There are three stages in Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development. In stage one, children are not concerned with moral reasoning as they prioritize other skills such as social development and dexterity. In stage two, children submit to authority and show absolute respect for regulations. In stage three, children acknowledge the flexibility of regulations according to consensual beliefs and consider the intent behind each action when judging whether it is moral or not.
See also: Stages of Cognitive Development
Piaget’s first stage included children between the ages of five and ten, whose moral reasoning had a “heteronomous” lens, or external to the self. This meant that laws were created and enforced by authority and were not to be broken at any cost. According to their understanding, the power of authorities was absolute and the regulations were imposed indefinitely. Their reasoning for this acceptance is directly linked to the punishment for not following the rules. At this age, children worked hard to avoid consequences, and their moral reasoning for behaviors was simply to escape punishment.
As they near the end of middle childhood, children begin to appreciate the perspec
The Sensorimotor Stage
Ages: Birth to 2 Years
During the sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2) infants develop basic motor skills and learn to perceive and interact with their environment through physical sensations and body coordination.
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:
- The infant learns about the world through their senses and through their actions (moving around and exploring their environment).
- During the sensorimotor stage, a range of cognitive abilities develop. These include: object permanence; self-recognition (the child realizes that other people are separate from them); deferred imitation; and representational play.
- Cognitive abilities relate to the emergence of the general symbolic function, which is the capacity to represent the world mentally.
- At about 8 months, the infant will understand the permanence of objects and that they will still exist even if they can’t see them, and the infant will search for them when they disappear.
At the beginning of this stage, the infant lives in the present. It does not yet have a mental picture of the world stored in its memory, so it does not have a sense of object permanence.
If the child cannot
How does a child distinguish between right and wrong?
What if he is very hungry? Could disobeying the rule be acceptable in this case? The answer may be found in theories like Jean Piaget's Theory of Moral Development.
What Are Piaget’s Stages of Moral Development?
Jean Piaget identified stages of moral development in which a child adheres to rules and makes decisions. Piaget was mainly interested in children’s understanding of moral issues: rules, moral responsibility, and justice. The stages at which children understand rules correlate with cognitive development.
In their view, disobeying any rule, irrespective of the reason, is wrong.
What is Moral Development?
Morality is a code of conduct that guides our actions and thoughts based on our background, culture, philosophy, or religious beliefs. Moral development is a gradual change in the understanding of morality.
Children’s ability to distinguish right and wrong is a part of their moral development process. As their understanding and behavior toward others evolve over time, they apply their knowledge to make the right decisions even when it’s inconvenient for them to do so.
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive De
Moral development refers to the process through which children develop the standards of right and wrong within their society, based on social and cultural norms, and laws.
Lawrence Kohlberg describes moral development as a process of discovering universal moral principles, and is based on a child&#;s intellectual development.
Piaget conceptualizes moral development as a constructivist process, whereby the interplay of action and thought builds moral concepts.
Piaget () was principally interested not in what children do (i.e., in whether they break the rules or not) but in what they think. In other words, he was interested in children’s moral reasoning.
Jean Piaget was interested in three main aspects of children’s understanding of moral issues.
Children’s understanding of rules. This leads to questions like
- Where do rules come from?
- Can rules be changed?
- Who makes rules?
Children’s understanding of moral responsibility. This leads to questions like
- Who is to blame for “bad” things?
- Is it the outcome of behavior that makes an action “bad”?
- Is there a difference between accidental and deliberate wrongdoing?
Children’s understanding of justice. This leads
.
Moral development refers to the process through which children develop the standards of right and wrong within their society, based on social and cultural norms, and laws.
Lawrence Kohlberg describes moral development as a process of discovering universal moral principles, and is based on a child&#;s intellectual development.
Piaget conceptualizes moral development as a constructivist process, whereby the interplay of action and thought builds moral concepts.
Piaget () was principally interested not in what children do (i.e., in whether they break the rules or not) but in what they think. In other words, he was interested in children’s moral reasoning.
Jean Piaget was interested in three main aspects of children’s understanding of moral issues.
Children’s understanding of rules. This leads to questions like
- Where do rules come from?
- Can rules be changed?
- Who makes rules?
Children’s understanding of moral responsibility. This leads to questions like
- Who is to blame for “bad” things?
- Is it the outcome of behavior that makes an action “bad”?
- Is there a difference between accidental and deliberate wrongdoing?
Children’s understanding of justice. This leads
.