COGNITIVE THEORIES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT Artyshko Marina

The object of our exploration is theory of moral reasoning developed by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg. The purpose of my work is to examine and investigate these theories. There are a number of trends in the study of Cognitive Theories of Moral Development. The Theory of Moral Development is a very interesting subject that stemmed from Jean Piagets theory of moral reasoning. Developed by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg, this theory made us understand that morality starts from the early childhood years and can be affected by several factors. All this allows us to conclude morality can be developed either negatively or positively, depending on how an individual accomplishes the tasks before him during each stage of moral development across his lifespan.

HISTORY OF THE THEORY How did Kohlberg come up with the theory of moral development? A new theory of moral development was created from the research, he performed with very young children as his subjects. The essence of the theory is the fact that he found out that children are faced with different moral issues, and their judgments on whether they are to act positively or negatively over each dilemma are heavily influenced by several factors. The basic idea was that In each scenario that Kohlberg related to the children, he was not really asking whether or not the person in the situation is morally right or wrong, but he wanted to find out the reasons why these children think that the character is morally right or not.

FIRST, I WOULD LIKE TO CONSIDER LEVELS AND STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT: Level 1: Preconventional Morality The first level of morality, preconventional morality, can be further divided into two stages: obedience and punishment, and individualism and exchange. Stage 1: Punishment- Obedience Orientation Now let us look more specifically at Related to Skinners Operational Conditioning, this stage includes the use of punishment so that the person refrains from doing the action and continues to obey the rules. For example, we follow the law because we do not want to go to jail.

STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT: Stage 2: Instrumental Relativist Orientation In this stage, the person is said to judge the morality of an action based on how it satisfies the individual needs of the doer. For instance, a person steals money from another person because he needs that money to buy food for his hungry children. We may argue that In Kohlbergs theory, the children tend to say that this action is morally right because of the serious need of the doer.

STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT: Level 2: Conventional Morality The second level of morality involves the stages 3 and 4 of moral development. Conventional morality includes the society and societal roles in judging the morality of an action. Stage 3: Good Boy-Nice Girl Orientation It is known that in this stage, a person judges an action based on the societal roles and social expectations before him. This is also known as the interpersonal relationships phase. For example, a child gives away her lunch to a street peasant because she thinks doing so means being nice.

STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT:

Stage 4: Law and Order Orientation This stage includes respecting the authorities and following the rules, as well as doing a persons duty. We may be sure that the society is the main consideration of a person at this stage. For instance, a policeman refuses the money offered to him under the table and arrests the offender because he believes this is his duty as an officer of peace and order.

STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT: Level 3: Postconventional Morality The post-conventional morality includes stage 5 and stage 6. This is mainly concerned with the universal principles that relation to the action done. Stage 5 : Social Contract Orientation In this stage, the person is look at various opinions and values of different people before coming up with the decision on the morality of the action.

STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT: Stage 6 : Universal Ethical Principles Orientation The final stage of moral reasoning, this orientation is when a person considers universally accepted ethical principles. The judgment may become innate and may even violate the laws and rules as the person becomes attached to his own principles of justice