Recording-2025-03-07T15:29:48.343Z

Preparing for the Exam

• Many students feel nervous about upcoming exams, but reassurance that preparation will help ease anxieties.

• Opportunities for additional learning through:

  • Video lectures (noting the benefit of watching at double speed).

  • Study guides and mind maps for organizing information.

  • Mind maps help illustrate connections between concepts, enhancing understanding.

Understanding Moral Development

• Highlighting Kohlberg's contributions to moral development, with emphasis on criticisms of his model:

  • Moral reasoning does not always match moral actions (observed discrepancies).

  • Previous research shows a large minority of college students score at Level 5 on Kohlberg’s scale but may act contrary to their reasoning (e.g., cheating).

  • Relationship between cognitive development (IQ) and moral reasoning scores.

  • Kohlberg's original studies predominantly used male subjects, raising questions about gender bias in moral reasoning evaluations.

• Carol Gilligan's alternative perspective on moral reasoning:

  • Introduced the care perspective, contrasting the justice perspective used by Kohlberg.

  • Emphasizes relationships and consideration over strict moral principles in women's moral reasoning.

• Gilligan’s stages of moral perspective:

  • Preconventional: Focus on self-serving behavior (similar to Kohlberg's lowest level).

  • Conventional: Recognizing needs of others over self.

  • Postconventional: Balancing self and others' needs, promoting mutual benefit.

• Importance of education in moral reasoning; educated women perform comparably to men on moral reasoning tests.

Friendships in Middle Childhood

• Children tend to form friendships with those who share similar backgrounds and characteristics:

  • Socioeconomic status, ethnicity, attractiveness, and popularity play roles in friendship choice.

• Pretty Privilege: Physically attractive children may receive positive assumptions and form bonds with similarly attractive peers.

• Shift from behavior-based friendships in early childhood to quality-based friendships in middle childhood.

• Companionship Benefits:

  • Physical, cognitive, and emotional support through play and shared interests.

  • Ego support: Friends provide emotional backing during challenging social situations.

• Development of affection and intimacy through mutual disclosure and emotional closeness among friends.

  • Increased trust leads to deeper friendships as children mature.

• Sociometric Status: Method of ranking peers' popularity through 'likes' and 'dislikes.'

  • Popular children receive high 'I like you' votes and navigate social hierarchies.

• High status vs. low status dynamics:

  • High status children's behaviors and possessions often dictate social norms within peer groups.

  • Low status children often emulate or aspire to high status peers.

The Impact of Bullying

• Bullying prevalence in schools (10-15% admit to bullying).

• Introduction of cyberbullying: extending bullying into the online realm, complicating interventions.

• Interventions highlight the importance of socially adept peers intervening in bullying situations.

• Utilization of technological interventions to prompt self-reflection before engaging in harmful speech online.

Family Structure Influences on Development

• Shifts in family roles and dynamics in middle childhood:

  • Increase in dual-worker households with both parents working.

  • Rise in self-care children, who come home to an empty house after school.

• Divorce rates, while prevalent, can sometimes result in positive adjustments for children.

• More intergenerational and blended families leading to complex family dynamics (e.g., defining roles within stepfamilies).

• Children from LGBTQ families demonstrate comparable or improved well-being to their peers from traditional family structures.