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What Shapes Human
Behaviour
More Psychology!
Stages of Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist,
developed this theory
 Obviously, as we age, the way we think
and process information develops.

Piaget’s Theory

Level 1 – The Sensorimotor Stage

Level 2 – The Preoperational Stage

Level 3 – The Concrete Operation Stage

Level 4 – The Formal Operation Stage
What about Moral Development?

For this one, let’s look at Lawrence
Kohlberg.

He believed that as of age 13, people
begin passing through different stages of
moral development.

These occur through interactions with
parents and others.
Level
Stages
1. Individual’s decisions about right 1.
and wrong relate to reqards and
punishments
2.
Follow the rules to avoid
punishment.
Follow the rules for your
personal benefit.
2. Desire to please others
Do good because you want
people to respect you and
because it is expected of you.
Follow the rules because
society has set the standard
3.
4.
3. Belief in morality because it is
the right thing to do
5.
6.
You are obliged to follow the
rules of society for the
benefit of all.
Do right because your
conscience dictates it is right.
In Europe, 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 make.
He paid $400 for the radium and charged $4,000 for a small
dose of the drug.
The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew
to borrow the money and tried every legal means, but he
could only get together about $2,000, 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, having tried every legal means, Heinz gets anxious
and considers breaking into the man's store to steal the
drug for his wife.
Possible answers for Kohlberg’s
dilemma by children of Stage 1
For stealing: If you let your wife die, you
will get into trouble. You’ll be blamed for
not spending your money to save her and
there will be an investigation of you and
the druggist for your wife’s death.
Against stealing: You should not steal the
drug because you’ll be caught and sent to
jail if you do. If you do get away, your
conscience would bother you thinking how
the police would catch you at any minute.
Possible answers for Kohlberg’s
dilemma by children of Stage 2

For stealing: If you do happen to get
caught you could give the drug back and
you wouldn’t get much of a sentence. It
wouldn’t bother you much to serve a little
jail term if you have your wife when you
get out.

Against stealing : He may not get
much of a jail term if steals the drug,
but his wife will probably die before
he gets out so it won’t do him much
good. If his wife dies, he shouldn’t
blame himself. It wasn’t his fault
that she has cancer.
Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by
children of Stage 3


For stealing: Nobody will think you’re bad if
you steal the drug but your family will think
you’re an inhuman husband if you don’t. If
you let your wife die, you’ll never be able to
look anybody in the face again.
Against stealing: It isn’t just the druggist who
will think you are a criminal, everyone else
will, too. After you steal it, you’ll feel bad
thinking about how you’ve brought dishonor
on your family and yourself. You won’t be able
to face anyone again.
Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by
children of Stage 4

For stealing: If you have any sense of honor, you
won’t let your wife die because you’re afraid to do
the only thing that will save her. You’ll always
feel guilty that you caused her death if you don’t
do your duty to her.

Against stealing: You’re desperate and you may
not know you’re doing wrong when you steal the
drug. But you’ll know you did wrong after you’re
punished and sent to jail. You’ll always feel guilty
for your dishonesty and lawbreaking
Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by
children of Stage 5

For stealing: The law wasn’t set up for these
circumstances. Taking the drug in this situation
isn’t really right, but it’s justified to do it.

Against stealing: You can’t completely blame
someone for stealing but extreme circumstances
don’t really justify taking the law in your own
hands. You can’t have everyone stealing
whenever they get desperate. The end may be
good, but the ends don’t justify the means
Possible answers for Kohlberg’s dilemma by
children of Stage 6

For stealing: This is a situation which forces
him to choose between stealing and letting his
wife die. In a situation where the choice must
be made, it is morally right to steal. He has to
act in terms if the principle of preserving and
respecting life.

Against stealing: Heinz is faced with the
decision of whether to consider the other
people who need the drug just as badly as his
wife. Heinz ought to act not according to his
particular feelings toward his wife, but
considering the value of all the loves involved.
Criticisms
Carol Gilligan felt that Kohlberg’s stages
did not work for women.
 She felt that women were more concerned
with individual well being and relationships
than with concepts such as societal
demands.

Stage
Moral Development
1. Focus on Survival
What is best for me?
2. Focus on goodness as Am I willing to help
self-sacrifice
others even if it hurts
me?
3. Morality of nonI will not hurt others or
violence
myself
Other Dilemmas to Consider
Carol Gilligan

So Carol Gilligan thinks that woman have
a more caring nature and act accordingly
compared with men. Do you agree?

Do you think the world would be a less
violent place with more female heads of
state?
What Shapes Human
Behaviour
How about some Sociology?
The Impact of Society on Human
Development

Two main theories:
FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE
and
THE CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE
Functionalist Perspective

“Society is stable because it serves the needs of its
citizens. Each part of society serves to benefit the
whole. Society is composed of institutions such as
the family, religion, politics, and schools. These
contribute to society with all individuals playing
their roles. All are interdependent and must work
together if society is going to survive. A change in
one structure has a direct impact on all parts of
society. To maintain the balance, individuals must
be raised to play their roles. That is the goal of the
institutions.
The Conflict Perspective
“Society is in constant competition among interest
groups. Order is maintained not by consensus but
by constraint. In such a society, some groups
benefit more than others. One of the earliest
proponents of this theory was Karl Marx, who saw
conflict among economic classes. In the last
century the conflict theory was revised. Lewis Coser
saw conflict as helping to unite a society, such as
when war is declared. A threat to a society tends to
unite its members.”
 By the end of the twentieth century, most
sociologists accepted a middle position between the
two theories.

Agents of Socialization

Family

Schools

Peers

The Media

Religion
Family
School
Peers
The Media
Religion