Kohlberg's theory - cognitive explanations

Question 1

what are the three levels of moral development?

Answer 1

1. pre-conventional
2. conventional
3. post-conventional

Question 2

what is preconventional ideas?

Answer 2

based on avoiding punishment. Focus on the consequences of actions rather than interactions. Intrinsic defiance to authority

Question 3

what are conventional ideas?

Answer 3

good girl/boy attitude

Question 4

what are post-conventional ideas?

Answer 4

Begin to learn that others have different values. Realisation that law is contingent on culture

Question 5

what are the three stages of gender development?

Answer 5

1. gender labelling
2. gender stability
3. gender constancy

Question 6

at what age does each stage of gender development occur?

Answer 6

1. gender labelling 2-3
2. gender stability 4-7
3. gender constancy 7+

Question 7

what are the characteristics of the stages of gender development?

Answer 7

1. gender labelling
   - Children label themselves as boy/ girl and others as man/ women. Labelling others happens first. Labels are based on appearance only
2. gender stability
   - Children realise gender is stable over time. Still no realisation that gender is stable across situations e.g. if a man wears a dress, he becomes a woman
3. gender constancy
   - Start to develop the belief that gender is entirely independent of time, place + appearance. Begin to show a preference for gender appropriate behaviour

Question 8

what is the explanation behind every stage of gender development?

Answer 8

1. gender labelling
   - Piaget called this preoperational thinking. It lacks internal logic (abstract thinking) and isn’t consistent as it relies on external factors that can change
2. gender stability
   - Before 7, Piaget noticed that children have no concept of conservation
3. gender constancy
   - Gender-appropriate behaviour preference is the result of understanding gender can’t change

Question 9

what is the effect on gender development in every stage of gender development?

Answer 9

1. gender labelling
   - By the end of this stage, children have schemata for simple masculine or feminine
2. gender stability
   - At the end, kids start to realise gender + appearance are separate so anyone can perform any behaviour
3. gender constancy
   - Gender is fixed in the child’s mind. Children will reject gender-inappropriate behaviour after this stage

Question 10

why does kohlberg’s theory lack construct validity?

Answer 10

Research shows boys develop gender constancy before girls, and girls perform masculine tasks for much longer than boys will perform feminine tasks. This indicates a single stage for both genders is invalid.Huston (1985) suggests this is due to SLT - male role models are more socially powerful so boys are under greater pressure to identify with role models and do so quicker.This highlights the nature-nurture debate in psychology; Kohlberg and Piaget’s assumption of fixed, generalised stages are based on biological determinism and ignore social learning factors.

Question 11

what is one strength of the gender development theory?

Answer 11

here is a lot of research support for Kohlberg’s gender development theory.Each stage has been backed up by research support: Gender labelling - Thompson (1975), Gender stability - Slaby and Frey (1975) and gender constancy - which was also supported by Slaby and Frey.These suggest that an increasing sense of constancy leads children to pay more attention to gender-appropriate models, furthering gender development.The wide-ranging support for Kohlberg’s gender development theory shows it has strong internal validity