Lecture 11: Moral Development and Wrap-Up Flashcards
moral judgment
How people should interact with each other
what is moral judgment based on?
principles concerning the distinction between right/wrong
examples of principles concerning the distinction between right/wrong
justice, welfare, and fairness
Piaget’s theory of moral reasoning
- The development of moral judgment relies on cognitive development
- Children pass through 3 qualitatively different stages of moral development
- Assessed moral judgment with short stories
how does moral judgment change with cognitive development?
children are increasingly able to take intentions into account
properties of Piaget’s stages of moral development
- All thinking about right and wrong is determined by the stage
- Order is fixed
assessing moral judgment with short stories
Interested in explanations for why an action is viewed as right or wrong
Piaget’s 3 stages of moral reasoning
- premoral stage
- heteronomous stage
- autonomous stage
premoral stage
- 0-5 years old
- Little understanding of rules, so they can’t make judgments about right and wrong
- Their behaviour is regulated by their caregivers
heteronomous stage
- 5-10 years old
- Rules are fixed and can never be broken
- Morality: obeying the rules of authority figures, like parents
- The outcomes of an action are more important than the intentions
autonomous stage
- 10+ years old
- Rules are not absolute and can be changed
- Consider moral principles, like fairness, when deciding what is right and wrong
- Intentions matter
Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning
- A cognitive theory of moral development
- Divided moral development into three stages
Kohlberg’s 3 stages of moral reasoning
- preconventional stage
- conventional stage
- postconventional stage
preconventional stage
- 3-7 years old
- Focus on avoiding punishment and getting rewards from authority figures
- Intentions don’t matter
- No personal sense of right and wrong
- Rules are fixed and absolutely
which of Piaget’s stages is the preconventional stage most similar to?
the heteronomous stage
how do children in the preconventional stage react to the Heinz dilemma?
- Heinz should not steal the drug because stealing is illegal and he could get caught
- Heinz should steal the drug because if his wife dies, Heinz will be blamed and will go to jail
conventional stage
- 8-13 years old
- Focus on compliance with social expectations, conventions, and duties
- Good behaviour is doing what is approved of by the social group and maintaining good social relationships
- Capable of considering intentions
- Good behaviour is upholding one’s duty to follow the rules and laws of society
which of Piaget’s stages is the conventional stage most similar to?
the autonomous stage
how do children in the conventional stage respond to the Heinz dilemma?
- It’s right to steal because Heinz means well by trying to help his dying wife
- It’s wrong for kids to steal because it’s against the law. If everyone was stealing, society would fall apart
postconventional stage
- 13 years old +
- The morality of an action is judged based on what’s in the best interest of society or based on maintaining universal ethical principles
- Rules are viewed as social contracts that can be changed to meet the needs of society
- People may disobey rules that are inconsistent with their moral principles
- Rules are viewed as useful but not absolute
does everyone reach the postconventional stage?
no
what are the basic universal ethical principles?
Life, liberty, basic human rights
how do children in the postconventional stage respond to the Heinz dilemma?
It’s not wrong for Heinz to steal because human life must be preserved and life is worth more than money or personal property.
Piaget and Kohlberg’s contributions
- First to acknowledge that moral reasoning changes systematically as children grow older due to cognitive development
- Recognizing that children are increasingly able to take intentions into account as they age
- Cross-cultural universality of changes in moral reasoning