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level: Kohlberg Research (D)

Questions and Answers List

level questions: Kohlberg Research (D)

QuestionAnswer
Aims- Kohlberg interested in moral development of children and how that changes through their life - Inspired by Piaget’s theory, behaviourism, and Freudian psychology
Freudian psychology definition- Morality linked to the development of the superego
Procedure- 72 American boys - Aged10 to 16 years at the start, and 22– 28 years at the end - Presented with hypothetical moral dilemmas (Heinz) - Answers given were linked to 25 basic moral concepts or aspects
Example of hypothetical question- “Is it better to save the life of one important person or a lot of unimportant people?”
Background- Kohlberg believed that the stages of moral development were invariant
Why were the stages of moral development invariant- They don't change order - The speed at which a child passed through the stages could vary
6 reasons for the motivation of obeying rules- to avoid punishment - to gain rewards - to avoid dislike by others - to gain respect from others - to avoid self-condemnation
Preconventional (Stages)1. Punishment and obedience orientation 2. Self-interest
Preconventional stages (Moral reasoning shown)- Rules are followed to avoid punishment - ‘Right’ behaviour brings rewards to oneself
Conventional (Stages)3. Good boy-good girl orientation 4. Law and order orientation
Conventional stages (Moral reasoning shown)- ‘Good’ behaviour pleases others - Moral action is taken based upon self-chosen principles
Post-conventional (Stages)5. Social contract orientation 6. Universal principles orientation
Post-conventional stages (Moral reasoning shown)- ‘Right’ is what is democratically agreed upon - Doing one's duty, obeying law is important
Conclusions- Moral development happens in the same order regardless of where a child grows up - Not significantly affected by cultural, social or religious reasons
Discussion- Evidence shows a universal development of morality, from the egocentric to other centric
Results- Some participants didn't reach the final stage - Stages didn't change order
Research methods- Longitudinal study - Cross-cultural, collected data from other cultures (e.g. Taiwan and Mexico)
Longitudinal study (cohort study) definition- Following a group of people overtime
Cross-cultural findings- Americans didn't reach stage 6 - Middle-class children were more advanced in moral judgement
Advantages + disadvantages to longitudinal studies- Participant variables are controlled, low cost - Participant attrition (people dropping out), time-consuming
Advantages + disadvantages to cross-cultural studies- Isn't ethnocentric - Language barriers, the moral dilemmas might be too culture-bound to the US
Data- Qualitative data - There is no significant difference between the different age groups
Ethics- Consent given by participants - Right to withdraw, by just not cooperating when he returned three years later
ValidityReduced by: - Hypothetical moral dilemmas, words do not reflect actions - Extraneous variables e.g. upbringing
Reliability- Large sample - Used standardisation - same dilemmas - Conducted in 1950s +1960s, very different world
Sample- 72 American boys, from Chicago - Aged between 10 - 16 years at the start, 22-28 years at the end - They are observed over 12 years, every 3 years
Androcentric- He only used males and then generalised his theory to both males and females
Gilligan- Suggested that females will show different moral development due to socialisation factors - Two ways of looking at moral dilemmas (justice-based and care-based).
Ethnocentrism- Data collected from different cultures - Ethnocentric bias - if there is assumption that everyone will have the same moral development as the American boys
Psychologists + ethnocentrism- Lots of bias towards one's culture - Particually in the west
Nature vs nurture debate- Nature side of this debate: moral development is innate - Nurture side of this debate: culture may influence morality
Free Will vs determinism (Free Will)- Little free will or choice over how you will progress through the stages - You cannot change or avoid any of the stages
Free Will vs determinism (Determinism)- The stages are invariant and happen at fairly distinct chronological ages
Psychology as a science- Lack of control over extraneous variables, falsifiable - Used the scientific process of induction
Falsifiable meaning- Trying to prove a theory is wrong - If you can’t prove it wrong then you can assume it is right
Induction meaning- Observing human behaviour and then inducing a theory to explain that behaviour
Links to areas and perspectives- Developmental - life long process - Cognitive - development of thought processes - Behaviourism - moral behaviour is learnt