L8 Morality

What are social norms

a rule about how people should act in certain contexts

What theory proposes that are 2 general categories of social norms

Domain Theory

What 2 general categories of social norms does Domain Theory propose

moral norms and conventional norms

What are moral norms, what do they concern

the welfare of others

What 2 natural tendencies have moral norms evolved from

the natural tendencies to help one another and to avoid harm to one another

What are 3 rules within moral norms

one must help others, one should not hurt others and one should not steal

What are conventional norms

context-specific rules that do not directly concern the welfare of others

What are 3 properties of conventional norms

idiosyncratic, agent-neutral, context-specific

What is the classic view of moral development (older theories)

children are initially egocentric, selfish and amoral

What did Piaget, Kohlberg and Damon assume if children helped others

not to be helpful, for selfish purposes, to receive reward or avoid punishment

According to Domain Theory, when can children distinguish moral and conventional norms

by age 4

What are features of moral norms (opposite for conventional norms) in terms of changeability, seriousness, punishable, context and authority dependent

unchangeable, serious, punishable, context-independent, authority-independent

Two findings in children that contradict older theories of moral development

early prosociality and sophisticated understanding of social norms

What model was proposed in opposite to the traditional view

Two-step model

Who came up with the two-step model (think Dad and vanish)

Tomasello and Vaish

What does the two-step model suggest about moral development, and what are the steps

there are two key steps, second-person morality and norm-based morality

When does step 1 and step 2 emerge

before age 3 and after age 3

What defines step 1 second-person morality, 4 ways it is demonstrated

preference-based concern for others expressed in helping, sympathy, collaboration and sharing

What defines step 2 norm-based morality

generalised moral norms applying to anyone, enforcement of social norms

What 2 emotions are associated with norm-based morality

guilt and shame

What abilities characterise moral development between 0-12 months

empathy and social preferences

What abilities characterise moral development between 1-3 years

active prosociality; helping, sympathy, collaboration and sharing

How did Dondi et al demonstrate newborns’ self-awareness and ability to empathise, what response did they record

distress was greater for other babies’ cries than their own recorded crying

What did Hamlin, Wynn, & Bloom (2007) find about infants’ social preferences when watching a video of a ball being helped/hindered up a hill (what two ages and their preferences)?

6- and 10-month-olds prefer helpers over hinderers

What methodological approach is used to study infant morality and what is its drawback

indirect measures such as preferential looking; make large inferences/assumptions

How does methodology used in moral research change for ages 1-3

use of active behavioural paradigms in which they deal directly with moral behaviours

What is an example of active helping by 1-2 year olds in an experiment testing children’s ability to read and response to intentions/goals of individuals

if children want to help because they understand intentions, they crawl towards the experimenter to help them

What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for helping?

Intrinsic motivation involves helping because it feels right, whereas extrinsic motivation involves rewards or praise.

According to Hepach, Vaish and Tomasello, what does pupil dilation indicate in children

distress

How did Hepach et al demonstrate intrinsic motivation in children using pupil dilation

pupil dilation reduced, meaning distress reduced, when adults received helped, regardless of who helped

What is selective helping

children preferentially help individuals with positive or neutral intentions and avoid helping harmful agents

Evidence suggests that helping comes naturally, as opposed to ?

culturally

What does it mean that helping does not arise from culture

helping is not independent of social experience but it is not only learnt through teaching or imitation

What 3 patterns of helping suggest it comes naturally

early emergence, ineffectiveness of encouragement/reward and cross-culturally similar

How does collaboration contribute to moral development, development towards Step 2

fosters fairness, equality and shared expectations about deservingness

What did Hamann find about sharing after unequal distribution of marbles in collaboration vs parallel work condition?

equally shared marbles vs no sharing of marbles

3 ways to classify morality as fully-fledged

moral judgements, norm enforcement and generality of norms/impersonal

What 3 abilities do interview methods rely on

verbal ability, hypothetical thinking, counterfactual reasoning

Why is using interview methods to demonstrate moral judgement limiting

one may demonstrate moral knowledge but might not act on it

One experimental study involved teaching 2 and 3-year olds a novel game where children witnesses a puppet playing the game wrong, how did 3 year olds respond (not 2 year olds) to rule violations which demonstrated moral judgement (how?)

they intervened using normative language, words of obligation e.g. shouldn’t do that, not how it goes, demonstrating norm enforcement

How do 3 year olds treat rules versus 5 years old, showing differences in normative understanding

treat rules as obligations through norm enforcement

In what way does norm enforcement differ culturally

style of enforcement

What are 2 styles of norm enforcement

imperative protest vs normative protest

How did 2 and 3 year olds respond to these different conditions

both protested frequently when their own object was involved but only 3 year olds stood up for the third party

What 3 failures occur that mean children break social norms

failure of knowledge, of empathy/perspective taking, and inhibition