Cognitive Development In Children: Experiment

Cognitive Development in Children: Experiment

Piaget suggests that children prior to the age of seven develop an objective moral orientation. They tend to evaluate the good or bad actions on the basis of the consequences of the actions (good or bad). At about the age seven, children develop a subjective moral orientation which involves evaluation of behavior in terms of whether the intentions were good or bad. This investigational method is used to determine whether children under the age of seven have objective moral reasoning; along with, if children about the age of seven have subjective moral reasoning.

Method

Subjects:

The subjects were children from 1990 to 1995 between the ages of three to 11.

Apparatus:

Some sets of three sample story pairs were used for this experiment, along with a rating sheet, to record the responses from the children.

Story Pair One:

A. A girl (boy) who is named Susan (Jim) is in her (his) room. She (he) is called to dinner. She (he) starts to go into the dining room, but behind the door there is a chair: On the chair is a tray with 15 cups on it. Susan (Jim) doesn't know that all of this is behind the door. She (he) pushes on the door, the door knocks against the tray, and bang, goes the 15 cups! They are all broken. B. A girl (boy) named Mary (Robert) wants to get some candies. But her (his) mother tells her (him) that she (he) can't have any more candies, and she (he) leaves. But Mary (Robert) wants a c...