberg used a longitudinal self-report + why use this methodology

Answer 8

• used a semi-structured interview, asking 3 of the 9 hypothetical moral dilemmas, then asking 10 or more open Qs
• links to 1st assumption of developmental psychology —> see the changes that individuals go through by gauging an in depth insight into their mental processes + reasoning
• links to 2nd assumption of developmental psychology —> gain information to see what stage they’re in

Question 9

Describe the methodology in terms of self-report

Answer 9

• semi-structured interview
• Kohlberg created 9 hypothetical moral dilemmas, and the participants discussed 3
• then asked 10 or more open Qs

Question 10

Describe the methodology in terms of being cross-cultural

Answer 10

The study was repeated for individuals in not only America, but also:
- Great Britain
- Canada
- Taiwan
- Mexico
- Turkey

Question 11

Describe the methodology in terms of being longitudinal

Answer 11

• participants started ages 10-16 and the study finished when they were 22-28
• they were assessed every 3 years
• therefore the study spanned 12 years

Question 12

Describe the methodology in terms of the sample

Answer 12

• 75 American boys from the ages 10-16 and again between 22-28
• he also studied people in GB, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico and Turkey

Question 13

Describe the procedure

Answer 13

• to assess moral thinking, Kohlberg created 9 hypothetical moral dilemmas (such as the Heinz dilemma)
• each dilemma presented a conflict between 2 moral issues, and each participant were asked 3 to discuss, prompted by a set of 10 or more open ended Qs
• each of the boys’ answers were analysed and common themes were identified so that the stage theory could be constructed. Each boy was re-interviewed every 3 years
• the same kind of interview was used with children and adults in other cultures

Question 14

Describe the findings

Answer 14

• the younger children thought at the pre-conventional level and as they got older their reasons for moral decisions became less focused on themselves and more focused on doing good because relationships with others are important. The final level of development is related to moral principles
• the results in Mexico and Taiwan were the same except that development was a little slower. Therefore moral development is inherent, but how fast you progress is dependent on the environment
  —> the findings allowed Kohlberg to develop 3 levels of moral development, comprised of 6 stages

Question 15

Describe the 3 levels of moral development with their 6 stages

Answer 15

1) Pre conventional level: accept rules of authority
1: punishment and obedience orientation —> ignores intentions behind the behaviour, focus on obeying rules that are enforced by punishment
2: Instrumental purpose orientation —> view actions as ‘right’ if they satisfy their own needs

2) Conventional level: conforming to social rules
3: interpersonal cooperation orientation —> what is right is defined by what’s expected by others (e.g. law)
4: Social order maintaining orientation —> defining what is right by the norms of society (peers)

3) Post conventional level: Morality is defined in terms of abstract moral principles that apply to all situations and societies
5: Laws are seen as relative and flexible. When they’re consistent with individual rights, they’re upheld
6: Morality is defined in terms of self-chosen abstract universal moral principles. Individuals act in accordance with their moral principles

Question 16

What was the conclusions

Answer 16

There are 3 conclusions
1) stages are invariant and universal
2) Each new stage represents a more equilibrated balance form of moral understanding
3) Morals can be developed

Question 17

Describe the conclusion: Stages are invariant and universal

Answer 17

• Stages come one at a time and always in the same order
• all movement is forward in sequence and doesn’t skip steps
• children may move through the stages at varying speeds
• an individual may stop at any given stage but if he continues to move, he must move in accordance with these steps
• the sequence of stages is culturally universal

Question 18

Describe the conclusion: Each new stage represents a more equilibrated balance form of moral understanding

Answer 18

• Each stage becomes more logical and consistent
• there is a morally mature form of understanding

Question 19

Describe the conclusion: Morals can be developed

Answer 19

• Moral discussion classes can help children develop their moral thinking
• Discussion between children at stages 3 and 4 result in the stage 3 child moving forwards
• the stage 4 child understands but doesn’t accept the argument of the stage 3 child

Question 20

when evaluating methodologies. what two points do you talk about

Answer 20

• the research method (semi-structured interview)
• Longitudinal

Question 21

evaluate the methodology of using a semi-structured interview

Answer 21

P: used semi-structured interview
E: created 9 hypothetical moral dilemmas, and participants discussed 3. Open Qs were used and these Qs changed in response to the participants answer
E: the strength to this is that it allowed them to clarify reasons for answers in order to gain additional data that wouldn’t have been available if predetermined Qs were used
L: This further increases validity and shows why using a semi-structured interview was the appropriate technique to gauge the child’s moral development
C: However, there was some social desirability bias because it is a form of self-report that tackles socially sensitive issues + very difficult to repeat because not everyone is asked the same Qs –> resulting in low reliability

Question 22

evaluate the methodology of the time frame

Answer 22

P: it was a longitudinal study
E: the participants were interviewed every 3 years for 12 years
E: The strength of this is that Kohlberg was able to see the development of their morals over time and because it was the same sample, there was no participant variables
L: This links to the 1st assumption of developmental psychology, ‘looks at the changes individuals go through in their lives (birth to death’. Therefore it was an appropriate methodology
C: There may be extraneous variables such as traumatic events that will affect their development that Kohlberg cannot control. And because the study took 12 years, it means that it was susceptible to attrition (participant drop out) as well as cohort effects which might lower the validity of the results

Question 23

when evaluating the procedures, what do you talk about

Answer 23

• type of data collected (qualitative)
• sample

Question 24

evaluate the procedure of the type of data collected

Answer 24

P: qualitative
E: open Qs were used in a semi-structured interview, which would often change in response to the participants answer
E: : the strength to this is that it allowed them to clarify reasons for answers in order to gain additional data that wouldn’t have been available if quantitative data was used
L: This links to the 2nd assumption of developmental psychology because it allowed Kohlberg to determine what stage of moral development the participant was in based on the reasoning for their answer
C: However it is difficult to analyse and researcher bias may occur when interpreting these results

Question 25

evaluate the procedure of the sample used

Answer 25

P: 75 American boys
E: they were aged 10-16 at the start and ages 22-28 at the end. There was also another sample taken from other countries. These samples included, GB, Taiwan, Canada, Mexico and Turkey
E: the strength to this is that it was a large sample (meaning that it can be more generalisable) and other countries were used to gain cross-cultural findings.
C: However, the sample was androcentric (because it was an all-male sample) and it was Ethnocentric (because all 75 boys were American). And since little is known about the other samples outside the American one, it makes it hard to generalise to both female moral behaviour as well as moral behaviour in other cultures. e.g. Carol Gilligan (1982) suggests that male morality is different to female morality. She found that women focused more on relationships (‘caring’) than justice when making moral decisions. It also had low ecological validity because the children were unable to relate to the dilemmas (e.g. they were too young to be married and in that specific scenario)
C: However only choosing 1 gender to study does remove some individual differences that might arise if he had chosen to study both sexes.

Question 26

what are the 2 assumptions of developmental psychology

Answer 26

1. looks at the changes individuals go through in their lives (birth to death)
2. Some psychologists see changes as developing steadily and some describe the changes as going through a series of stages

Question 27

how does Kohlberg link to the first assumption of developmental psychology: “looks at the changes individuals go through in their lives (birth to death)”

Answer 27

• he did a longitudinal study so that he could see these changes that individuals go through
• helped him to conclude that the stages of moral development go in a sequence

Question 28

how does Kohlberg link to the second assumption of developmental psychology: “Some psychologists see changes as developing steadily and some describe the changes as going through a series of stages”

Answer 28

• used self reports to gauge what stage they’re in each time he interviewed the, (every 3 years) so that he could conclude the order of these stages and what paces that individuals go through these stages at
• helped him to conclude that individuals go through these stages at varying paces and that morals can be developed

Question 29

when evaluating the ethical issues, what do you talk about

Answer 29

• psychological harm
• valid consent

Question 30

evaluate the ethical issue of psychological harm

Answer 30

P: psychological harm was caused to participants by moral dilemmas
E: caused through the distress of the children who struggled to answer the moral dilemmas, e.g. the Heinz Dilemma. It also tackles some very socially sensitive topics that may be seen as stressful
E: therefore this is unethical because the participants shouldn’t have been exposed to this distress, especially because they were children (vulnerable)
C: However Kohlberg had to use moral dilemmas, otherwise the decision would’ve been too easy and not told Kohlberg anything about the child’s moral development

Question 31

evaluate the ethical issue of valid consent

Answer 31

P: the sample used were children when they started
E: the sample was aged 10-16 at the start
E: this means that they were vulnerable and parent consent was needed
L: this is unethical because the children wouldn’t have known the possible psychological harm that might’ve been cause by the distressing dilemmas

Question 32

what’s the difference between these 2 exam Qs:
1) Explain ethical issues that may arise in Developmental psychological research. such as Kohlberg’s (1968) research ‘The child as a moral philosopher’
2) Describe the sample used by Kohlberg in his (1968) research ‘The child as a moral philosopher’

Answer 32

• for the first one you don’t only have to use Kohlberg
• you can also use other developmental psychologists such as Freud or Bowlby
• for the second one, you HAVE TO talk ONLY about Kohlberg

Question 33

what are the 3 methodologies used by developmental psychologists

Answer 33

• longitudinal
• cross-sectional
• self-reports

Question 34

what are the 2 ethical issues that arise in developmental psychology research

Answer 34

• valid consent
• psychological harm

Question 35

what is a longitudinal study

Answer 35

A study conducted over a long period of time, using a form of repeated measures design whereby participants are assessed on multiple occasions as they get older

Question 36

what is a cross-sectional study

Answer 36

one group of participants representing one section of society are compared with participants representing another group

Question 37

what is a self-report

Answer 37

data collection techniques where a participant describes their behaviour using Questionnaires, interviews or diary studies

Question 38

what is psychological harm

Answer 38

e.g. lowered self-esteem, embarrassment or changing a person’s behaviour/attitudes

Question 39

what is valid consent

Answer 39

participants given comprehensive Info concerning the nature/purpose of research, in order to make an informed decision to participate