moral development

Piaget's Theory

believed that interactions with peers, more than adult influence, account foradvances in children's moral reasoning.

stage of heteronomous morality

• Characteristic of children who have not achieved concrete operation

• Younger than 7 years old

• Rules and duties to others regarded as unchangeable

• Rigid acceptance of authorities' rules

stage of transition

children learn that rules can be constructed by the group and increasingly learn to take one another's perspective, thereby becoming more autonomous in their thinking about moral issues

stage of autonomous morality

-about 11 or 12 years no longer accept blind obedience to authority as basis of moral decisions

-believe punishments should "fit the crime" and punishment delivered by adults not necessarily fair

-understand rules are product of social agreement and can be changed

Kohlberg's theory

presented children with hypotheticalmoral dilemmas such as the Heinz dilemma and then questioning them about the issues involved in their moral judgments

Social domain theory

the theory that the moral domain, the social conventional domain, and the personal domain have distinct rules that vary in how broadly the rules apply and in what happens when they are broken

Moral domain

pertains to issues of right and wrong, fairness, justice, and individual rights

social conventional domain

encompasses customs or regulations intended to secure social coordination and social organization

personal domain

pertains to actions in which individual preferences are the main consideration

development of conscience

internal regulatory mechanism that increases an individual's ability to conform with standards of conduct accepted in their culture

prosocial behavior

voluntary behavior intended to benefit others, such as by helping, sharing with, or comforting others (empathy and sympathy, cooperation)