Describe and evaluate any two theories in developmental psychology
Describe & Evaluate any two theories in developmental psychology
Piaget’s (18961980) theory of moral development was based on his cognitive developmental theory.
Piaget stated that children’s moral reasoning developed through a number of different stages similar to that of cognitive development. (Eysenck, M 2002) Piaget played games of marbles with children of different ages. He wanted to observe their understanding of the rules of that game and how important they thought it was to obey the rules. The findings from this study led Piaget to propose the following stages of moral development; from birth to age 5 children have no understanding of rules or morality, this is the premoral period. From the age of 510 children believe rules must be obeyed as they are set by important people such as parents and teachers. Children at this age believe that any naughty behaviour will be punished in some way. This stage is called Heteronomous morality, meaning subject to another’s laws or rules. From the age of 10 upwards children have a more flexible approach with moral issues. They understand that sometimes the rules of morality can be broken. The child also understands the wrongness of an action depends more on the intention that the consequence of the behaviour. This stage is moral relativism or autonomous morality, meaning subject to ones own laws or rules. According to Piaget there are two main factors involved in moral reasoning, firstly young children have egocentric thinking, in that they only see things from their own view point. By age 7 they have become less egocentric and have grown an awareness that other people have different views. This allows them to develop more mature moral reasoning as they grow into adults.
Piaget(1932) gathered evidence for his theory using moral stories. Children in the moral realism stage were told a story about a boy who opened a door and by doing so broke 15 cups on the other side of
the door.
Piaget’s (18961980) theory of moral development was based on his cognitive developmental theory.
Piaget stated that children’s moral reasoning developed through a number of different stages similar to that of cognitive development. (Eysenck, M 2002) Piaget played games of marbles with children of different ages. He wanted to observe their understanding of the rules of that game and how important they thought it was to obey the rules. The findings from this study led Piaget to propose the following stages of moral development; from birth to age 5 children have no understanding of rules or morality, this is the premoral period. From the age of 510 children believe rules must be obeyed as they are set by important people such as parents and teachers. Children at this age believe that any naughty behaviour will be punished in some way. This stage is called Heteronomous morality, meaning subject to another’s laws or rules. From the age of 10 upwards children have a more flexible approach with moral issues. They understand that sometimes the rules of morality can be broken. The child also understands the wrongness of an action depends more on the intention that the consequence of the behaviour. This stage is moral relativism or autonomous morality, meaning subject to ones own laws or rules. According to Piaget there are two main factors involved in moral reasoning, firstly young children have egocentric thinking, in that they only see things from their own view point. By age 7 they have become less egocentric and have grown an awareness that other people have different views. This allows them to develop more mature moral reasoning as they grow into adults.
Piaget(1932) gathered evidence for his theory using moral stories. Children in the moral realism stage were told a story about a boy who opened a door and by doing so broke 15 cups on the other side of
the door.