Social Cognition and Moral Development

Question 1

What is meant by social cognition?

Answer 1

Thinking about the perceptions, thoughts, emotions, motives and behaviours of self and other people, groups and even whole social systems.

Question 2

What is meant by developing a theory of mind?

Answer 2

The understanding that:
1. People have mental states (desires, beliefs, intentions)
2. These mental states guide and explain their behaviour

Question 3

Desire psychology?

Answer 3

Toddlers talking about what they want and explain their own behaviour and that of others in terms of wants or desires

Question 4

Belief-desire psychology?

Answer 4

Appreciating that people do what they do because they desire certain things and because they believe that certain actions will help them fulfil their desires

Question 5

Mind minded parents?

Answer 5

Talking with children about mental states in elaborated ways.

Question 6

Social Cognition in adulthood?

Answer 6

Social cognitive skills seem to hold up better during adulthood than non-social cognitive skills.

Question 7

Moral Reasoning?

Answer 7

The thinking process involved in deciding whether an act is right or wrong.

Question 8

Kohlberg’s Level 1?

Answer 8

Preconventional morality - conforming to the rules rather than facing punishment.
Stage 1: punishment and obedience orientation
Stage 2: Instrumental hedonism

Question 9

Kohlberg’s Level 2?

Answer 9

Conventional morality
Stage 2: Good boy or Good girl morality
Stage 4: authority and social order maintaining morality

Question 10

Kohlberg’s Level 3?

Answer 10

Postconventional Morality
Stage 5: morality of contract, individual rights and democratically accepted law
Stage 6: Morality of individual principles of conscience

Question 11

Development of conscience in toddlerhood?

Answer 11

1. moral emotions: learning to associate negative emotions like guilt with violating rules and learning to empathize with people in distress
2. self control: able to inhibit one’s impulses

Question 12

Mutually responsive orientation?

Answer 12

A close, emotionally positive and cooperative relationship in which child and caregiver care about each other and are sensitive to each other’s needs.

Question 13

Conduct Disorder?

Answer 13

a persistent pattern of violating the rights of others and societal norms through such behaviours as fighting, bullying and cruelty .
Can be a pre-stage to an antisocial personality disorder / psychopathy.

Question 14

Religiosity?

Answer 14

sharing the beliefs and participating in the practices of an organised religion.
- religious commitment, if it translates to a strong moral identity, can encourage empathy and work against antisocial behaviour
- the average level in religiousness is high in adolescence; decreases in middle age and increases again at 60/70.

Question 15

Spirituality?

Answer 15

Involves a quest for ultimate meaning and for a connection with something greater than oneself.
- increases from middle age to late adulthood