01:830:331 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12.2: Moral Realism, Moral Relativism, Immanence
Document Summary
Children progress to this stage because advances in cognitive development allow them to understand the reasons for rules. Interactions with peers, children come to understand the need for rules and how they are created. Also understand that because people agree to set rules, they can also change them if they see the need. Later research showed that children"s early moral reasoning does not consider adult authority final and absolute. Instead, preschool children believe adult"s authority is limited. Preschoolers believe that punishing a child or damaging another child"s possession is wrong even when an adult says that it"s okay. Created moral dilemmas in which any action involved some undesirable consequences and asked children, adolescents, and adults what they would do in the situation. Kohlberg was not interested in the decision per se; instead the focused on the reasoning used to justify a decision.