PIAGET AND KOHLBERG Maeve Hogan. JEAN PIAGET Born in Switzerland on August 9, 1896 By the time he reached his teenage years his writing was being

PIAGET AND KOHLBERG

Maeve Hogan

JEAN PIAGET

Born in Switzerland on August 9, 1896

By the time he reached his teenage years his writing was being widely

published

Received his Ph. D. in natural sciences in 1918

Studied under other famous psychologists such as Carl Jung and Paul Bleuler

Married in 1923 and eventually had 3 children

Worked under Alfred Binet in Paris, analyzing the intelligence levels of

children

Received the Erasmus prize in 1972 and the Balzan prize in 1978

Died at the age of 84 on September 16, 1980

STAGE THEORY

Periods of development• 1. Sensorimotor Intelligence (birth-2 years)• 2.Preoperational Thought (2-7 years)• 3. Concrete Operations (7-11 years)• 4. Formal Operations (11-adulthood)

Invariant

Qualitatively different periods

General characteristics, or patterns of thought

Hierarchic integrations

Stages unfold in the same sequence in all cultures—culturally universal

CONSERVATION

Conservation of Continuous Quantities (Liquids)• Pre-operational level: two possible results• Concrete Operations: able to conserve; three arguments

• Identity• Compensation• Inversion

Logical operations

Spontaneous mastery and internal contradiction

Also conducted experiments with conservation of number;

arguments for conservation remain the same

LAWRENCE KOHLBERG

Born on October 25, 1927 in Bronxville, New York

Joined the merchant marines at the end of WWII

Graduated from the University of Chicago in 1948

Influenced heavily by the work of Jean Piaget

1958-1961 he served as an assistant professor of psychology at Yale

University

In 1968 he was names Professor of Education and Social Psychology at

Harvard University

Died in 1987 from what was rumored to be a suicide after suffering from

depression for many years

STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Level 1: Pre-conventional Morality • Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation• Stage 2: Individualism and Exchange

Conventional Morality • Stage 3: Good Interpersonal Relationships • Stage 4: Maintaining the Social Order

Post-Conventional Morality • Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights • Stage 6: Universal Principles

MY RESEARCH STUDY

Purpose: to investigate whether the level of moral reasoning as determined by one

of Kohlberg’s dilemmas is indicative of the level of conservation achievement as

determined by performances on specified Piagetian conservation tasks. In

particular, this research study seeks to answer the following questions:

(1) Do conserving children achieve a higher stage of moral reasoning than non-

conserving children as indicated on Kohlberg’s stage theory of moral development?

(2) Do children who can conserve volume achieve a higher stage of moral

reasoning than children who can only conserve number as indicated on Kohlberg’s

stage theory of moral reasoning?

(3) Are there patterns of difference among conserving boys and conserving girls

with respect to their stages of moral reasoning?

HYPOTHESES

Hypothesis 1: Conserving children will achieve a higher stage of

moral reasoning than non-conserving children as indicated on

Kohlberg’s stage theory of moral development

Hypothesis 2: Children who can conserve volume will achieve a

higher stage of moral reasoning than children who can only conserve

number as indicated on Kohlberg’s stage theory of moral reasoning

Hypothesis 3: There will be patterns of difference among

conserving boys and conserving girls with respect to their stages of

moral reasoning

METHODOLOGY

Participants: convenience sample of 8 children from Holy Family

Elementary school• 4 children from 2nd grade (2 girls, 2 boys)• 4 children from 8th grade (2 girls, 2 boys)

Setting: Holy Family classroom

Procedure: • Look at groups of pennies lined up on a desk and then answer questions

about which group has more pennies.• Look at water poured into different cups and then answer questions

about which of the cups has more water.• Listen to a story and then answer questions explaining whether you think

a character in the story made the right or wrong choice – and why.

DILEMMA

As presented in Kohlberg’s dissertation (p 361)

Joe is a fourteen-year-old boy who wanted to go to camp very much. His

father promised him he could go if he saved up the money for it himself. So

Joe worked hard at his paper route and saved up the forty dollars it cost to

go to camp, and a little more besides that. But just before camp was going

to start, his father changed his mind. Some of his father’s friends decided to

go on a special fishing trip, and Joe's father was short of the money it would

cost. So he told Joe to give him the money he had saved from the paper

route. Joe didn't want to give up going to camp, so he thinks of refusing to

give his father the money. Should Joe give his father the money?

CONSERVATION OF NUMBER

The coin test

CONSERVATION OF LIQUID

ASSESSMENT

Stage Characteristics

1 Obedience and Punishment Orientation

Not much explanation; concerned with authority

2 Individualism and Exchange Mention of different perspective or how to coordinate beneficial deals

3 Good Interpersonal Relationships

Talk about living up to expectations or underlying motives

4 Maintaining the Social Order

Focuses on respecting authority, must have a reason behind it

5 Social Contract and Individual Rights

Emphasis on basic rights and ways to benefit everyone

6 Universal Principles Define principles by which agreements will be most just

RESULTS

Participant 1: Male, 2nd Grade

Dilemma: Yes Joe should give his dad the money

Reason: because it is what you are supposed to do, you

are supposed to say no to bad things and yes to good

Stage: 1. Obedience and Punishment

Conservation of number: unable to conserve

Conservation of liquid: unable to conserve

RESULTS

Participant 2: Female, 2nd Grade


Reason: because he is just a kid and he shouldn’t

have all the things he wants to do




RESULTS

Participant 3: Female, 2nd Grade


Reason: it is a good decision because it is the right

thing to do




RESULTS

Participant 4: Male, 2nd Grade


Reason: because his father is the boss of him and she shouldn’t tell

his father no



Conservation of liquid: unable to conserve at first but then shows

confusion; “the glass has more, wait actually no, because that one and

that one were the same at one time, its just a different container”

RESULTS

Participant 5: Male, 8th grade


Reason: His father has given Joe much more than

the amount of money his dad wants

Stage: 4. Maintaining Social Order

Conservation of number: able to conserve

Conservation of liquid: able to conserve

RESULTS

Participant 6: Female, 8th grade

Dilemma: No, Joe should not give his dad the money

Reason: Because Joe worked hard for the money, he

earned it, so therefore it is his.

Stage: 5. Social Contract and Individual Rights



RESULTS

Participant 7: Female, 8th grade

Dilemma: Yes, Joe should give his dad the money

Reason: He should give him the money because his

dad works hard to pay bills and provide for the family

Stage: 4. Maintaining the Social Order



RESULTS

Participant 8: Male, 8th grade

Dilemma: No, Joe should not give his dad the money

Reason: Joe saved that money to go to camp

Stage: 5. Social Contract and Individual Rights


Conservation of liquid: unable to conserve*

CONCLUSIONS

Hypothesis 1: Accepted!• In general, conserving children did achieve a higher stage of

moral reasoning than non-conserving children as indicated on Kohlberg’s stage theory of moral development

Hypothesis 2: Accepted!• Children who could conserve volume generally achieved a

higher stage of moral reasoning. However, those could not conserve volume generally could not conserve number either.

Hypothesis 3: Rejected!• There was no significant patterns of difference among

conserving boys and conserving girls with respect to their stages of moral reasoning

LIMITATIONS

Convenience Sample

Limited amount of children able to participate

Children were distracted

Previous exposure

Not much explanation

NATURE VS. NURTURE

NATURE NURTURE

Piagetand

Kohlberg

WORKS CITED

Crain, William. “Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental theory” Theories of Development:

Concepts and Applications. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 2000

Crain, William. “Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development” Theories of Development:

Concepts and Applications. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 2000

Kavathatzopoulos, Iordanis. "Kohlberg And Piaget: Differences And Similarities." Journal Of

Moral Education 20.1 (1991): 47-54. ERIC. Web. 24 Oct. 2014

Kohlberg, Lawrence (1958). "The Development of Modes of Thinking and Choices in Years 10

to 16". Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Chicago.

http://www.biography.com/people/jean-piaget-9439915#early-life

http://totallyhistory.com/lawrence-kohlberg/

http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/affect/values.html



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PIAGET AND KOHLBERG Maeve Hogan. JEAN PIAGET Born in Switzerland on August 9, 1896 By the time he reached his teenage years his writing was being