Moral Development

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Moral Development
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• Refers to changes in the ability to reason about
  what is right and what is wrong in a given
  situation.
• Lawrence Kohlberg has a stage theory of moral
  development.
• Kohlberg came up with 3 levels of moral
  development with two stages at each level.
  Result- six stages of moral development (Table
  8.3 page 309 OR see class handout)
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Criticisms of Kohlbergs Theory

• One criticism states that we have to consider the
  cross-cultural aspect.
• Concern about gender differences in moral
  development of morality. Does Kohlbergs theory
  apply to females?
• Concern with the consistency of moral judgments.

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EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TEMPERAMENT
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At what age do infants begin to experience and
demonstrate discrete emotions?

• Research in this area focuses on facial
  expression outward signs of distinct emotions.
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• 2 month old infants demonstrate social smiling in
  response to human faces.
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• 2 month old infants show pain expressions more
  than anger expressions. A few months later they
  show anger more frequently than pain.
• 3- 4 month old infants show laughter.

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• 3-months they become upset when their mothers are
  upset.
• As they grow older, infants acquire increasing
  capacities to read the emotional expressions of
  others.
• 8- 10 months, they actively seek information
  about other peoples feelings and begin to
  demonstrate growing understanding of their own
  mental states and those of others.
• Age 1, when a child falls he/she will look to
  their caregiver and depending on their
  caregivers reaction they will either cry or
  laugh.
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WHAT IS TEMPERAMENT?

• Stable individual differences in characteristic,
  mood, activity level, and emotional reactivity.
• Differences in temperament are present early in
  life

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• 3 categories of temperaments
• Easy children (40) generally cheerful, adapt
  readily to new experiences and quickly
  establishes routines for many activities of daily
  life.
• Difficult children (10) are irregular in daily
  routines, are slow to accept new situations or
  experiences and show negative reactions more than
  other infants.
• Slow--to-warm-up-children (15) relatively
  inactive and apathetic and show mild negative
  reactions when exposed to unexpected event or new
  situations.
• Remaining 35 cannot be classified.
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ATTACHMENT
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• Strong affectional bond between infants and their
  caregivers
• According to a theory developed by John Bowlby,
  attachment involves a balance b/w infants
  tendencies to seek to be near to their caregivers
  and their willingness to explore new
  environments.
• Bowlby contended that the quality of attachment
  is revealed by the infants reaction to
  separation b/w themselves and their caregivers,
  as well as, their reaction to the return of their
  caregiver(s).

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STRANGE SITUATION TEST

• A situation in which a caregiver leaves a child
  alone with a stranger for a few minutes and then
  returns. Researchers proposed 4 patterns of
  attachment.
• Secure attachment
• Ambivalent Attachment
• Avoidant Attachment
• Disorganized attachment

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SECURE ATTACHMENT

• An appropriate display of distress when
  caregivers depart and then a warm and
  enthusiastic greeting upon their return.
• Parents of these children tend to respond quickly
  and appropriately to the behaviors of the child.
  
• Distress is met with comfort.
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INSECURE/ AMBIVALENT ATTACHMENT

• Intense clinging and resistance to separation.
  When parent returns the child goes b/w approach
  and avoidance of the caregiver.
• Parents of these children appear inconsistent in
  their responses to their child. At times, they
  respond appropriately and other times they
  respond inappropriately or fail to respond.

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INSECURE/AVOIDANT ATTACHMENT

• Failure to express distress on departure of
  parents and then avoidance of parent on return.
• Parents of these babies appear aloof, detached,
  rejecting and neglectful. Children learn that
  their caregivers are not available and cannot be
  trusted.
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DISORGANIZED ATTACHMENT

• Also called disoriented attachment
• Behavior is inconsistent and contradictory.
  Child may begin to approach the returning parent
  and then turn away or behave in a confused manner
  neither approaching nor avoiding, but rather
  freezing.

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LONG TERM EFFECTS OF ATTACHMENT STYLES

• Secured attached infants are more sociable, more
  tolerant of frustration and more flexible and
  persistent in many situations. As adults they
  able to use their partners as a secure base and
  serve as a secure base for their partners when
  compared to adults who experienced insecure
  attachment as a child. Seen as happier and more
  trusting in adult relationships.
• People who were avoidantly attached seem to worry
  constantly about losing their romantic partners
  they didnt trust their caregivers as infants and
  dont trust their spouses or lovers when they are
  adults.

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