...Kohlberg's Moral Development Crystal Bombay, Ruth A .Buissereth, Steven Odemns, Cherish Powell, and Steven Soranno October 26, 2015 Shawn Davis Kohlberg's Moral Development Today’s discussion will evaluate Kohlberg’s theory on moral development and also Carol Gilligan research on moral reasoning. The topic will first summarize the theory of moral development by psychology’s pioneer Lawrence Kohlberg. The discussion will also have a compelling view of three approaches by Kohlberg to help individuals understand moral development. The topic will also give an explanation of three of limitations of the Kohlberg’s theory and how they work in individual’s lives. The discussion will then give insight on Carol Gilligan and her research on gender differences with moral development and reasoning. This topic will bring delightful stimulations to the mind as there is an in-depth look gender differences in the approach of moral development and reasoning. Kohlberg’s theory Lawrence Kohlberg was a psychologist that extended Jean Piaget's theories. Kohlberg felt that moral development was a process that continues throughout an individual's lifespan. According to Reimer (1977), "Piaget's research dealt mostly with younger children. Kohlberg adopted Piaget's methodology and applied it to older children and adolescents" (p. 61). Kohlberg believed that there were six stages to moral development, within these stages they were classified into three different levels. The three...
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...effective is Kohlberg’s stage theory of moral development in explaining moral reasoning and moral behaviour?’ Morality refers to the ‘principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behaviour’ (Oxford dictionary, 2013). Moral development focuses on the way morality changes from childhood to adulthood. It consists of two things; moral reasoning and moral behaviour. Moral reasoning is when an individual tried to work out the difference between right and wrong by using logic. This is a process that is undertaken by people daily in their lives when faced with dilemmas and they need to make a decision based on the morality of the action and what the consequences could be. Moral behaviour is the way people can behave depending on their moral reasoning. Moral behaviour consists of four components; moral sensitivity, moral judgement, moral motivation and moral character. Many theories have been developed on moral development. These theories are based on an individual’s level of cognitive maturity. This essay focuses on Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, and aims to discuss how effective Kohlberg’s stage theory of moral development is, in explaining moral reasoning and moral behaviour. Kohlberg Developed the moral development theory based on Piaget’s theory. Piaget believed that moral development was only a two-staged theory; the first stage of his theory was common in childhood and was called the ‘Heteronomous’ stage. The general idea was that...
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...is an individuals' moral character established throughout his lifespan? What factors influence the decisions that we make and what processes do we go through in making those decisions? Are the decisions that we make simply intuitions of right from wrong or are they governed by outside factors that dictate our decision making abilities? All of these questions are questions that many dynamic psychologists have tried to answer and define throughout the years. More notably are Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, who both addressed the concerns of moral development in the individual, but in differing ways. Piaget, who was best known for his work in how we learn throughout our development, gave Kohlberg a foundation to establish his focused study of how the moral fibers of an individual are created and developed throughout the lifespan (Kretchmar, 2015). Both found that each individual will establish a code of moral ethics throughout their lifespan, but the "why's" of those ethical decisions are often something that are hard to determine. Kohlberg set out to define the moral development of the individual through his studies of human dilemmas. The theory of moral development, formalized by Lawrence Kohlberg is one of significance in study of the lifespan, as it addresses our ability to distinguish right from wrong. The theory also questions if morality was a result of one's true emotional stance or one's expected rationale based on societal rules. With the moral development theory...
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...Kohlberg’s Moral Development Linda Jones University of Phoenix Moral development over an individual’s lifespan remains a major topic of interest for psychologists. There are many theories that have been developed over time but one of the most well-known was developed by Lawrence Kohlberg. Kohlberg expanded the work of Jean Piaget and modified it to explain moral reasoning and how it develops. While Piaget described a process of moral development that occurred in only two stages, Kohlberg’s theory grew to include six stages within three different levels. Kohlberg proposed three these six stages and three levels that moral reasoning was a process that continued through an individual’s life. Level 1 of Kohlberg’s Moral Development is Preconventional Morality. It contains two stages. The first stage is Obedience and Punishment. This marks the earliest formation of moral development and is typically seen in young children though adults are also able to express this reasoning. In the first stage the individual sees rules as unchanging and absolute. Obeying the rules becomes a top priority because it is the only way to not be punished (Brans & Blu, 1998). The second stage of Level 1 is called Individualism and Exchange. Children begin to account for their own points of view. They also begin to judge actions based on intent as well as how the action serves the individual (Graham, et al., 2011). Reciprocity begins to be an option but only if the individual’s needs are also...
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...Joshua Westcott Kohlberg’s Moral Development April 30, 2012 As children’s cognitive abilities mature and expand, so does their ability to reason about moral issues. If we can begin to understand the ways children reason about moral issues, it might help parents and therapists better attune themselves to each child, so as to help each child develop in a positive direction. By attuning to children, the parent or therapist will be better equipped to reason with children at ‘their’ level of development; otherwise, what the adult is trying to communicate will get lost in translation. If we can learn to speak the child’s language, than we can help each child use his or her ‘logic/reasoning’ to effect change in his or her world. Who are the major theorists in the area of moral development? A few of the major theorists in the field of moral development are John Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, Elliot Turiel, and Carol Gilligan. Gilligan is a brilliant feminist psychologist who is best known for her 1982 work, “In a Different Voice” (see http://www.amazon.com/In-Different-Voice-Psychological-Development/dp/0674445449/ref=lp_B000APQF3Q_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335926229&sr=1-1). Turiel is best known for developing his ‘domain theory’, which is discussed in his exceptional work, “The Development of Social Knowledge: Morality and Convention” (see http://www.amazon.com/The-Development-Social-Knowledge-Convention/dp/0521273056/ref=lp_B001HD1YF4_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1335926449&sr=1-2)...
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...LAWRENCE KOHLBERG : Theory of Moral Development Objective * To know what are the stages of Kohlberg Theory and accurately apply it to specific moral issues WHO IS LAWRENCE KOHLBERG * Professor at Harvard University * He started as a developmental psychologist and then moved to the field of Moral Education. He was particularly well-known for his theory of moral development which he popularized through research studies conducted at Harvard’s Center for Moral Education. * His theory of moral development was dependent on the thinking of the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget and American Philisopher John Dewey. * He was also inspired by James Mark Baldwin. These men had emphasizes that human beings develop philosophically and psychologically in a progressive fashion. * Kohlberg believed… and was able to demonstrate through studies that people progressed in their moral reasoning through a series of stages. He believed that there were six ( 6 ) identifiable stages which could be more generally classified into 3 levels. WHAT IS MORAL DEVELOPMENT? * Moral development involves thoughts, feelings and behavior regarding standards of right and wrong. * Consist of intrapersonal and interpersonal dimensions Heinz Dilemma Heinz’s wife was dying from a particular type of cancer. Doctors said a new drug might save her. The drug had been discovered by a local chemist and the Heinz tried desperately to buy some, but the chemist was charging ten times the money...
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...Outline and evaluate Kohlberg’s theory of moral development (8+16 marks) Lawrence Kohlberg was influenced by Piaget’s theory of moral development where he also believed that the moral reasoning of children changes over time; he also used moral dilemmas to gather insight into the types of reasoning used by people as they mature. Kohlberg proposed six separate stages of moral development which he grouped together into three levels with the key points of this theory being that the stages are universal and invariant-people everywhere go through the same stages in the same order, each new stage represents a more equilibrated form of moral understanding resulting in a more logically consistent and morally mature form of understanding., each stage forms an organised whole-a qualitatively different pattern of moral understanding that is applied across all situations, and that moral maturity is achieved through biological maturation, disequilibrium, and gains in perspective taking. The first level is known as the pre-conventional level where children accept the rules of authority figures and judge actions by their consequences; actions that result in punishments are bad and those that bring rewards are good. Stage 1 of this level is the punishment and obedience orientation where this style of morality ignores the intentions behind a behaviour and focuses on obeying rules that enforced by punishment. The second stage to this level is the instrumental purpose orientation where children...
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...Cognitive Development in Early Childhood Early childhood is not only a period of amazing physical growth, it is also a time of remarkable mental development. Cognitive abilities associated with memory, reasoning, problem-solving and thinking continue to emerge throughout childhood. When it comes to childhood cognitive development, it would be impossible to avoid mentioning the work of psychologist Jean Piaget. After receiving his doctoral degree at age 22, Jean Piaget began a career that would have a profound impact on both psychology and education. Through his work with Alfred Binet, Piaget developed an interest in the intellectual development of children. Based upon his observations, he concluded that children are not less intelligent than adults, they simply think differently. Albert Einstein called Piaget's discovery "so simple only a genius could have thought of it."Piaget created a theory of cognitive development that described the basic stages that children go through as they mentally mature. He believed that children are like "little scientists," actively trying to make sense of the world rather than simply soaking up information passively. Schemas One of the key concepts in Piaget's theory is the use of schemas. According to Piaget,schemas are cognitive frameworks or concepts that help people organize and interpret information. As experiences happen, this new information is used to modify, add to or completely change previously existing schemas. For example, a young...
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...with developmental psychological theories. Cognitive development is one type of development occurring during adolescence, related to the way in which an adolescent thinks. Post-conventional moral reasoning, according to Lawrence Kohlberg, is associated with the cognitive development in adolescence. During this stage, societal rules and conventions move from an authoritative point of view to being seen with relativity and subjectivity. Post-conventional moral reasoning is integral to the development of an adolescent as it marks the realisation of independence in society, the precedence of an individual’s own thought, and the strengthening of one’s own principles of morality and reasoning. This means that a growing sense of independence and subjectivity is established within the adolescent, integral to adulthood later on in life. Emotional development is another type of development taking place throughout adolescence. Sigmund Freud established five (5) stages of emotional development known as the physosexual stages of development. The stage of this development, relevant to adolescence is Freud’s fifth stage, known as the genital stage. During this stage, adolescents focus their sexual urges to people of the other gender, with a substantial focus on the pleasure of the genitals. This stage is essential to emotional ad social development, as it concentrates on emotional relationships and connections between...
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...more pragmatic approach. They review research designed to evaluate Kohlberg’s model, describe how they revised the model to accommodate discrepant findings, and explain why they concluded that it is poorly equipped to account for the ways in which people make moral decisions in their everyday lives. The authors outline in 11 propositions a framework for a new approach that is more attentive to the purposes that people use morality to achieve. People make moral judgments and engage in moral behaviors to induce themselves and others to uphold systems of cooperative exchange that help them achieve their goals and advance their interests. Keywords: moral development, cognitive development, cooperation, moral judgment After two decades of research on Kohlberg’s (1984) cognitive– developmental model of morality, we abandoned it in favor of a more pragmatic approach. In this article, we explain why. We identify problems with Kohlberg’s model, describe revisions aimed at solving them, and offer reasons why a new approach is necessary. We end with a new beginning, introducing a more pragmatic approach in a set of propositions that, we argue, is better equipped than Kohlberg’s model to account for the ways in which people make moral decisions in their everyday lives. This approach rests on the assumption that individuals invoke a variety of affectively and cognitively-based strategies to pursue goals and advance their...
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...• Level 2: Conventional Reasoning; Stage 4: Social System Morality o Alex is in this level of moral development because he says it wasn’t okay to steal the drugs for the man’s dying wife. He believes it is not okay to disobey the law under any circumstances. Even though the wife was very sick and needed the medicine to survive, it was still not okay. o Alex answers the question by saying no it was not okay for the man to steal the drugs and that he should’ve found another alternative way by raising money or asking an organization for money help. Even Older Gentleman (White Hair/beard) • Level 3: Post-Conventional Reasoning; Stages 4/5: Community Rights vs Individual Rights/ Universal Ethical Principles o He is in this stage of moral development because he states how that if everyone lived by their own rules/rights then we would live in a very hectic society. o...
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...1. In the "Heinz and the Drug" case described in the chapter, Heinz's actions falls into which of Kohlberg's stages? A. Stage 1 B. Stage 2 C. Stage 3 D. Stage 4 2. In stage 1 of Kohlberg's model, ethical reasoning is motivated by: A. Fear of punishment B. Satisfaction of one's needs C. Following the law D. Acting based on universal ethical principles 3. In the DigitPrint case, at which stage does Wally Wonderful reason if he insists on compliance with GAAP? A. Stage 2 B. Stage 3 C. Stage 4 D. Stage 5 4. Each of the following is an element of Rest's model of morality except for: A. Moral sensitivity B. One's stage of ethical development C. Moral motivation D. One's courage in making decisions 5. The actions of Sherron Watkins in the Enron case appears to reflect each of the following except for: A. Moral sensitivity B. Egoism C. Enlightened egoism D. Professional skepticism 6. Professional judgment in accounting includes each of the following attributes except for: A. Exercising due care in carrying out one's professional responsibilities B. Maintaining one's objectivity in decision making C. Maintaining one's integrity in decision making D. Acting in accordance with the moral point of view 7. In Thorne's model of ethical decision making, the instrumental virtues relate to: A. Moral sensitivity B. Ethical reasoning C. Ethical motivation D. Ethical character 8. In Cherron and Lowe's study of the link between professional skepticism and management accountants, the authors...
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...provide a model of corporate moral development. They provide examples of companies such as Johnson & Johnson that have taken an ethical leadership position, as well as those such as Film Recovery Systems that have been miserable failures. Reidenbach and Robin’s notion of corporate moral development is based on the American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg’s conception of individual moral development (see Unit A3). Kohlberg has described moral development as moving through three main levels. Each level is divided into two stages, so there are six stages in all. Some individuals progress through all the stages, while others get “stuck” at the lower stages. Pre-conventional level (stages 1 and 2). At stage 1, the infant is initially motivated purely externally by fear of punishment, such as a spanking, and at stage 2 by a desire for rewards, such as a piece of candy. Conventional level (stages 3 and 4). Stage 3 is the “good-boy/nice-girl morality,” in which children seek their parents’ or peers’ approval. After this, an individual may move to stage 4, the “law and order stage,” in which great value is placed on following social rules. At this stage people have started to move beyond merely an egoistic motivation to one in which there is real concern for meeting standards for non-selfish reasons. Kohlberg believed that most adults remain at this stage. Post-conventional, autonomous, or principles level (stages 5 and 6). Here, one accepts moral rules not just because they...
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...Stages of Moral Development According to Kohlberg Stages of Moral Development by Lawrence Kohlberg (1971) I. Pre-conventional Level At this level, the child is responsive to cultural rules and labels of good and bad, right or wrong, but he interprets the labels in terms of either the physical or hedonistic consequences of action (punishment, reward, exchange of favors) or the physical power of those who enunciate the rules and labels. The level is divided into the following three stages: Stage 0: Egocentric judgement. The child makes judgements of good on the basis of what he likes and wants or what helps him, and bad on the basis of what he does not like or what hurts him. He has no concept of rules or of obligations to obey or conform independent of his wish. Stage 1: The punishment and obedience orientation. The physical consequences of action determine its goodness or badness regardless of the human meaning or value of these consequences. Avoidance of punishment and unquestioning deference to power are values in their own right, not in terms of respect for an underlying moral order supported by punishment and authority (the latter is stage 4). Stage 2: The instrumental relativist orientation. Right action consists of what instrumentally satisfies one's own needs and occasionally the needs of others. Human relations are viewed in terms such as those of the market place. Elements of fairness, reciprocity, and equal sharing are present, but they are always...
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...Union College Sta. Cruz, Laguna Experimental Psychology “Cheating and its effects on the Moral Sensibility” Of Criminology and Education Students In Union College Submitted by: Submitted to: Carable, Cris Madel Mrs. Bituin Gracia Z. Almonte Blanca, Jan Marinie Padua, Carla May Statements of the Problem: This study aimed to compare the effects of cheating on the moral sensibility of criminology and education students in Union College. Introduction: Moral Sensibility as define refers to our response towards what is right or wrong. Because man is believed—by nature is good but morally weak, he endures all the temptations through his life. Cheating is considered as one of those as one of those which lower the moral sensibility of students, it is also a serious problem that has negative educational, social, and psychological effects. Educationally, cheating is contrary to the spirit if higher education, especially in developing and promoting moral values and attitudes. Socially, cheating is unacceptable behavior to get something with no right. Cheating is also not only affects students who cheated but also other students as it forces them to live in an unfair system. The good thing is that by learning the consequences of this action, students learn to value fairness and honesty even more. Psychologically, cheating may cause an instability in a student’s values, potentially resulting in serious psychological problems, such as feelings of being guilty and with shame but...
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