Many researchers have written about child development, but the most well known are Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and Kohlberg's theory of moral development have been essential in helping researchers grasp the biological and psychological changes that occur between birth and adolescence. While these theories share some similarities, they also have many differences, such as Kohlberg’s application to various cultures. It is important to compare these models in order to comprehend child development.
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a Swiss prodigy and psychologist. After he graduated from the University of Zurich, he moved to Paris, where he taught at the Grange-Aux-Belles school for boys. During his stay at the school, Piaget noticed that “children of the same age tended to give the same wrong answers, whereas children of a different age tended to give different wrong answers” (Cook, 2009, p. 153). This led him to believe that rational processes develop over time. According to his theory of cognitive development, children grow through four different stages.
Piaget’s first stage, the stage of Sensorimotor Thought, starts at birth and continues to approximately two years of age. This is the world of infants and young children, who experience the world only through their five senses. Piaget divided this first stage into six substages. The first substage is Basic Reflexes. At birth, infants have only instinctive reflexes, such as rooting, sucking, and grasping. As the child reaches the approximate age of one month, he or she moves into the next substage termed Primary Circular Reactions. In this stage, the child begins to learn through trial and error. Thumb sucking is an example of this type o...
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References
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Duska, R. F., & Whelan, M. (1975). Moral Development: A Guide to Piaget and Kohlberg. New York City: Paulist.
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Power, C., & Kohlberg, L. (1981). The Philosophy of Moral Development: Moral Stages and the Idea of Justice. Thesis, Harper & Row, San Francisco.
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Jean Piaget was a developmental psychologist, who in the 1920 began pioneering research into children’s cognitive development. He began this research after administering intelligence test to children, and saw the similarities between the wrong answers given and the age group of the children. Up until he began his research, it was believed that children were merely less competent thinkers than adults. Piaget proved that this assumption was incorrect, that children reasoned differently, and broke their cognitive development into four stages.
This theory is crafted by Jean Piaget (1896– 1980) and his work concentrated on seeing how kids see the world. Piaget trusted that from outset, we have the fundamental mental structure on which all ensuing information and learning are based and because of natural development and ecological experience, the mental procedures will have a dynamic rearrangement. Piaget's presumption was that kids are dynamic takes part in the advancement of information and they adjust to nature through currently looking to comprehend their condition. He proposed that cognitive advancement occurs in four phases, 0 to 2 years being the sensori motor, 2 years to 7 years the preoperational, 7 to 12 years the solid operations, and 12 years or more the formal operations.
... (2009) The science of development. In R.V. Kail & A. Barnfield (Eds.), Children and their development (pp. 8 – 22). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
“The influence of Piaget’s ideas in developmental psychology has been enormous. He changed how people viewed the child’s world and their methods of studying children. He was an inspiration to many who came after and took up his ideas. Piaget's ideas have generated a huge amount of research which has increased our understanding of cognitive development.” (McLeod 2009). Piaget purposed that we move through stages of cognitive development. He noticed that children showed different characteristics throughout their childhood development. The four stages of development are The Sensorimotor stage, The Preoperational Stage, The Concrete operational stage and The Formal operational stage.
Kohlberg, Lawrence. "Moral Stages and Moralization: The Cognitive-Developmental Approach." Moral Development and Behavior. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1976.
Piaget’s stage theory of cognitive development demonstrates a child’s cognitive ability through a series of observational studies of simple tests. According to Piaget, a child’s mental structure, which is genetically inherited and evolved, is the basis for all other learning and knowledge. Piaget’s
The moral development of children can depend on many factors. Parenting and upbringing of the child, their environment, social environment, gender, and race are all aspects that can contribute to how a child develops their moral standards and expectations. Many psychologist have tried for several years to develop a theory to how morality is developed. One in particular is Lawrence Kohlberg (1958), his moral development theory is based on the cognitive development of children and it is thought that moral development proceeds and changes as cognitive development occurs (Arnett, 2012). Kohlberg’s moral development theory consist of 3 different levels each containing 2 stages altogether making 6 stages of moral development, as Kohlberg conducted
Many of our inner standards take the form of judgments as to what is right and what is wrong. They constitute the moral and ethical principles by which we guide our conduct. Lawrence Kohlberg refined, extended, and revised Piaget’s basic theory of the development of moral values. Like Piaget, Kohlberg focused on the moral judgements in children rather than their actions. The manner in which moral judgments develop has been studied extensively by Kohlberg, through the questioning of boys seven years old and up. Kohlberg presented his subjects with a number of hypothetical situations involving moral question like the following. If a man’s wife is dying for lack of an expensive drug that he cannot afford, should he steal the drug? If a patient who is fatally ill and in great pain begs for a mercy killing, should the physician agree? By analyzing the answers and particularly the reasoning by which his subjects reached their answers. Kohlberg determined th...
Jean Piaget is a Switzerland psychologist and biologist who understand children’s intellectual development. Piaget is the first to study cognitive development. He developed the four stages of cognitive development: the sensori-motor stage, preoperational stage, the concrete operational and the formal operational stage. Piaget curiosity was how children cogitate and developed. As they get mature and have the experience, children’s will get knowledgeable. He suggested that children develop schemas so they can present the world. Children’s extend their schemas through the operation of accommodation and assimilation.
Many researchers have written about child development, but none are quite as well known as Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg. Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory and Lawrence Kohlberg’s moral development theory have been essential for researchers to gain a better understanding of child development. While these theories are unique in explaining different types of child development, they have many similarities and differences as well.
The Theory of moral development was founded by the psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg. He argued that starting from infancy extending throughout adulthood, we develop a moral compass that guides us through our life. Each moral judgment can be categorized into three levels, pre-conventional morality, conventional morality, and post-conventional morality, with each level encompassing two stages. As we grow older and gain new experiences, we begin to view the world differently and the moral reasoning for our choices evolves.
According to Kohlberg, individuals progress through a series of stages in the evolution of their sense of justice and in the kind of reasoning that they utilize to make moral judgments (Feldman, R., 2013, p. 426). His work modified and expanded from Jean Piaget’s previous work to form a theory of cognitive development that explained how pre-adolescent children develop moral reasoning (Cherry, K., 2014, October 12). Kohlberg’s theory of moral development focuses on children’s ability to distinguish right from wrong based on their perception. His theory claims that individuals progress through the levels morality in a fixed order and
Kohlberg, L. (1984). The psychology of moral development: the nature and validity of moral stages. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Lawrence Kohlberg served as a professor at Harvard University for many years but rose to fame for his work there starting from the early 1970s. He is mostly known for his moral development theory that he based on the works of philosopher John Dewey and psychologist Jean Piaget. According to him, humans’ progress in their moral reasoning occurs in a series of stages. He formulated three levels of moral reasoning, which he further divided into 6 stages. In the obedience and punishment stage of the pre-conventional level, individuals’ behavior complies with norms that are socially acceptable as told by some authority, for instance, teacher or parent. Obedience is usually informed by the application or threat or punishment (Barger, 2000). The second