Week 2: Human Development Part 2 Flashcards
Moral Reasoning
Also known as moral judgement, refers to how we reason, or judge, whether an action is right or wrong.
Piaget’s Moral Development Theory
His idea focused on how children learn right or wrong in the context of game playing, in which he theorised morality was a development process.
Development emerges from action, so that children construct their knowledge as a result of their interactions with others and the environment.
The worse the outcome, the worse the act.
Autonomous morality (Piaget’s Moral Development Theory)
Around ten years of age children reach a second stage of moral development, called autonomous
morality. It is at this point that children realise that rules are not fixed and arbitrarily imposed by others,
but that they are created by consent.
Children at this stage understand that they can change the rules of a game if others agree to do it. It is also at this stage that children are able to make judgements based on the person’s motives
Moral realism or Moral heteronomy (Piaget’s Moral Development Theory)
Piaget found that younger children (around age four to seven) thought in terms of moral realism or
moral heteronomy where morality is seen in terms of rules that are fixed and unchangeable
Kohlberg’s theory of morality
Kohlberg saw moral development as a more gradual process than Piaget. Kohlberg developed his theory by analysing the responses children gave him after reading some stories, usually referred to as moral dilemmas: situations in which right and wrong actions are not always clear.
Kohlberg was not concerned with whether the children decided that certain actions were right or wrong, but with their reasoning and how they arrived at their conclusions.
Three levels of Kohlberg’s theory of morality
Level 1: preconventional/premoral - children follow fixed rules based on the authority of those who impose the rules.
Level 2: conventional/role conformity - moral values are associated to conforming to the correct role and to fulfilling the expectations of others.
Level 3: postconventional/ self-accepted moral principles - based on shared standards, rights and duties over and above the requirements of the authority.
Six Stages of Kohlberg’s theory of morality
Stage 1: obedience and punishment orientation - children suggest that the action is wrong because the person will be punished and see morality as something external to them.
Stage 2: naively egoistic orientation - Children in this stage usually report that a correct or right action is the action that satisfies the needs of the person and others around him.
Stage 3: good-boy/ good-girl orientation - The main focus of the efforts of children at this stage is to conform to the stereotypical images of what a ‘good’ boy or girl is. Children try to achieve the expectations of the family and the community. Children at this stage appreciate intention, and actions are evaluated based on it.
Stage 4: authority and social-order-maintaining orientation - the focus of the moral values of the child shifts to include the demands of the society as a whole.
Stage 5: contractual/legalistic orientation - what is morally correct and makes a good society
Stage 6: The morality of individual principles of conscience - People follow internalised principles
of justice
Early ideas of attachment
Attachment theory in psychology originates with the work of John Bowlby (1958).
John Bowlby developed his theory when working as a psychiatrist for emotionally disturbed children. Bowlby observed that children experienced intense distress when separated from their mothers. The importance of the bond between the mother and child was further highlighted by the fact the child remained anxious even when
being fed.
Other researchers using rhesus monkeys found that physical contact was a necessity (Harlow & Zimmerman, 1958). Harry Harlow did a number of studies on attachment in monkeys, suggesting that monkeys must form their attachments during the first year of life – called a critical period.
Four Stages Of Bowlby’s Theory
1 Birth to about three months: infants orient to social stimuli (i.e. voices and faces) but are not yet able
to discriminate amongst individuals.
2 At about five to seven months: infants orient and respond to one person (typically the mother).
3 From about seven to nine months: mobility allows infants to actively maintain proximity to the
attachment figure.
4 From two or three years of age on: children begin to have awareness of the mother’s feelings so the
attachment develops into a partnership (goal-corrected partnership).
5 At school age or older: lessening of attachment. The direct bond is replaced with more abstract
relationships such as affection, trust and approval
Attachment patterns found by Mary Ainsworth
Secure: Parents were assessed as being generally responsive and sensitive towards their children.
The child misses the parent on the separation stage, but greets the parent on their return with a smile,
conversation or gesture and then returned to the activity that they were engaged in while the parent
was absent, or if upset seeks comfort from their parent.
Insecure avoidant: Parents were assessed as being rejecting and/or interfering. The child shows little
distress on the separation stage and actively avoids or ignores the parent on their return. If picked up,
the child stiffens and leans away. Therefore the child is seen as seeking distance from the parent.
Insecure ambivalent: Parents were assessed as behaving inconsistently towards the child. When the
parents return the child finds no comfort from the presence of the parent, either greeting the parent
with angry rejection, tantrums, or appearing extremely upset.
(Further research by Mary Main and Judith Solomon (1986) identified a fourth attachment pattern, called disorganised/disoriented attachment)
Parental emotional availability and attachment
The two main factors affect the attachment relationship are emotional availability and caregiver
sensitivity.
Maltreated and children of depressed mothers are at risk of developing insecure attachment.
internal working model’ (IWM)
Refers to the cognitive construction of relationships, such as expectations of support or affection, trust etc.
According to Bowlby, those with secure IWMs expect people to be supportive and they behave in an open way which elicits such support. Those with insecure IWMs are less trusting and do not expect good care and nor believe they are worthy of good care.
Insecure attachment has also been found to lead to problems with intimate adult relationships and the
pursuit of intimacy through inappropriate sexual behaviour in adulthood.
Friends and school
In the early stages of social development, the family teaches children how to interact with others and what
is or is not acceptable. However, as children enter primary school the focus of the child’s social world
moves away from the family, and the child’s peer groups becomes the most important feature.
Four Stages of Play
1 Solitary play – describes the play style when a child is around other children but is playing alone not
paying attention to others.
2 Parallel play – occurs as young children become more aware of other children, around two years of
age.
3 Associative play stage - children may play the same game with one another, but are not necessarily working together.
4 Group play – By the age of three, children are more able to communicate and socialise with others.
