Moral Development Lecture PDF

Moral Development Chapter 12 March 22, 2024 1 Moral Reasoning Children’s Understanding of Rules: Piaget’s Perspective Heteronomous Morality (Morality of Constraint): Rules can NOT be altered Rules set by authority figures. Violation of rules merits punishment regardless of intent. Autonomous Moralit...

Moral Development Chapter 12 March 22, 2024 1 Moral Reasoning Children’s Understanding of Rules: Piaget’s Perspective Heteronomous Morality (Morality of Constraint): Rules can NOT be altered Rules set by authority figures. Violation of rules merits punishment regardless of intent. Autonomous Morality (Morality of Cooperation): flexible view of rules as self-chosen Value fairness and equality 2 Moral Reasoning Children’s Conceptions of Justice: Kohlberg’s Cognitive Developmental Perspective Studied how people think about moral issues involving justice, fairness, and rights Heinz dilemma: “Near death, a woman with cancer learns of a drug that may save her. The woman’s husband, Heinz, approaches the druggist who created the drug, but the druggist refuses to sell the drug for anything less than $2,000. After borrowing from everyone he knows, Heinz has only scraped together $1,000. Heinz asks the druggist to let him have the drug for $1,000 and he will pay him the rest later. The druggist says that it is his right to make money from the drug he developed and refuses to sell it to Heinz. Desperate for the drug, Heinz breaks into the druggist’s store and steals the drug. Should Heinz have done that? Why or why not?” 3 Moral Reasoning Children’s Conceptions of Justice: Kohlberg’s Cognitive Developmental Perspective Pre-conventional Reasoning: behavior governed by selfinterest Stage 1: Concern with punishment Stage 2: Concern about what others can do for them Conventional Reasoning: socially driven decisions Stage 3: Uphold rules to please others Stage 4: Maintaining social order Post-conventional Reasoning: moral principles that value respect for individual rights above all else Stage 5: Laws are flexible social contracts. Stage 6: Abstract ethical principles 4 Let’s consider another example A person is driving their female partner to the hospital when she is in labour. She has started to show excessive bleeding is losing consciousness. Should the person blow through the red lights and speed in residential areas to save the woman and her baby? 5 Can infants demonstrate morality? 6 Prosocial Behavior Prosocial Behavior: voluntary behavior intended to benefit another Empathy: capacity to understand someone’s feelings 7 Infants display understanding of prosocial behavior 6 and 10 month old infants sat on parents laps and watched display Hamlin et al. 2007 8 9 Infants display understanding of prosocial behavior Almost all of the infants chose the helper character over the hinderer and neutral character. They also chose the neutral character over the hinderer. Hamlin et al. 2007 10