1. Moral Development To act morally, children must have –An understanding of “right” and “wrong” –A conscience Concern about acting in a moral manner and feeling guilt when one does not

2. Early Moral Judgment/Reasoning: Piaget’s Theory Observed children playing games (issues related to rules, fairness) Also used clinical interviews to assess children’s thinking about moral issues Proposed two stages in children’s moral development (transitional period in between)

3. Stage of Morality of Constraint: –Children younger than 7 or 8 years old are typically in this stage of moral reasoning –Rules or laws made by authority figures (adults) are “sacred” Rules/laws are always fair Doing the “right” thing means following the rules/laws

4. –Actions are judged by their consequences, not by the individual’s intentions/motives Ex: Child who broke more dishes is naughtier, even though it was accidental

5. Later Research (post-Piaget): In some cases, young children (3-year- olds) can take into account a person’s intentions in judging an act as “right” or “wrong” –Piaget underestimated young children’s ability to judge an action based on the individual’s intentions (rather than the consequences)

6. Young children don’t treat all rules the same way –Moral judgments: Involve issues of right and wrong, fairness, and justice Exs: stealing from another person; physically hurting another person –Social-conventional judgments: Involve customs or regulations intended to ensure social organization (e.g., forms of greeting, table manners) Exs: addressing an authority figure as “Sir”; saying “please” and “thank you”

7. By age 3, children generally believe that moral violations are more wrong than social-conventional violations –Ex: hitting another child or stealing another child’s possessions is worse than not saying “please” when asking for something By age 4, children generally believe that moral violations are wrong even if adults do not say that they are wrong –Not true for social-conventional violations

8. Piaget underestimated young children’s ability to reason about different kinds of rules

9. Early Development of Conscience –Conscience: An internal regulatory mechanism that increases the individual’s ability to conform with standards of conduct accepted in his/her culture –Feelings of guilt when one violates standards In young children, reflects mainly parental values Restrains antisocial behavior and promotes compliance with adult rules in the absence of external control

10. By age 2, many toddlers start to show an understanding of rules and begin to show signs of distress when they violate a rule –Sometimes try to correct mistakes or follow rules even when no one else is present to tell them to

11. Factors Influencing Conscience Development Discipline that emphasizes explanations is related to children’s understanding and acceptance of parents’ values (internalization)

12. Positive parent-child relationships are also related to children’s acceptance of parents’ values (internalization) –Positive= High parental responsiveness/sensitivity and affection/warmth Children may be more open to parents’ attempts to communicate values because they have a positive relationship with them