Moral development

Question 1

What are 3 components of the development of morality?

Answer 1

• development of self-control
• development of moral reasoning

–development of prosocial behavior

Question 2

Why is self-regulation important?

Answer 2

children need to learn to refrain from following their desires to be able to do what they are told and internalize rules

• what we want and what we know to be fair
• refrain ourselves from doing what we want

Question 3

Why is moral reasoning important?

Answer 3

children need to understand and reason about what is right and what is wrong

Question 4

Why is prosocial behavior important?

Answer 4

children need to learn to act prosaically

–act in a way that benefits others

Question 5

What is the relation between self-regulation and moral development?

Answer 5

we want children to listen to rules and not give into their desires (self regulation), so that later on they also internalize rules (understand them)

Question 6

How does self-regulation develop with age?

Answer 6

–12 months: respond to verbal commands (“NO”)

–2 yrs: some capacity to follow rules in the absence of caregivers

–3 yrs: initial strategies to gain or maintain control ( children try to look away to not be constantly reminded of what they want and one able to follow rules)

Question 7

What are Piaget’s 3 stages of moral reasoning?

Answer 7

• premoral
• moral realism
• moral relativism

Question 8

What causes the transition from one stage to the next?

Answer 8

-independent interactions with peers, away from adults

Question 9

premoral

Answer 9

• up until 4
• children show little awareness of rules
• by the end of stage 1, children become more aware of “rules” by watching older people and imitating their behavior

Question 10

moral realism

Answer 10

• age 5 until 7
• strong respect for rules
• belief rules must be obeyed AT ALL TIMES
• belief in IMMANENT JUSTICE; violation of rules will be caught and punished
• rules are moral absolutes
• only interested in the consequences regardless of intent (intentionally or accidental)

Question 11

moral relativism

Answer 11

• about age 8
• rules are not absolute and can be challenged
• rules are arbitrary
• INTENTION of the individual has an impact

Question 12

What are Kohlberg’s 3 levels of moral reasoning?

Answer 12

• pre conventional morality
• conventional morality
• post conventional morality

Question 13

pre-conventional morality

Answer 13

• most children
• moral reasoning governed by obedience to authority, reward and punishment

–EX: Heinz should be arrested and sent to jail for stealing

Question 14

conventional morality

Answer 14

• most adolescents and most adults
• moral reasoning is governed by social norms, societal expectations

–Heinz should steal the drug and sometimes there are times when people should not obey the law

Question 15

post-conventional morality

Answer 15

• some adults
• moral reasoning is governed by personal principles

–heinz should steal the drug, and is immoral to charge that much for a drug

Question 16

Briefly discuss the weaknesses of Kohlberg’s theory.

Answer 16

–stages are not universal like he thought

• reasoning may be at different stages based on the type of problem
• thought this stages were fundamental and seen all across the world, which is not true

Question 17

What is altruism?

Answer 17

Prosocial behavior, such as helping and sharing, in which the individual does not benefit directly from his or her behavior.

Question 18

What are some of the possible reasons underlying altruistic behavior?

Answer 18

• gratitude from victim
• praise from others
• feel good about self (boost of self-esteem)
• help family members (“selfish” genes)
• reduce self-experienced distress in response to another person

Question 19

How does empathy develop? How was it tested?

Answer 19

• 1st yr (global empathy): self-oriented distress; reflexive crying
• 2nd yr (egocentric empathy): comforting responses attuned to child’s own needs

–3yr (victim-oriented empathy): respond to victim’s particular needs/helping behaviors

–middle childhood (generalized empathy): begin to recognize abstract conditions of distress (war victims, orphans)

Question 20

What situational factors may influence whether children will act altruistically?*

Answer 20

• when they feel neither responsible for nor capable of helping
• are in a bad mood
• believe that helping will entail a large personal sacrifice

Question 21

What are some of the ways parents influence altruism in their children?*

Answer 21

• modeling
• disciplinary practices
• opportunities to behave prosocially

Question 22

why do children help others?

Answer 22

• to learn to act prosaically
• to care about other and be altruistic
• gain for self?

Question 23

socialized learned behavior

Answer 23

-direct reinforcement (past reinforcement for similar behaviors); parents tell children how to behave

–observational learning (parent): children imitate parents prosocial behavior

–vicarious reinforcement (older sibling): if an older sibling does a prosocial behavior, and some praises them, then the child might learn that doing that behavior will get him praise and continue to do it

Question 24

innate tendency

Answer 24

research on animals suggests that prosocial behavior is innate

-product of evolution

Question 25

emotional development

Answer 25

• empathy

- aggression

Question 26

What are characteristics of the different forms of aggression?

Answer 26

• physical aggression: hurting another physically (hitting, biting, shoving)
• relational aggression: hurting others by undermining social relationships (gossip, teasing)

Question 27

What is the evidence that aggression may have a biological basis?

Answer 27

–Aggressive tendencies tend to be relatively stable over time

–Aggressive tendencies tend to be relatively stable over time

• Temperamentally difficult infants more likely to become aggressive
• sex
• physical aggression: males exhibit stronger levels of aggression behavior

Question 28

What is the evidence that aggression may be a learned response?

Answer 28

• -family
• -children who are physically punish, will stop engaging in the behavior and not do it, but learn the punishment is okay

-parents who fail to monitor their children = children are more aggressive

Question 29

What is the evidence that aggression may depend on cultural values?

Answer 29

• -television
• studies have shown that people who like to watch violent tv shows, are more aggressive

-peers

Question 30

Describe and identify the main findings of Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment.

Answer 30

-this study shows how quickly children can pick up aggressive behaviors, especially if the perpetuator receives no actual punishment for the behavior or if the perpetuator is encourage

Question 31

Kohlberg and Piaget similarities

Answer 31

–moral reasoning proceeds through a set of invariant stages

–each moral stage evolves from and replaces the earlier stages (no skipping allowed)

Question 32

Kohlberg and Piaget disagreements

Answer 32

–Scarce attention to more advanced reasoning

-Stages are not wedded to specific ages

Question 33

What is the cognitive basis of aggression?

Answer 33

-Dodge’s Information-Processing Theory of Social Problem solving

–thinks people who experienced aggression/violence early ion life will later view situations from an aggressive point of view and respond aggressively