Socioemotional Development – Moral Development

Question 1

Piaget proposed that ________ development is necessary for moral development and that the developmental process of understanding ________ is similar to the process of understanding game rules. Consequently, to study moral development, he asked children to respond to ________.

Answer 1

• cognitive
• moral standards
• dilemmas involving violations of game rules.

Question 2

Piaget concluded that moral development involves which three stages:

Answer 2

(a) Premoral Stage: birth to five years
(b) Heteronomous Stage: about 5 or 6 years
(c) Autonomous Stage: begins at about 10 or 11 years

Question 3

During the Premoral Stage, children:

Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development

Answer 3

have very limited understanding of rules and moral behavior

Question 4

During the Heteronomous Stage children:

Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development

Answer 4

• believe that rules are made by authorities and cannot be changed
• base their judgments about the acceptibility of a behavior primarily on the consequences or outcome of the behavior.

Question 5

Children in the Autonomous Stage:

Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development

Answer 5

• believe that rules are determined by agreement between people and can be changed by agreement
• base their judgments about the acceptibility of a behavior primarily on the actor’s intentions

Question 6

Based on results of the “Heinz dilemma” research, Kohlberg concluded that moral reasoning involves three levels that each have two stages. He proposed that the stages are ________ and ________ and are related to the person’s levels of ________ and ________.

Answer 6

• universal
• always occur in the same order
• cognitive development
• social perspective-taking

Question 7

What are the 3 levels of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development and their substages?

Answer 7

Level 1: Preconventional Morality:
a) punishment and obedience stage
b) instrumental hedonism stage

Level 2: Conventional Morality
a) the “good boy/good girl” stage
b) the law and order orientation stage

Level 3: Postconventional Morality
a) the morality of contract, individual rights, and democratically accepted laws
b) the morality of individual principles of conscience

Question 8

Level 1: Preconventional Morality: The two stages of this level are:
(a) the punishment and obedience stage, during which the acceptability of a behavior depends on whether or not the behavior ________, and
(b) the instrumental hedonism stage, during which the acceptability of a behavior depends on whether or not it ________.

Answer 8

• leads to punishment
• leads to rewards or satisfies the person’s needs.

Question 9

Level 2: Conventional Morality: The two stages of this level are:
(a) the “good boy/good girl” stage, during which the acceptability of a behavior depends on whether or not it is ________, and
(b) the law and order orientation stage, during which the acceptability of a behavior depends on whether or not it ________.

Answer 9

• socially approved of or liked by others
• violates laws and rules that have been established by legitimate authorities

Question 10

Level 3: Postconventional Morality: The two stages of this level are:
(a) the morality of contract, individual rights, and democratically accepted laws, during which the acceptability of a behavior is whether or not it’s ________, and
(b) the morality of individual principles of conscience, during which the acceptability of a behavior is whether or not it’s ________.

Answer 10

• consistent with democratically chosen laws
• consistent with broad, universally applicable general principles (e.g., justice, fairness)

Question 11

What are some criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development?

Answer 11

• underestimates the moral reasoning of young children
• too rigid and linear (moral judgements may vary as a result of motivation and context)
• androcentric (included only male subjects)
• culturally biased
• hypothetical moral dilemmas do not necessarily predict responses to real-life dilemmas