moral development

Question 1

what are the 3 main theories of moral judgement?

Answer 1

Piaget, Kohlberg, Social Domain Theory

Question 2

Piaget moral development: according to Piaget, what are the 2 stages of moral development children go through?

Answer 2

heteronomous morality, autonomous morality

Question 3

Piaget moral development: what is heteronomous morality? (4)

Answer 3

• Children not yet un the concrete operation stage (pre-operation stage, or before the age of 7 years)
• Regard rules as ‘fixed’ and not flexible in the context of a situation
• What is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ focuses on action and its consequences rather than the intent of the individuals
• Morals are often governed by parents’ expectations for behaviour

Question 4

Piaget moral development: what is autonomous morality? (4)

Answer 4

• Children in concrete stage or beyond
• Develop the ability to adopt another perspective and demonstrate empathy
• Don’t blindly accept rules anymore
• Consider the intent behind a behaviour when assessing its morality

Question 5

Piaget moral development: outline 2 pieces of research which support Piaget’s moral development theories

Answer 5

• Cross-cultural evidence to support  studies across cultures suggest that children increasingly take motives and intentions into account when judging the morality of actions (Berg & Mussen , 1975; Lickona, 1976)
• Moral development having a cognitive component seems accurate  children’s changing performances on tests of perspective-taking, Piagetian logical tasks and IQ have all been associated with levels of moral development

Question 6

Piaget moral development: outline 2 main flaws of Piaget’s moral development theories

Answer 6

• most don’t accept the Piagetian theory right now. When moral scenarios are presented in ways that the individuals’ intentions more obvious, pre-operational children more likey to correctly identify which id more morally dubious (Grueneich Yuill & Perner , 1988; Rakoczy et al., 2015)
• Most 4-5 year old understand that not all negative outcomes are ‘on purpose’ (Pellizzoni, Siegal, Surian, 2009) - infants can distinguish mortalities between intention and negative morality much earlier than Piaget suggests

Question 7

Kohlberg’s moral development: according to Kohlberg, what are the 3 stages of moral development?

Answer 7

pre-conventional moral reasoning, conventional level reasoning, post-conventional/principled level (each of these stages have 2 sub-stages)

Question 8

Kohlberg’s moral development: what is involved in the pre-conventional moral reasoning stage? (3)

Answer 8

• first stage
• divided into 2 stages, (1) obedience to authority (child’s moral actions motivated by avoiding punishment) and (2) instrumental and exchange orientation (right = child’s best interest/equal profit between people)

Question 9

Kohlberg’s moral development: what is involved in the conventional moral reasoning stage? (4)

Answer 9

• second stage
• centered on social relationships
• (3) interpersonal conformity and expectations on relationships (morals based off what’s socially acceptable, motive considered, concern for others), (4) social system and conscience orientation (contribution/duties to society/group)

Question 10

Kohlberg’s moral development: what is involved in the post-conventional stage? (3)

Answer 10

• focus on ‘principles’
• (5) social contract and individual rights orientation (upholding rules for the best interests of the group), (6) (commitment to ethics, principles must be upheld regardless of majority opinion)

Question 11

Kohlberg’s moral development: outline 3 main flaws of Kohlberg’s theories

Answer 11

• Only conducted research on boys and didn’t consider cross-cultural differences
• Moral reasoning isn’t as discontinuous (stage-like) as suggested - children often reason at different levels on different occasions (Rest, 1979)
• Some individuals may act for the greater-good, but some are more self-centered in their behaviour - model far too linear

Question 12

what is social domain theory of moral development?

Answer 12

proposes that moral development isn’t discontinuous, but rather a gradual changed influenced by children’s social interactions with peers or adults and observation of parents’ socialisation

Question 13

what are the main features of social domain theory? (3)

Answer 13

types of decisions, cultural influences in social judgement, the development of conscience

Question 14

social domain theory: what are the 3 types of decisions children make daily?

Answer 14

• MORAL JUDGEMENT – decisions based off right, wrong, fairness etc
• SOCIAL CONVENTIONAL JUDGMENT – decisions intended to secure social coordination
• PERSONAL JUDGEMENT – actions which refer to individual preferences being the main convention

Question 15

social domain theory: give an example of where social judgement differs among cultures

Answer 15

children in India more likely than US children to say helping others is a moral choice rather than a personal choice

Question 16

social domain theory: how does social judgement of morals develop according to this theory?

Answer 16

Children begin to differentiate between moral and social conventional issues as early as 3y/o – see moral transgressions as more serious offenses

Question 17

social domain theory: what is conscience according to this theory? (2)

Answer 17

an internal regulatory system which develops slowly over time and is greatly influenced by parental standards
it increases one’s ability to conform with standards of conduct in their culture

Question 18

social domain theory: at what age does conscience develop?

Answer 18

2 y/o - begin to understand moral standard and show guilt

Question 19

social domain theory: how do parents influence a child’s moral development/conscience development?

Answer 19

• Children typically adopt parents values if parents use rational explanations > harsh discipline and children are securely attached

Question 20

prosocial behaviour: what is empathy?

Answer 20

empathy = emotional reaction to another’s emotional state/condition which is similar to one’s own state/condition

Question 21

prosocial behaviour: what is symapthy?

Answer 21

sympathy = feeling of concern for another’s state/condition, often an outcome of empathising with their negative condition

Question 22

prosocial behaviour: how does prosocial behaviour develop in childhood? (3)

Answer 22

• Age 2 – children start to clearly differentiate between another’s emotional distress and their own, although their responses may still be egocentric
• 2nd-3rd years of life – frequency and variety of young children’s prosocial behaviours increase – though they don’t regularly act in prosocial ways
• Prosocial behaviours increase into adolescence

Question 23

prosocial behaviour: what are the main explanations for individual differences in prosocial behaviour?

Answer 23

genetic factors, environmental influences

Question 24

prosocial behaviour: how does environment influence prosocial behaviour? (2)

Answer 24

• Socialisation is a strong influence
• Children more likely to imitate the prosocial behaviour of adults with whom they have a positive relationship

Question 25

prosocial behaviour: how does child rearing influence prosocial behaviour? (2)

Answer 25

• Constructive advice = promotes prosocial behaviour
• Harsh discipline = promotes prosocial behaviour only to evade/achieve certain con sequences

Question 26

prosocial behaviour: how does prosocial behaviour differ among cultures?

Answer 26

• some cultures (like Kenya, Mexico where children often live in extended families are assigned responsibility for others from a young age) are often more prosocial than others (i.e children in the US)

Question 27

antisocial behaviour: what is hostile aggression?

Answer 27

Hostile aggression - motivated by the desire to injure others, either from anger or self-protection

Question 28

antisocial behaviour: what is instrumental aggression?

Answer 28

Instrumental aggression - motivated by the desire to obtain a concrete goal

Question 29

antisocial behaviour: how does aggression develop over childhood? (4)

Answer 29

• Aggressive behaviour emerges around 18 months and increases until age 2, where it declines
• Whereas, verbal aggression increases with the development of language
• 3-5 years begin to show instrumental aggression as they learn to share
• Children this age also begin to use relational aggression (harming others’ peer groups e.g by excluding them from the social group)

Question 30

antisocial behaviour: what are the characteristics of children prone to reactive aggression?

Answer 30

particularly likely to perceive other people’s motives as hostile and to generate and accept aggressive responses to provocation