Forensic Psychology - 7. Psychological Explanations: 2. Cognitive Explanations

Question 1

3 things that the cognitive approach focuses on

Answer 1

The way we think
How we process information
Our brains are like computers

Question 2

Babies concept of right and wrong

Answer 2

Babies have no concept of right and wrong

Question 3

What happens to our morals as we age?

Answer 3

They develop and become more sophisticated

Question 4

Who investigated morality for this topic?

Answer 4

Kohlberg

Question 5

Who was Kohlberg most influenced by?

Answer 5

Piaget, who saw development as going through stages

Question 6

What is the levels of moral reasoning?

Answer 6

A series of stages than an individual uses to think about whether an action is right or wrong

Question 7

How many levels make up Kohlberg’s levels of moral reasoning? What are they?

Answer 7

3 levels:
1. Pre-conventional
2. Conventional
3. Post-conventional

Question 8

How many stages are in each level of moral reasoning?

Answer 8

2 stages are in each level (6 in total)

Question 9

What 2 stages make up the pre-conventional level?

Answer 9

1. Doing something because of fear of punishment
2. Doing it for personal gain

Question 10

What 2 stages make up the conventional level?

Answer 10

3. Doing something according to the majority
4. Doing it because it’s your duty/helps society

Question 11

What 2 stages make up the post-conventional level?

Answer 11

5. Doing something even if it’s against the law because the law is too restrictive (E.g. illegal protesting)
6. Doing it because of your inner conscience

Question 12

What level of moral reasoning are most criminals classified at according to Kohlberg? Why is this?

Answer 12

Most criminals classified at pre-conventional level (level 1). This is because criminals are most likely to carry out crime if they think they aren’t going to get caught (stage 1) or because they are gaining some type of reward (stage 2)

Question 13

Other than criminals, who is at the pre-conventional level of moral reasoning?

Answer 13

Children

Question 14

When do people at the pre-conventional level of moral reasoning think crime is justified?

Answer 14

If the rewards outweigh the costs or if punishment can be avoided

Question 15

When do people at the conventional level of moral reasoning think crime is justified?

Answer 15

If it helps maintain relationships (E.g. stealing to provide for their family)

Question 16

When do people at the post-conventional level of moral reasoning think crime is justified?

Answer 16

If the law violates an individual’s rights, committing a crime will be justified

Question 17

Difference of levels of moral reasoning between criminals and non-criminals according to Kohlberg

Answer 17

Criminals have a lower level of moral reasoning than non-criminals

Question 18

What did Kohlberg aim to discover in his research?

Answer 18

Aimed to discover how moral reasoning changes as people grew older

Question 19

Sample of Kohlberg’s research

Answer 19

Sample made up of 72 Chicago boys aged 10-16

Question 20

How was Kohlberg’s study a longitudinal study?

Answer 20

58 boys were followed up at three-yearly intervals for 20 years

Question 21

Method of Kohlberg’s study

Answer 21

Each boy given a 2 hour interview where they were talked through 10 dilemmas

Question 22

Results of Kohlberg’s study

Answer 22

The reasons that the children gave for their decisions in the dilemmas changed as they got older

Question 23

Positive evaluation of the cognitive explanation: cultural universality

Answer 23

Kohlberg demonstrated that his moral stages were universal as he later studied children in Britain, Mexico, Turkey and USA

Question 24

Positive evaluation of the cognitive explanation: research between delinquents and non-delinquents

Answer 24

Palmer and Hollin compared moral reasoning between female non-offenders, male non-offenders and convicted offenders. Found that offenders showed less mature moral reasoning than the non-offenders

Question 25

Positive evaluation of the cognitive explanation: association of crime to level of moral reasoning

Answer 25

Thornton and Ried found pre-conventional moral reasoning tends to be associated with crimes such as robbery

Question 26

Positive evaluation of the cognitive explanation: real-life application

Answer 26

Understanding the importance of the levels of moral reasoning can be useful in shaping intervention programmes to prevent crime

Question 27

Negative evaluation of the cognitive explanation: alternative theory

Answer 27

Gibbs proposed an alternative thoery, stating that there are only two levels of moral reasoning

Question 28

Negative evaluation of the cognitive explanation: what may the level of moral reasoning actually depend on?

Answer 28

It may depend on the kind of offence committed

Question 29

Negative evaluation of the cognitive explanation: does moral reasoning necessarily lead to moral behaviour?

Answer 29

This theory is based on thinking instead of actual actions. Thinking in a certain way doesn’t mean you are behaving in that way (E.g. those who have high levels of moral reasoning may still commit petty crimes)

Question 30

Negative evaluation of the cognitive explanation: gender bias

Answer 30

Much of Kohlberg’s research focuses on males. This also leads to beta bias as it eliminates the potential differences between men and women