Download Cognitive Approach

A level – Developmental Area
Key theme: External Influences on Children’s Behaviour
• Bandura et al (1961) – Transmission of aggression
• Chaney et al (2004) – Funhaler Study
Key theme: Moral Development
• Kohlberg (1968) – Stages of moral development
• Lee et al (1997) – Evaluations of lying and truth-telling
Recap
Focus of the developmental area is on child development. It
cuts across other areas and perspectives.
So, Freud’s study of Little Hans could be considered
developmental and Kohlberg’s study is based in the cognitive
perspective also.
Therefore, they use a variety of research methods (this
study is self-report) and a variety of explanations for
development (this study uses a cognitive explanation)
Key ideas – the child develops in stages and development is a
result of both nature and nurture
Learning Outcomes
• To be able to describe the background to Kohlberg’s study
into moral development
• To be able to describe the aim and procedure of Kohlberg’s
study using appropriate psychological terminology
Technical Accuracy:-
be resilient
manage my
time
effectively
meet
deadlines
As an Independent
Learner I will …
plan and
carry out
research
analyse and
evaluate
information
KOHLBERG, L. (1968) The child as a
moral philosopher
At birth we’re all amoral, lacking any
system of personal values and judgements
about what is right and wrong.
In the field of moral development,
morality is usually defined as principles for
how individuals ought to treat one another,
with respect to justice, others’ welfare,
and rights.
How do we become moral? – jot thoughts
Background and Context
Freud (psychodynamic) – Morality develops at the end of the
phallic stage when the boy resolves the Oedipus Complex and the
girl resolves the Electra complex. At this stage the child
identifies with the same sex parent and begins to internalise their
values and morality as the Superego develops from age 5
Skinner (behaviourist) – Morality develops from the learning
process – reward and punishment
Piaget (cognitive) (1920s) – Created a theory where the child
goes through stages of moral development and believed that they
do not have the cognitive capacity to behave in a moral way until
they had successfully reached a certain stage in development
Kohlberg (1960’s) was heavily influenced by the work of
Piaget and believed that children’s cognition develops through
stages. However, Kohlberg disagreed with Piaget that the
process was complete by early adolescence.
• Piaget was Swiss
• Kohlberg was
American
Stages of Development
Like Piaget’s stages of cognitive development and moral
development – as you develop cognitively and develop more mature
moral reasoning you move through the stages.
Earlier stages of development will be characterised by
egocentricity (seeing things from only your own point of view Piaget)
Not everyone will reach the final stage.
Some people will remain at a far lower stage.
You cannot miss stages out
You may progress through the stages at different speeds
Criminals tend to be at a lower level to non-criminals
Implications – Age of criminal
responsibility
In the UK a child of 10 or over can be held responsible for a
crime if it can be shown that their moral development was such
that they understood they were doing wrong!
Jamie Bulger case – Venables and Thompson (11yrs)were asked
if they understood it was wrong to take a child and kill him.
However…….
In India ….. An 18 year old was sentenced to 3 years in prison
for plying a major part in a gang rape and murder of a young
woman – because he was only 17 when it happened.
Kohlberg’s Theory
Task
Produce an illustrated poster or flow chart to show
Kohlberg’s stages
Each of Kohlberg’s six stages can be
simplified as follows
Moral action – motivation to obey rules
Obey rules to avoid punishment
“I don’t want mummy to smack me”
Conform to obtain rewards, have favours
returned etc
“If I’m good daddy will buy me an ice cream”
Conform to avoid disapproval, dislike by others.
“I’d better not do that as Johnny won’t like me
any more”
Conform to avoid censure by legitimate
authorities and resultant guilt.
“I could get a fine if I do this and the police
catch me”
Conform to maintain the respect from others.
“I don’t want all my friends to disapprove of
me”
Conform to avoid self-condemnation
“I won’t do it because it’s against my principles”
The value of human life
The value of a human life is confused with the value of physical
objects and is based on the social status or physical attributes of
its possessor.
“He is richer and cleverer than most people
therefore his life should be saved”
The value of human life is seen as instrumental to the
satisfaction of the needs of its possessor or of other people.
“We would be sad if his life wasn’t saved”
The value of human life is based on the empathy and affection of
family members and others toward its possessor.
“I love him so he should be saved”
Life is conceived as sacred in terms of its place in a categorical
moral or religious order of rights and duties.
“Saving lives is the right thing to do”
Life is valued both in terms of its relation to community welfare
and in terms of life being a universal human right.
“If we let him die it’s sending out the wrong
message to society”
Belief in the sacredness of human life as representing a universal
human value of respect for the individual.
“Everybody has the right to life”
Task
People of similar age and background tend to have reached
similar levels of moral development.
Complete the moral dilemma independently
The Heinz dilemma:
A woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug
that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a
druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive
to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to
produce. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose
of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to
borrow the money, but he could only get together about $1,000 which is
half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked
him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: "No, I
discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it." So Heinz got
desperate and broke into the man's store to steal the drug for his wife.
Should Heinz have broken into the store to steal the drug for his wife?
Why or why not?
Stage one (punishment & obedience):
Heinz should not steal the drug
• He will be put in prison
• Which means he’s a mean bad person.
Or:
Heinz should steal the drug
• it is only worth $200
• Heinz had even offered to pay & wouldn’t steal anything
else.
Stage two (reward & self-interest):
Heinz should not steal the drug
• Prison is awful a jail cell is worse than his
wife's death.
Or:
Heinz should steal the drug
• he will be much happier if he saves his wife
Stage three (conformity – good-boy/nice girl ):
Heinz should not steal the drug
• Stealing is bad & he’s not a criminal
• He tried without breaking the law, you can’t blame him.
Or:
Heinz should steal the drug
• His wife expects it;
• He wants to be a good husband.
Stage four (law-and-order):
Heinz should not steal the drug
• the law prohibits stealing it’s illegal.
Or: Heinz should steal the drug
• He should take the punishment for the crime & pay
the druggist
• Actions have their consequences.
Stage five (human rights):
Heinz should not steal the drug
• The scientist has a right to fair compensation.
• His wife’s illness it does not make his actions right.
Or:
Heinz should steal the drug
• Everyone has a right to choose life, regardless of the law.
Stage six (universal human ethics):
Heinz should not steal the drug
• Others may need the drug just as badly & their lives are
equally significant.
Or:
Heinz should steal the drug
• Saving a human life is a more fundamental value than the
property rights of another person.
Aim of the study
• To show how, as young adolescents develop into young
manhood, they move through the distinct levels and stages
of moral development
• To assess whether this process is the same cross-culturally
Research Method
• Longitudinal study - 12 years
• Self-report - hypothetical moral dilemmas, all deliberately
philosophical. Each ppt had a 2hr interview with 10 dilemmas to
solve (eg Heinz).
• Cross–cultural study - Kohlberg also studied moral development
in a range of other cultures
Sample
• 75 American boys who were aged 10-16 at the start of the
study were followed at three-year intervals through to ages
22-28.
• Moral development was also studied in boys of other
cultures including Great Britain, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico and
Turkey.
Procedure
Participants were presented with hypothetical moral dilemmas
in the form of short stories.
The stories were to determine each participant’s stage of
moral reasoning for each of 25 moral concepts/aspects.
Aspects assessed included:
• The value of human life: tested by asking the participant:
• Aged 10: “Is it better to save the life of one important
person or a lot of unimportant people?”
• Aged 13, 16, 20 and 24: “Should the doctor ‘mercy kill’ a
fatally ill woman requesting death because of her pain?”
Procedure
Using different cultures
• Taiwanese boys, aged 10-13, were asked about a story
involving theft of food: “A man’s wife is starving to death
but the store owner won’t give the man any food unless he
can pay, which he can’t. Should he break in and steal some
food? Why?”
• Young boys in Great Britain, Canada, Mexico and Turkey
were tested in a similar way.
Findings
• In his study Kohlberg gives examples of how boys in his research demonstrated each stage of
moral reasoning and how values change as individuals progress through the stages.
• Results showed that about 50% of each of the six stages a participant’s thinking was at a
single stage, regardless of the moral dilemma involved and participants showed progress
through the stages with increased age.
• Not all participants over the period of the study progressed through all the stages and
reached Stage-6.
• Participants progressed through the stages one at a time and always in the same order.
• Once a participant had reached a particular stage, they either stopped or continued to move
upward. No adults in Stage-4 had been through Stage-6, but all Stage-6 adults had gone
through at least Stage-4.
• A child at an earlier stage of development tends to move forward when confronted with the
views of a child one stage further along and they seem to prefer this next stage.
Cross Cultural Findings
• Mexico and Taiwan showed the same results except that development was
a little slower.
• At the age of 16, Stage-5 thinking was much more salient in the US than
either Mexico or Taiwan.
• Results for two isolated villages, one in Mexico, one in Turkey, also
showed that moral thought increased steadily from ages 10-16 though it
had not achieved a clear ascendency over preconventional thought.
• Trends for lower-class urban groups were intermediate in the rate of
development between those for middle-class and for village boys. In
these different cultures therefore, middle-class children were found to
be more advanced in moral judgement than matched lower-class children.
• No important differences were found in the development of moral
thinking among Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Buddhists, Muslems or
atheists.
Learning Outcomes
• To be able to describe the findings and conclusions of
Kohlberg’s study
• To be able to evaluate Kohlberg’s study
Technical Accuracy:- key terms –preconvention, conventional
and post-conventional stages of morality
Learning Outcomes
• To be able to describe the findings and conclusions of
Kohlberg’s study
• To be able to evaluate Kohlberg’s study
Technical Accuracy:- key terms –preconvention, conventional
and post-conventional stages of morality
be resilient
manage my
time
effectively
meet
deadlines
As an Independent
Learner I will …
plan and
carry out
research
analyse and
evaluate
information
Team Task
Based on these findings – come up with 4 conclusions from
your team
Conclusions
• There is an invariant developmental sequence in an individual’s moral
development.
• Each stage of moral development comes one at a time and always in the same
order.
• An individual may stop at any given stage and at any age.
• Moral development fits with Kohlberg’s stage-pattern theory.
• There is a cultural universality of sequence of stages.
• Middle-class and working-class children move through the same sequence but
middle-class children move faster and further.
• This 6-Stage theory of moral development is not significantly affected by
widely ranging social, cultural or religious conditions. The only thing that is
affected is the rate at which individuals progress through the sequence.
‘Typology’ – different stages characterised
by different types of moral reasoning
Describe Kohlberg’s ----------- stage of moral development…
Refer to moral reasoning shown, moral actions and value of
human life
Preconventional – characterised by?
Conventional – characterised by?
Post-conventional – characterised by?
Self-assessment
Check your own work and amend if necessary
Evaluating Kohlberg’s study
• Longitudinal Study
• Self-Report
• Sample
• Type of data
Lawrence Kohlberg – Moral Development
Tomlinson-Keasey & Keasey (1974)
investigated links between cognitive & moral
development.
• Girls of 11 – 12 years at Stage 5 scored well
on tests of abstract reasoning – as predicted.
• But some failed to show stage 5 moral
reasoning.
• Abstract reasoning may be a necessary
precondition but is not a sufficient explanation
of Post – Conventional moral reasoning.
Lawrence Kohlberg – Moral Development
Carol Gilligan (1982) Kohlberg is sex-biased androcentrism (GK. Andro = man / male)
• Kohlberg only interviewed males
• Females - stage 3 (interpersonal feelings)
• Males - stages 4 and 5 (principles)
Carol Gilligan (b. 1936)
• Males - rules, rights, & abstract principles - ideal =
formal justice.
• Females - relationships & compassion - ideal =
affiliation not abstract hypothetical dilemmas.
Extension task
1. Describe the sample used in Kohlberg’s study of moral
development (3 marks)
2. Discuss two weaknesses with the sample used in Kohlberg’s
theory of moral development (4 marks)
3. Explain why Kohlberg’s study can be described as
longitudinal study (2 marks)
4. Describe what is meant by a ‘moral dilemma’ (4 marks)
Using Kohlberg for potential 20 mark
questions
• Evaluate the use of longitudinal studies in psychology. Refer
to core studies in your answer (20)
• Evaluate the use of cross-cultural studies in psychology.
Refer to core studies in your answer (20 marks)
Read and highlight the extract from the textbook – Research
Methods Companion pages 79-80
Team Check
Round robin
Strengths and Weaknesses of
• Longitudinal Studies
• Cross-sectional/snap shot studies
• Cross-cultural studies