CPSY 0620 Exam 2

Moral Development Theory

The process by which children develop ideas about right and wrong, justice, fairness, and moral reasoning

Jean Piaget

Swiss psychologist who proposed that moral understanding develops through peer interaction and cognitive growth.

Heteronomous Morality (Moral Realism)

Rules seen as fixed; morality judged by outcomes and obedience to authority.

Autonomous Morality (Moral Relativism)

Rules understood as flexible agreements; intentions matter more than consequences.

Immanent Justice

The belief that punishment automatically follows wrongdoing as a natural consequence.

Peer Interaction in Moral Growth

Promotes understanding of fairness and cooperation better than adult instruction.

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

Six stages across three levels: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional.

Preconventional Morality

Morality based on avoiding punishment and seeking rewards (self-interest).

Conventional Morality

Morality based on conforming to social expectations, rules, and laws.

Postconventional Morality

Guided by abstract moral principles such as justice and human rights.

Heinz Dilemma

A moral reasoning task where individuals decide if a man should steal a drug to save his wife; used to identify moral reasoning stages

Criticisms of Kohlberg's Theory

Western and male bias, focus on reasoning rather than behavior, and limited cultural applicability.

Carol Gilligan's Ethics of Care

Critique of Kohlberg; argued women approach morality through relationships and empathy rather than justice and law

Moral Reasoning vs. Moral Behavior

Moral reasoning involves thought processes, while moral behavior reflects actual conduct.

Moral Emotions

Emotions like guilt, shame, empathy, and pride that reinforce moral norms.

Moral Judgment vs. Moral Action

Reasoning about morality differs from actually acting morally.

Moral Development and Culture

Cultural norms influence what counts as "moral" across societies.

Moral Identity

Integrating moral values into self-concept motivates prosocial actions

Empathy and Cognitive Growth

Understanding others' perspectives supports fairness reasoning.

Piaget vs. Kohlberg Focus

Piaget = behavioral interactions; Kohlberg = cognitive reasoning about moral dilemmas.

Social Evaluation

The ability to judge others' actions as good or bad, even in infancy.

Hamlin, Wynn, & Bloom (2007)

Found that infants prefer helpful over hindering characters, suggesting early moral evaluations.

Helper vs. Hinderer Paradigm

Infants watch a "helper" aid a climber or a "hinderer" block it; they prefer the helper.

Moral Nativism

The view that moral understanding is partly innate, emerging early in life.

Moral Learning Hypothesis

Suggests moral preferences develop through experience and reinforcement, not purely innate.

Prosocial Preference in Infants

Infants show positive evaluation toward those who help others.

Limitations of Infant Moral Studies

Preference tasks cannot reveal complex reasoning or intent understanding.

Rottman & Young (2015)

Adults use both moral reasoning and emotional intuition in judgments, bridging cognitive and affective systems.

Moral Domains Theory (Haidt, 2001)

Suggests morality is composed of distinct foundations: harm/care, fairness, loyalty, authority, and purity.

Harm/Care Foundation

Sensitivity to others' pain and desire to help

Fairness Foundation

Concern for equality and reciprocity

Loyalty Foundation

Commitment to one's group or ingroup

Authority Foundation

Respect for tradition and hierarchy.

Purity Foundation

Moral reactions tied to disgust and cleanliness norms.

Moral Intuition

Quick, automatic emotional response to moral events.

Moral Reasoning

Conscious, deliberate thought about right and wrong

Infant Preference for Helpers

Suggests early prosocial bias before language or reasoning.

Moral Domain Awareness Development

Expands from harm-based judgments to fairness and social conventions by age 5-7.

Emotional Roots of Moral Evaluation

Sympathy and empathy drive early distinctions between "good" and "bad" others.

Prosocial Behavior

Actions intended to benefit others, including helping, sharing, and comforting.

Altruism

Acting to help others with no expectation of personal gain

Empathy

The ability to understand and share another's feelings; foundation for altruistic behavior.

Warneken & Tomasello (2006)

Showed 18-month-old infants help adults (like picking up dropped items) without external rewards.

Intrinsic Motivation for Helping

Children help because they want to, not for praise or material reward.

Extrinsic Motivation for Helping

Helping to gain approval or recognition; emerges later in development.

Instrumental Helping

Helping someone complete a physical goal, such as handing back a dropped item.

Sympathy vs. Empathy

Sympathy = concern for another; empathy = feeling their emotion.

Norm-Based Sharing

Resource sharing guided by social expectations of fairness

Wynn (2008)

Found infants prefer prosocial over antisocial agents, showing early moral evaluation.

Prosocial Sharing

Giving up resources to benefit others; increases with age.

Costly Prosocial Behavior

Helping or sharing when it comes at a personal cost

Oostenbroek & Vaish (2019)

Children forgive remorseful wrongdoers; forgiveness promotes repair and cooperation.

Cultural Differences in Prosociality

Vary based on norms, parenting, and exposure to cooperation.

Development of Prosociality

Early spontaneous helping becomes norm-driven in later childhood.

Evolutionary View of Helping

Cooperation enhances group survival and reproduction.

House et al. (2013)

Found universal early prosociality, but cross-cultural variation in costly sharing across childhood.

Helping in Infancy vs. Childhood

Infants show spontaneous helping; older children become more selective and norm-guided.

Prosocial Motives Shift with Age

From empathy-based to reputation- and rule-based motivations.

Group Membership Effects

Children more generous toward ingroup peers by early school years.

Fairness

The belief that resources and treatment should be distributed justly

Equity vs. Equality

Equity = fairness based on contribution; equality = fairness based on equal shares.

Distributive Justice Tasks

Used to test how children divide resources

McAuliffe et al. (2015)

Found children reject unfair offers, especially disadvantageous ones.

Disadvantageous Inequality Aversion

Rejecting situations where one receives less than another.

Advantageous Inequality Aversion

Rejecting unfair situations where one benefits more than another.

Third-Party Punishment

Punishing someone who violated fairness norms even when not personally harmed.

Kanakogi et al. (2022)

8-month-old infants trigger "punishment" on antisocial agents, suggesting early retribution preference.

Marshall et al. (2021)

Children punish for two reasons: to teach (consequentialist) and to enforce justice (retributive).

Consequentialist Punishment

Focused on changing future behavior or teaching lessons.

Retributive Punishment

Focused on justice and deservingness

Cultural Variation in Fairness

In some societies, fairness norms depend more on group hierarchy than equality.

Moral Enforcement

Upholding moral norms through punishment and reward

Forgiveness

The reduction of negative feelings toward someone who has caused harm.

Amir et al. (2021)

Found older children are more forgiving of accidental harms; intent matters in moral reasoning.

Found older children are more forgiving of accidental harms; intent matters in moral reasoning.

Preschoolers forgive remorseful transgressors; remorse signals moral understanding.

Remorse

Expression of guilt and responsibility for wrongdoing

Apology

Social signal that acknowledges harm and seeks forgiveness

Intentional vs. Accidental Harm

Intention strongly influences forgiveness and moral judgment.

Forgiveness Benefits

Restores relationships, reduces conflict, promotes cooperation.

Philosophical Debates on Forgiveness

Some view it as essential for peace; others warn it can enable injustice if unearned.

Children's Understanding of Forgiveness

By age 5, children grasp that remorseful wrongdoers are more deserving of forgiveness.

Reputation

Public perception of a person's morality, generosity, or trustworthiness.

Reciprocity

Responding to others' actions in kind, through help or harm

Wörle & Paulus (2019)

Found 5-6-year-olds see reciprocity as morally necessary; 3-4-year-olds only prefer generosity.

Engelmann & Rapp (2017)

Found children act more prosocially when being observed, indicating early reputation awareness.

Implicit Reputation Management

Acting morally when watched without consciously planning to.

Explicit Reputation Management

Strategic moral behavior to shape social image

Strategic Prosociality

Doing good deeds for reputation or future benefit

Partner Choice

Selecting collaborators with good reputations

Partner Control

Modifying one's own actions to maintain others' approval

Theory of Mind in Reputation

Understanding others' perspectives enables awareness of reputation.

Development of Reputation Sensitivity

Begins around age 5, becomes explicit by age 8.

Reputation and Fairness

Positive reputation reinforces fairness and moral norm compliance.

Henrich et al. (2010)

Critiqued psychology's reliance on WEIRD samples; argued these populations are psychological outliers.

WEIRD Populations

Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic; not representative of global humanity.

Cultural Variation in Fairness and Morality

Different cultures emphasize fairness, obedience, or community differently.

Nielsen & Haun (2016)

Argued developmental psychology must embrace cross-cultural research to capture human diversity.

House et al. (2013)

Early prosociality universal, but costly sharing differs across societies; cultural norms shape generosity.

Cultural Learning

Transmission of norms, values, and behaviors through socialization.

Universal Moral Capacities

Basic empathy, fairness, and helping exist in all societies.