1
Q
What is developmental psychology?
A
• Study of how behavior changes over the lifespan
2
Q
What is post hoc fallacy?
A
- False assumption that because one event occurred before another, it must have caused the event
- Another form of correlation vs causation
3
Q
What is cross-sectional design?
A
- Research designs that examine people of different ages at a single point of time
- Does not account for cohort effects
4
Q
What is the cohort effect?
A
- Effect observed in a sample of participants that results from individuals in the sample growing up at the same time
- Cohort are sets of people that grew up during one time period
- Confounds cross-sectional because it does not show the effects of aging but rather the era someone grew up in
5
Q
What is a longitudinal design?
A
- Research design that examines development in the same group of people on multiple occasions over time
- Allows examination of developmental changes
- Costly, time consuming, risk of attrition that increases with time
- Not experimental, so no cause/effect results
6
Q
Describe the influence of early experiences on children
A
- Early input has significant impact on brain development
* Influences in infancy are rarely reversible
7
Q
What is infant determinism and what is the truth behind this myth?
A
• Myth
o Assumption extremely early experiences (<3 yrs) are more influential than later experience
• Truth
o Early experiences affect physical, cognitive, and social development
o Later experiences often off set early negative experiences/deprivation
o Brain continues to change in response to experiences throughout childhood
8
Q
What is childhood fragility and what is the truth behind this myth?
A
• Myth
o Children are delicate and easily damaged
• Truth
o Children are resilient
o Extremely negative effects can have long lasting effects, but they recover amazingly well
9
Q
What are the effects on genes in terms of childhood development?
A
Gene – Environment Interaction
• Effects of genes depend on the environment in which they are expressed
Nature via Nurture
• Tendency of individuals with certain genetic predispositions to seek out and create environments that permit the expression of these predispositions
Gene Expression
• Activation or deactivation of genes by environmental experiences throughout development
10
Q
What are the 3 stages of prenatal development?
A
Germinal Stage
• Blastocyst – ball of undifferentiated cells
Embryonic Stage
• Embryo develop about week 2 when cells begin to differentiate
Fetal Stage
• Begins at week 9 as heart begins to beat
11
Q
Describe basic brain development
A
- Begins 18 days after fertilization
- Continues to grow into early adulthood
- Rapid proliferation between day 18 and 6 months
- About month 4, neurons start to sort themselves out
12
Q
What are teratogens?
A
- Environmental factor that can exert a negative impact on prenatal development
- Include drugs, alcohol, chicken pox, x-rays, smoking etc.
- Effects depend on type, time, and amount of exposure
- May have specific or generalized effects
13
Q
Why are infant reflexes important?
A
• Fulfill important survival needs
14
Q
What are coordinating movements?
A
• Trial and error that leads to coordinated movements
• Motor behaviours
o Bodily motion that occurs as a result of self initiated force that moves the bones and muscles
• Milestones include sitting, standing, walking, etc.
o Timeline may vary, order usually doesn’t
• Physical maturation and cultural parenting practices effect when milestones are achieved
15
Q
Describe physical maturation in adolescence
A
- Transition between childhood and adulthood, usually as teenagers
- Time when body reaches full maturity
- Pituitary gland stimulates growth
- Reproductive organs release androgens
16
Q
What changes occur during puberty?
A
• Primary sex characteristics o Reproductive organs and genitals • Secondary sex characteristics o Sex differentiating characteristics not directly related to reproduction • Menarche o Onset of maturation o Tends to be after physical maturity reached • Spermarche o First ejaculation o Not tied to physical maturation
17
Q
Describe physical development in adults
A
• Physical peak in early 20s
• Middle adulthood sees decrease in muscle, increase in body fat, and decrease in sensory processes
• Fertility decreases and birth defects increase in women in 30s and 40s
• Menopause
o End of menstruation and reproductive years in women
• Men see decrease in sperm and testosterone, increase in ED, and increase in children with developmental disorders
• Strength training and increased physical activity can counteract declines with age
18
Q
What is cognitive development?
A
• Study of how children acquire the ability to learn, think, reason, communicate, and remember
19
Q
What are the basics of Piaget’s cognitive development theory?
A
• Children’s understanding of world is different than adults
o Rational thoughts based on limited experiences
• Children actively seek information and observe consequences
• Stage like and domain general
o Radical reorganizations followed by plateaus
o Change marked by equilibration
Balance between our experiences and our thoughts about it
• Children check new info against current schemes and adjust when needed
20
Q
What are assimilation and accommodation as described by Piaget?
A
Assimilation
• Process of absorbing new experiences into current knowledge structures
• Cognitive skills and world views remain unchanged
• Reinterprets info into what she already knows
Accommodation
• Alteration of a belief to make it more compatible with experience
• Drives the stage change
21
Q
What are the 4 stages of development as per Piaget?
A
Stage 1 – Sensory Motor Stage
Stage 2 – Preoperation Stage
Stage 3 – Concrete Operations Stage
Stage 4 – Formal Operations Stage
22
Q
What is the first stage of development according to Piaget?
A
Stage 1 – Sensory Motor Stage
• About 0-2 years
• New info based on physical experiences
• Lack object permanence
o Understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of view
• Lack deferred imitation
o Ability to perform an action observed earlier
• Milestone for stage change
o Mental representation
o Ability to think about something absent from immediate area
23
Q
What is the second stage of development according to Piaget?
A
Stage 2 – Preoperation Stage
• About 2-7 years
• Ability to use representations of experience
o Example language, drawing, playing house etc.
• Hampered by egocentrism
o Inability to see the world from others perspectives
• Inability to perform mental operations
o Cannot change the representations
• Fail conservation tasks
o They don’t understand despite a transformation in the physical presentation of an amount, the amount remains the same
24
Q
What is the third stage of development according to Piaget?
A
Stage 3 – Concrete Operations Stage
• About 7-11 years
• Ability to perform mental operations for physical events
• Can pass conservation tasks
• Can perform organizational tasks requiring mental operations on physical objects
25
What is the fourth stage of development according to Piaget?
Stage 4 – Formal Operations Stage
• Emergence of adolescence
• Hypothetical reasoning beyond here and now
• Ability to manipulate variables to conclude to a problem
• Begin to think about abstract questions like meaning of life
26
What are the cons of Piaget's theory on development?
• Development is more continuous
• Horizontal Decalage
o Piaget’s word for cases where some domains increase faster than other
o Makes it difficult to falsify
• Difficult to replicate tasks less dependent on language
• May have been culturally biased
27
What are the pros of Piaget's theory on development?
* Viewing children as not just little adults
* Learning as an active not passive practice
* Occam’s razor by thinking of domain-general
28
Describe Vygotsky's theory on development.
• Interested in social and cultural influences on learning
• Scaffolding
o Parents provide initial assistance in children’s learning but gradually remove structure as children become more competent
• Zone of proximal development
o Phase of learning during which children can benefit from instructor
• No domain-general stages
29
Describe physical reasoning
• Understanding info about solid objects adult take for granted
30
What is the concepts and categories landmark of early development?
* Learn to organize objects by kind
* New studies without tasks show infants at 5 months may have object permanence
* Infants may be able to categorize (birds vs dogs etc.)
* As children learn, they make connections between categories
31
What is the self concept and concept of others landmark of early development?
• Sense of self as an individual is gradual from toddler-preschool years
• Even infants recognize themselves
• Mirror recognition at ~18 months
• Theory of mind
o Ability to reason about what other people know or believe
• Children recognize parents know something they don’t, but don’t realize others may not know what they know until ~4-5 years
o May be due to set up at tests
o Ability to understand other’s perspectives increases with age
32
What is the numbers to mathematics of others landmark of early development?
• Don’t innately learn to count
• Base numbers doesn’t imply knowledge
o Easier to match same quantity with similar objects than different
33
Describe the cognitive changes in adolescence
• Frontal lobes don’t fully develop until adolescence or early adulthood
o Responsible for planning, decision making, and impulse control
• Issue with impulsiveness may also have cultural influences
• Many that take chances understand the risks but don’t care
34
Describe the adolescence attitudes towards knowledge
* Not having absolute answers difficult for teens/college students
* Assimilate the “it depends” answer into their personal schema
35
Describe cognitive function in adults
• Many aspects of cognition decline with age, usually moderately
• Decline in processing speeds
• Brain volume decreases, especially with cortex and hippocampus affecting memory
o Cued recall and recognition doesn’t seem to change
o Memory used day to day doesn’t seem to decline
o Crystallized intelligence tends to stay
36
What is stranger anxiety?
* Develops at 8-9 months, increases to 12-15 months, then declines
* Fear of strangers
* Found across cultures
* May be to keep safe as it coincides with crawling and getting into trouble
37
What is temperament and what are the different temperaments in infants?
```
• Temperament
o Basic emotional style that appears early in development and is largely genetic in origin and shaped by environmental influence
o Easy
40% of children
Adaptable and relaxed
o Difficult
10%
Fussy and easily frustrated
o Slow to warm up
15%
Disturbed by new stimuli but gradually adjust
o 35% don’t fit easily into a category
• 10% behavioral inhibition
o Scaredy cats
o Increased inhibition at risk for anxiety disorders as adolescence
o Decreased inhibition at risk for impulsive behaviour later
```
38
What is attachment?
• Strong emotional connection we share with those to whom we feel closest
39
Describe imprinting
* Studied in geese and have critical period of ~36 hours to form this bond
* Mammals have a softer imprinting and a sensitive period less specific to the geese to make this bond
* Adopting from Romania’s overcrowded orphanages over 6 months often leads to emotional problems and failure to make attachments
40
What is contact comfort?
* Positive emotions afforded by touch
| * Shown to help form close bond with caregivers
41
Describe the test that was used for attachment styles, the issues with it and the types of attachment styles
• Strange situation
o Mom and baby in an unfamiliar room, plays with baby and toys, stranger comes in, mom leaves baby in room with stranger and returns, does this twice
• Stats for north American infants as there are cultural differences
• Mono-operation bias
o Drawing conclusions on basis of only a single measure
• Not reliable
o Can change quickly
o Different reactions between mom and dad
• Reaction of parents reaction of infants
Secure Attachment
Insecure-Avoidant Attachment
Insecure-Anxious Attachment
Disorganized Attachment
42
What is secure attachment?
* 60 %
* Upset at departure, joy at return
* Mom is solid source of support
* Generally, grow up well adjusted
43
What is insecure-avoidant attachment?
* ~15-20%
| * Indifference at departure, little reaction on return
44
What is insecure-anxious attachment?
• 15-20%
• Panic at departure, mixed emotions on return
o Reach for mom then struggle to get away
• More likely to be disliked and mistreated by peers later
45
What is disorganized attachment?
* ~5-10%
| * Inconsistent and confused set of responses at departure and return
46
Describe the various parenting styles
Parenting Styles and Late Adjustment
• Temperament may influence parenting styles
• Only valid for individualistic cultures, like Canada or US
Permissive
• Lenient, allow for freedoms
• Discipline sparingly and show lots of affection
Authoritarian
• Strict, little opportunity for free play and exploration
• Punishment when children don’t respond appropriately to demands
• Show little affection
• Better outcomes in collectivist cultures
Authoritative
• Supportive with firm limits
• Best adjustment for Canadians
Uninvolved
• Ignore both positive and negative behaviours
• Tend to fare worst in Canada
Average Expectable Environment
• Environment provides children with basic needs for affection and discipline
• Matters more than actual parenting style
47
Describe the role of the father in childhood development
* Fathers less at tentative and spend less time (even when both parents are home)
* More time in physical play and children tend to choose dad to play
* Children benefit from warm healthy relationship with dad
48
What are the effects of a divorce on childhood development
• Most children show no long-term emotional damage
• If there is intense fighting before divorce, children actually recover better
• Divorced kids suffer from more depression and substance abuse
o May be due to turmoil before/during/after divorce than divorce itself
49
What is gender identity?
o Individual’s sense of being male or female
50
What is gender role?
o Set of behaviours that tend to be associated with being male or female
51
What are some examples of evidence of biological influences on gender?
• Infants 3 months look at gender consistent toys
• 1 yr prefer to play with gender consistent toys
• By age 3, tend to prefer to have same gender play mates
o Called sex segregation
• All this also occurs in monkeys, may be genetic
52
What are social influences on gender?
* Definitely nurture element
* Both parents and teachers have “norms” that are rewarded for boys or girls
* New tolerance for girls acting as tomboys, but not boys playing with dolls
53
What is identity?
o Our sense of who we are, our life goals, and priorities
54
What is Erikson's model of identity?
• Identity Crisis
o Confusion many adolescence experience regarding their sense of self
• Believe 8 stages each with a different psychological crisis
o Dilemma concerning an individuals relations to other people
o At each stage we develop a better sense of self
• Not being ablet to negotiate stages may result in psychological disorders
• Evidence shows no set stages
55
What is emerging adulthood?
• 18-25 years
• Aspects of emotional development, identity, and personality solidify
• Experience role experimentation
o Trying on different hats to see what fits best
56
Describe childhood moral development.
• Right and wrong develop early in childhood
o Fear of discipline from parents becomes guilt as children get older
• Young children have objective responsibility
o How much harm was done
• Adolescence have subjective responsibility
o The intent to cause harm
57
What is the Kohlberg morality test and what are the results?
• Didn’t score answers to moral dilemma but rather the reasoning process
Heinz and the Drug
• Do you steal expensive drug to save the wife
Preconventional Morality
• Focus on punishment and reward
Conventional Morality
• Focus on societal values
Post Conventional Morality
• Focus on internal moral principles and human rights
58
What are criticisms of Kohlberg's work?
* May be culturally biased
* May have sex bias
* Low correlation with moral behavior
* Unfalsifiable
* May be confounded by verbal intelligence
* Moral reasoning may come after emotional reactions
59
How often do Canadian's change careers and how does the job satisfaction ebb and flow as we age?
* Average worker changes jobs every 8 years in Canada
| * Job satisfaction is high as young adult and pre-retirement, low in middle age
60
Describe the midlife transition.
• Sandwich generation caring for both parents and children
61
What is a midlife crisis?
* Phase characterized by emotional distress about the aging process and an attempt to regain youth
* More myth than reality
62
What is the empty nest syndrome?
* Depression in mothers following departure of grown children from home
* Defining herself as more than just a parent are less affected
* Most empty nesters have an increase in life satisfaction with new freedom
63
What is the average age for men and women? What are the ages that are not chronological age?
* Average life is 82.5 for women and 77.7 for men
* Biological age – age of organ systems
* Psychological age – mental agility and attitudes
* Functional age – Ability to function in given roles in society
* Social age – are social behaviours appropriate for their age
64
What are the 8 stages of Erikson's model?
```
Infancy
Toddlerhood
Early childhood
Middle childhood
Adolescence
Young adulthood
Adulthood
Aging
```
65
What is the identity crisis in infancy according to Erikson?
* Trust vs mistrust
| * Developing general security, optimism, and trust in others
66
What is the identity crisis in toddlerhood according to Erikson?
* Autonomy vs shame and doubt
| * Developing a sense of independence and confident self-reliance, taking setbacks in stride
67
What is the identity crisis in early childhood according to Erikson?
* Initiative vs guilt
| * Developing initiative in exploring and manipulating the environment
68
What is the identity crisis in middle childhood according to Erikson?
* Industry vs inferiority
| * Enjoyment and mastery of the developmental tasks of childhood, in and out of school
69
What is the identity crisis in adolescence according to Erikson?
* Identity vs role confusion
| * Achievement of a stable and satisfying sense of role and direction
70
What is the identity crisis in young adulthood according to Erikson?
* Intimacy vs isolation
| * Development of the ability to maintain intimate personal relationships
71
What is the identity crisis in adulthood according to Erikson?
* Generativity vs stagnation
* Satisfaction of personal and familial needs supplemented by development of interest in the welfare of others and the world in general
72
What is the identity crisis in aging according to Erikson?
* Ego integrity vs despair
| * Recognizing and adjusting to aging and the prospect of death with a sense of satisfaction about the future
73
What are the stages of preconventional morality for Kohlberg?
• Stage 1
o Punishment orientation
o Decisions are made based on personal risk of punishment or danger
• Stage 2
o Pleasure-seeking orientation
o Decisions are made based on personal needs or wants
74
What are the stages of conventional morality for Kohlberg?
• Stage 3
o Good boy/good girl orientation
o Decisions made based on what other people will think
• Stage 4
o Authority orientation
o Decisions made based on upholding the law or following the rules at all cost
75
What are the stages of post conventional morality for Kohlberg?
• Stage 5
o Social-contract orientation
o Rules are open to question but are upheld for the good of the whole community
• Stage 6
o Morality of individual principles
o High-value placed on justice, dignity, and equality
76
Which of the following is a criticism of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?
a) The methodologies may be culturally biased.
b) It views children as miniature adults.
c) It sees development as a slow, gradual process with no clear stages.
d) It doesn’t recognize that children learn from interacting with their world.
A
77
Piaget believed that cognitive change is marked by __________, which refers to maintaining a balance between our experience in the world and our thoughts about it.
equilibration
78
The period of five to ten years during which a woman’s reproductive system begins to decline is called
menopause
79
Whereas Piaget saw cognitive development as a result of individual discovery and a child's interaction with objects, Vygotsky attributed cognitive development to
Social interaction between a child and other people
80
Harlow’s study of infant rhesus monkeys showed that
a) early imprinting led to the strongest attachments of monkeys to their surrogate mothers.
b) surrogate mothers who were soft to the touch but did not provide food and water produced the strongest attachment responses.
c) surrogate mothers who were inconsistent in providing food and water produced the weakest attachment responses.
d) surrogate mothers who were cold to the touch but provided food and water produced the strongest attachment responses.
B
81
During middle-childhood, children learn to master a variety of tasks both in and out of school. Erikson refers to this stage of life as
industry versus inferiority.
• Enjoyment and mastery of the developmental tasks of childhood, in and out of school
82
The body’s reproductive organs are called
primary sex characteristics.
83
What is the most common teratogen used by women during pregnancy?
Cigarettes
84
What generally indicates the first sign of sexual maturation in boys?
Enlargement of the testicles and penis
85
The “sandwich generation” refers to adults who
are caring for both growing children and their aging parents.
86
‘Empty nest’ researchers have found that
most empty nesters experience an increase in life satisfaction after their children leave home.
87
What behavioural trait is most prominent in easy infants?
being relaxed
88
The prenatal period during which tremendous growth in size occurs and the organs continue to develop and become functional is called the __________ period.
fetal
89
According to Piaget, the ability to understand that simply changing the appearance of an object does not change the object’s nature is known as
conservation
90
Children develop conservation abilities during the __________ stage.
concrete operational
91
According to Vygotsky, what is a key factor in a child's cognitive development?
Social interactions
92
__________ attached babies in Ainsworth’s study were clinging and unwilling to explore, very upset by the stranger regardless of the mother’s presence, protested mightily when the mother left, were hard to soothe, and had mixed reactions upon mother’s return.
Insecure-anxious
93
Which of the following statements is illustrative of the post hoc fallacy?
a) Believing that because someone is muscular in body type, he or she is more likely to become a professional athlete
b) Believing that because someone is specially trained, he or she is more likely to become a professional athlete
c) Believing that because most professional athletes lift weights, weightlifting produces professional athletes
d) Believing that because someone has benefited from the best coaching, he or she will have a good chance of becoming a professional athlete
C
94
During the sensorimotor stage, children lack both object permanence and
deferred imitation.
95
According to Erikson, which of the following is true?
a) In most cases, psychosocial crises go unresolved with no detrimental effects on social development.
b) In most cases, psychosocial crises are unsuccessfully resolved, leading to detrimental effects on social development.
c) Unsuccessful resolution of a crisis has no effect on whether a future crisis will be successfully resolved.
d) Unsuccessful resolution of a crisis decreases the likelihood that a future crisis will be successfully resolved.
D
96
Research has demonstrated that infants learn __________ very early in cognitive development and, for example, become bored with pictures of birds if they have already seen a lot of other bird pictures.
categorization
97
__________ refers to the process in which neurons begin to develop at an extremely high rate.
Proliferation
98
According to Piaget, the stage of cognitive development between two and seven years of age, in which the child learns to use language as a means of exploring the world, is the ____________ stage.
Preoperational
99
As men age, what physical changes should be expected?
decline in sperm production.
100
One popular misconception about middle age is that most men undergo a(n) __________, characterized by emotional distress about the aging process and attempts to regain their youth.
midlife crisis
101
Dr. Brady studies parenting practices and childhood dispositions. He has found a relationship between the two variables and concludes that if parents treat their children with warmth and care, then their children will be well-adjusted and emotionally healthy. What problem would be associated with Dr. Brady’s conclusion?
a) naturalistic fallacy
b) bidirectional influences
c) cohort effects
d) confirmation bias
B
102
Based on evidence from orphanages and adoption studies, what appears to be a sensitive period for the development of attachment between infants and their caregivers?
Before about 6 months of age.
103
Brad is 17 and is looking into career options. He is currently deciding whether he wants to become a gourmet chef or a race car driver. Brad is at what stage of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development?
Identity versus role confusion
104
Which areas of the brain show specific age-related declines in brain volume?
The cortex and the hippocampus
105
Erikson saw the major challenge of young adulthood as that of
intimacy versus isolation.
106
In the Strange Situation tasks, Mary Ainsworth observed that securely attached infants
cry if the mother leaves the room, are easily soothed, and welcome her back when she returns.
107
What is meant by the term ‘transgender’?
Someone whose gender identity does not match their biological sex.
108
Which of the following could be an example of imprinting?
a) A young child imitates the behaviours of older siblings.
b) A young child’s behaviour is influenced by peer pressure.
c) Young geese demonstrate an attachment to a round ball.
d) Young geese scatter away in fear when a ball approaches them.
C
109
__________ refers to the process of fitting new experiences into our pre-existing schemas.
Assimilation
110
__________ tasks are more affected by aging in adulthood relative to __________ tasks.
a) Cognitive; motor
b) Simple; cognitive
c) Complex; simple
d) Motor; complex
C
111
When a child sees a rabbit that is small, fuzzy, and has four legs, he calls it a cat because he thinks that all small fuzzy four-legged animals are cats. Which of Piaget's processes does this thinking represent?
Assimilation
112
Research has demonstrated that our difficulty in grasping the “hard sciences” may result from
a) our lack of ability to properly grasp the permanence of objects.
b) failure to apply physical conservation principles to abstract thinking.
c) an inability to apply scaffolding techniques to scientific principles.
d) ‘childish’ notions that we do not outgrow, such as attributing intention to objects.
D
113
The belief that children will have increased cognitive abilities if their parents play classical music for them during infancy reflects
a) a pro-nurture perspective.
b) a belief that genes set limits on cognitive ability.
c) a pro-nature perspective.
d) a belief that cognitive ability is domain-specific.
A
114
Over the course of development, the absolute size of the head continues to __________, but changes at a __________ rate than the torso or legs.
increase/decrease
slower/faster
Increase
| Slower
115
Here is another of Kohlberg’s moral dilemmas: Judy was a twelve-year-old girl. Her mother promised her that she could go to a special concert coming to their town if she saved up from baby-sitting and lunch money to buy a ticket to the concert. She managed to save up the fifty dollars the ticket cost plus another ten dollars. But then her mother changed her mind and told Judy that she had to spend the money on new clothes for school. Judy was disappointed and decided to go to the concert anyway. She bought a ticket and told her mother that she had only been able to save ten dollars. That Saturday she went to the performance and told her mother that she was spending the day with a friend. A week passed without her mother finding out. Judy then told her older sister, Louise, that she had gone to the performance and had lied to her mother about it. Louise wonders whether to tell their mother what Judy did.
Elena read the scenario and responded that Louise should tell on her sister, because then everyone will know that Louise is honest and a good person. Based on this information, which stage of moral reasoning would this represent?
Conventional
116
One of the criticisms of Kohlberg’s stage theory is that people’s responses don’t necessarily match their behaviours. Which of the following is the most logical explanation for that discrepancy?
a) People lie on these sorts of tests.
b) The scenarios are unrealistic and don’t relate at all to everyday behaviours.
c) People with postconventional reasoning are more likely to justify bad behaviours.
d) People could have very complex moral reasons for stealing or lying, or simplistic reasons for ‘being good’.
D
117
For some children, their responses don’t provide enough evidence to categorize them into one stage or another. For example, the response “Lying is a problem” doesn’t tell you why lying is a problem. Which of the following criticisms, discussed in class, is associated with this finding?
a) Language development is a limitation for responding to these scenarios.
b) Moral development doesn’t begin until children have reached the formal operational stage of cognitive development.
c) There is cultural bias in Kohlberg’s interpretation of stages.
d) Children can’t imagine things that they haven’t experienced, so they likely just repeat responses that they’ve heard before.
A
118
Here is another of Kohlberg’s moral dilemmas: Judy was a twelve-year-old girl. Her mother promised her that she could go to a special concert coming to their town if she saved up from baby-sitting and lunch money to buy a ticket to the concert. She managed to save up the fifty dollars the ticket cost plus another ten dollars. But then her mother changed her mind and told Judy that she had to spend the money on new clothes for school. Judy was disappointed and decided to go to the concert anyway. She bought a ticket and told her mother that she had only been able to save ten dollars. That Saturday she went to the performance and told her mother that she was spending the day with a friend. A week passed without her mother finding out. Judy then told her older sister, Louise, that she had gone to the performance and had lied to her mother about it. Louise wonders whether to tell their mother what Judy did.
Ben read the scenario, and when he was asked if Louise should tell on her sister he said no. According to Kohlberg’s model, what does Ben’s answer reflect about his moral reasoning?
His stage depends on his reasons for saying no.
119
Here is another of Kohlberg’s moral dilemmas: Judy was a twelve-year-old girl. Her mother promised her that she could go to a special concert coming to their town if she saved up from baby-sitting and lunch money to buy a ticket to the concert. She managed to save up the fifty dollars the ticket cost plus another ten dollars. But then her mother changed her mind and told Judy that she had to spend the money on new clothes for school. Judy was disappointed and decided to go to the concert anyway. She bought a ticket and told her mother that she had only been able to save ten dollars. That Saturday she went to the performance and told her mother that she was spending the day with a friend. A week passed without her mother finding out. Judy then told her older sister, Louise, that she had gone to the performance and had lied to her mother about it. Louise wonders whether to tell their mother what Judy did.
Ben said that Louise shouldn’t tell on her sister, because if she did then her sister would be likely to punch Louise. Based on this information, which stage of moral reasoning would this represent?
Preconventional.
