chapter 12 - morality in thought and action

Question 1

evolutionary psychology

Answer 1

a view of psychology that emphasizes evolution of a variety of psychological adaptations that increased the fitness of individuals. In regard to moral development, the emphasis is on the universals of moral thought and behavior that have been selected as adaptive in all humans

Question 2

cultural psychology

Answer 2

a view of psychology in which cultural differences are believed to greatly influence psychological processes and representations. This view argues against the existence of intrinsic universals of moral thought

Question 3

heteronomous stage

Answer 3

in Piaget’s theory of moral development, a stage in which children think that rules are fixed and immutable realities that are part of the natural world

Question 4

immanent justice

Answer 4

in Piaget’s theory of moral development, a form of reasoning about justice in which the child believes that most events that adversely affect an individual who has previously done something wrong are forms of punishment for the earlier transgression

Question 5

autonomous stage

Answer 5

in Piaget’s theory of moral development, a stage in which children of rules as social conventions that are created by humans and can be changed by humans

Question 6

social convention

Answer 6

a rule of human interaction that is jointly decided upon as a means of achieving some sort of coordinated activity in which both parties will benefit. Such rules are usually arbitrary, such as driving on a particular side of the road, but they must be honored by everyone once they are established

Question 7

information integration theory

Answer 7

a theory of cognitive development that says that older children integrate different dimensions or components of a task into a coherent system for successful reasoning, whereas younger children focus excessively on one dimension or component of the task at the expense of others

Question 8

moral dilemma

Answer 8

devised by Kohlberg to study moral reasoning, an ambiguous situation in which a person in a story must make a difficult moral decision and the participant in the study must say which choice is better and why. The pattern of reasoning used by the participant is more important than the actual choice selected

Question 9

individualist culture

Answer 9

a culture in which the rights of the individual are deemed to be more important than the rights of the group

Question 10

collectivist culture

Answer 10

a culture in which the rights of the group are deemed to be more important than the rights of the individual

Question 11

constructivist approach

Answer 11

an approach to moral development that sees the child as constructing moral interpretations of a situation by evaluating the situations, the actors, and the cultural context

Question 12

altruism

Answer 12

behavior in which an individual acts for the benefit of another at his or her own personal expense

Question 13

moral modules

Answer 13

forms of moral reasoning that have evolved to deal with specific kinds of moral problems encountered by individuals and groups

Question 14

impersonal moral situation

Answer 14

a moral situation in which the individuals involved are not salient and in which it is possible to adopt a moral stance that appeals to abstract moral principles and patterns of reasoning

Question 15

personal moral situation

Answer 15

a moral situation in which individuals are depicted in personal ways that invoke strong, immediate judgments that often bypass more abstract and reflective moral reasoning

Question 16

social intuitionist model

Answer 16

a model of moral judgment in which perceived violations of norms and rights automatically trigger emotions like anger or contempt without consideration of abstract moral principles

Question 17

prosocial behavior

Answer 17

behavior that benefits other individuals, groups, or the society as a whole, often at a cost to the person who engages in the behavior

Question 18

antisocial behavior

Answer 18

behavior that hurts or impairs another individual or a group. Such behavior can include both verbal and physical aggression as well as cheating and lying

Question 19

instrumental helping

Answer 19

prosocial behavior to help someone else achieve a goal, even though there is no obvious benefit to the helper

Question 20

self-regulation

Answer 20

the ability to regulate our own emotional states and reactions to situations and others. This may also include the ability to understand and evaluate our emotional states and the consequences of those states for ourselves and others

Question 21

delay of gratification

Answer 21

the ability to hold off engaging in an action that will bring a desired reward

Question 22

resilience

Answer 22

the ability of some children to have very positive behavioral and psychological outcomes, despite growing up in an environment that normally is associated with a high incidence of behavioral and psychological problems

Question 23

social aggression

Answer 23

a kind of aggression that includes such behavior as malicious teasing, social exclusion from a group, and humiliation

Question 24

conduct disorder

Answer 24

a pattern of frequent and recurring antisocial behaviors in children and adolescents, whereby the children regularly violate the rights of others as well as violating social norms or rules

Question 25

emotional empathy

Answer 25

a form of empathy that involves directly witnessing another person’s emotional state and feeling the same emotion in a relatively immediate and direct way

Question 26

cognitive empathy

Answer 26

a form of empathy that requires social cognitive skills and the ability to take another’s perspective and that involves understanding en representing the emotional and mental points of view of others

Question 27

modeling theory

Answer 27

an approach to learning and socialization based on the idea that children and adults reproduce behaviors that they observe others performing; also called social learning theory

Question 28

id

Answer 28

one of three components of the mind described by Freud that emerges first in development and represents an individual’s basic desires and drives

Question 29

ego

Answer 29

one of three components of the mind described by Freud that normally emerges in development after the id and before the superego and that enables the child to channel and direct the id

Question 30

superego

Answer 30

one of three components of the mind described by Freud; it represents the emergence of conscience, an internal sense of right and wrong