Piaget contest

Give the stage and approximate age

Answer Michelle and Gary
separately
 Michelle complains because her brother Gary
has taken two cookies for himself and only
gave her one. Gary takes her cookie and
breaks it in half saying, “Now we both have
two.” Michelle yells at him “Not fair, all you
did was break mine into two pieces!”

 Stages:
 Gary – pre-operational (or a cruel formal
operational thinker)
 Michelle – late concrete operational 9+
 Jenny sits in class and daydreams about
what kind of society could be created if a
group of humans from all over the world
moved to a newly discovered planet.

 Stage: Formal Operational – abstract thinking

– age 12+
 Heather’s ball rolls out of sight under the
sofa. She stares at the sofa for a few
seconds and then turns and starts to play with
her doll.

 Stage: Sensorimotor, age less than 8 months

(Piaget)
 Elissa becomes upset because her sister’s
scoop of ice cream looks taller than her own.
Her mother squashes down the sister’s scoop
and Elissa is happy now that it looks like they
have the same amount.

 Stage: Preoperational 2-6

 Matthew can evenly share a jug of juice
between two people with different sized
glasses. One day his teacher decides that
since the math class is so bright, he will
introduce them to algebra.
 However, Matthew can’t understand what his
teacher means when he says that x is a
number. Matthew thinks to himself, “Silly Mr.
Morphett doesn’t know that x is a letter.”

 Stage: late concrete, 9/10

Theory of mind….
 How do we know if you
have theory of mind?

 If you’re asked and

you answer “Basket” –
Theory of mind is in
place
 If you say “Box” –
Theory of mind is not
in place
Lawrence Kholberg
Lawrence Kohlberg
 Inspired by the work of Piaget
 Moral reasoning progresses sequentially
through a series of developmental stages

 Method was to use moral dilemmas (ex.

Heinz) to investigate children’s reasoning

 Identified six stages (2 per level)

Method
 72 Chicago boys aged 10–16 years, 58 of
whom were followed up at three-yearly
intervals for 20 years (Kohlberg, 1984).
 One two-hour interview based on ten
hypothetical moral dilemmas
 Studied the answers and was mainly
interested in the reasons for their decisions,
not whether the boys judged the actions
wrong or right
 reasons tended to change as the children got
older.
 Kohlberg’s Question ????
In Europe, a woman was near death from cancer. One drug
might save her, a form of radium that a druggist in the same
town had recently discovered. The druggist was charging
$90,000, ten times what the drug cost him to make. The sick
woman’s husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow
the money, but could only get together about half of what it
cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him
to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said,
“No” The husband later broke into the man’s store to steal the
drug for his wife. (Kohlberg 1969)
Should the husband have done that? Why? Or why not?
Take a moment before our
discussion…
 …to jot down your initial response of yes or
no and your reasons why (justifications)
Other questions Kholberg
would ask:
 1. Should Heinz have stolen the drug?

 2. Would it change anything if Heinz did not

love his wife?

 3. What if the person dying was a stranger,

would it make any difference?

 4. Should the police arrest the chemist for

murder if the woman died?
What was important to
Kohlberg?
The exception is that content
becomes important at the highest
two levels.
 Kohlberg’s Stages – Fill in the
blanks…
 Note: Invariant and universal
Right vs wrong
Postconventional
level is decided by
universal values

Right vs wrong
Conventional depends on following
level
rules and laws

Right vs wrong
Preconventional depends on whether you get
level
punished or rewarded
 Moral Development - Kohlberg
 Preconventional
 Asserts that children have little awareness of moral behavior
that is socially or culturally acceptable (externally controlled)
 Rules are something they have to follow because others
tell them to but they do not truly believe in the rules

 Stage 1: Punishment - Obedience

 Difficult to consider two points of view and ignore
people’s intentions but focus on what results in
punishment as what is bad and what results in reward as
what is good

 Behaviour is based on fear of consequences – ‘Will I get

into trouble?’
 Preconventional response examples
(1969-Kohlberg)
 Stage 1 Pro-stealing:
 If you let your wife die, you will get in trouble. You’ll be
blamed for not spending the money to help her…there’ll be
an investigation…for your wife’s death.

 Stage 1 Anti-stealing
 You shouldn’t steal the drug because you’ll be caught and sent
to jail if you do. If you get away [you’d be scared that] the
police will catch up with you any minute.
Preconventional
 Stage 2: Naively Egotistical
 Aware people can have different perspectives
but it is a concrete understanding

 What is right is what satisfies personal needs or

results in personal advantages (“What will you
give me?”)also believe this is how others act

 Reciprocity is understood in terms of an equal

exchange of favours “You do this for me and I
will do this for you”
Preconventional response
examples (1979 Rest)
 Stage 2 Pro-stealing
 The druggist can do what he wants and Heinz
can do what he wants to do…but if Heinz
decides to risk jail to save his wife, it’s his life he’s
risking…

 Stage 2 Anti-stealing
 [Heinz] is running more risk than it’s worth [to
save a wife who is near to death].
 Conventional Stage

 Conformity remains important but not because of

self-interest as much as it is positive relationships and
social order – intermediate level of internalization

 Stage 3: Approval – Disapproval

 One will do the right thing so as to be seen as a good
person – want to maintain affection and approval of
friends and relatives
 The concern is “What will people think of me?”
 Reciprocity is:
Conventional response example
(1969-Kohlberg)
 Stage 3 Pro-stealing
 No one will think you’re bad for stealing the drug, but
your family will think you’re an inhuman husband if
you don’t. If you let your wife die, you’ll never be able
to look anyone in the face again.

 Stage 3 Anti-stealing
 It isn’t just the druggist who will think you’re a
criminal, everyone else will too….you’ll feel bad
thinking how you brought dishonor on your family and
yourself…
 Conventional Stage
 Conformity remains important but not because of self-
interest as much as it is positive relationships and
social order

 Stage 4: Rule Following – Law & Order

 Moral choices don’t depend on close ties to others -- rules
must be enforced evenhandedly for all and we have a
personal duty to uphold them
 One will do the right thing out of sense of duty – one may
want to steal but feels dutybound to follow the law

 What is right and wrong is determined by our social

institutions (law, school, church) and we must conform to
maintain social order – no questions or deviations!
 Conventional response example
(1969-Kohlberg)
 Stage 4 Pro-stealing
 He should steal it. Heinz has a duty to protect his wife’s
life; it’s a vow he took in marriage. But it’s wrong to steal,
so he would have to take the drug with the idea of paying
the druggist for it and accepting the penalty of breaking
the law.
 Conventional response example
(1969-Kohlberg)
 Stage 4 Anti-stealing
 It’s a natural thing for Heinz to want to save his wife
but….You have to follow the rules regardless of how you
feel or regardless of the special circumstances. Even if his
wife is dying, it’s still his duty as a citizen to obey the law.
No one else is allowed to steal, why should he be? If
everyone starts breaking the law in a jam, there’d be no
civilization, just crime and violence.
Post-conventional – developing
true morality
 Content of an individual’s answer becomes important to
consider as the most advanced moral thinkers support
individual rights
 Moral development is completely internalized
supported by the ability to recognize alternative moral
courses, explore options, and personal moral codes
 Morality moves beyond unquestioning support of
rules/laws of society towards abstract principles and
values that apply to all situations and societies
 The individual weighs the community rights versus
personal rights. Values and laws are relative and standards
may vary but some values (such as freedom) are more
important than the law
 Post-conventional – developing
true morality
 Stage 5: Social Contract
 Rules and laws are flexible instruments
for furthering human purposes

 Alternatives to the social order can be

imagined and will emphasize fair
procedures for interpreting and
changing the law when there is good
reason to do so

 When laws are consistent with individual rights and the

interest of the majority there will be free and willing
participation in the system because it creates more good
then if it did not exist
Postconventional response
example
 Stage 5 Pro-stealing
 Although there is a law against stealing, the law
wasn’t meant to violate a person’s right to life.
Taking the drug does violate the law but Heinz is
justified in stealing in this instance. If Heinz is
prosecuted for stealing, the law needs to be
reinterpreted to take into account situations in
which it goes against people’s natural right to
keep on living.
 Post-conventional – developing
true morality
 Stage 6: Universal Ethical
Principle
 Self-determined ethical
principles of conscience that
are valid for all humanity
regardless of law or social
agreement.
 Ideas based on justice, dignity
and equality supersede
concrete moral rules (such as
the Ten Commandments)
Postconventional response
example (1979 Rest)
 Stage 6 Pro-stealing
 If Heinz does not do everything he can to save
his wife, then he is putting some value higher
than the value of life. It doesn’t make sense to
put respect for property above respect for life
itself. [People] could live together without
private property at all. Respect for human life
and personality is absolute and accordingly
[people] have a mutual duty to save one another
from dying.
A possible Post-conventional
response?
 Heinz shouldn’t steal the drug as the druggist may, out
of spite, stop manufacturing cancer fighting drugs and
then many people would die instead of one person
(Heinz’s wife).
Criticisms of Kohlberg
 The dilemmas lack ecological validity
 Life situations that children would not have encountered
 Hypothetical nature brings questions to the validity of responses
 Research into real-life problems vs. hypothetical dilemmas
reveal differences in reasoning (lower level than actual
capacity; many practical considerations considered)
 “It’s a lot easier to be moral when there’s nothing to lose”
 Inherent Western bias (individualistic culture)
 Unclear that there are set stages
 Different stories elicited responses at different levels
 Gender bias - Masculine point of view
 detached reasoning rather than including emotional
considerations
Carol Gilligan
 Gilligan’s query
The Porcupine and the Moles

 Seeking refuge from the cold, a porcupine asked to

share a cave for the winter with a family of moles. The
moles agreed. But because the cave was small, they
soon found they were being scratched each time the
porcupine moved about. Finally, they asked the
porcupine to leave. But the porcupine refused, saying,
“If you moles are not satisfied, I suggest that you leave.”

 Your solution…
 Your guess as to gendered responses:
 Girls tended to…
 Boys tended to…
 Gilligan’s gender differences:
Justice or Caring?
 1980s Gilligan used a group of 11-to-15-year-old
suburban American children

 She observed:

 boys opting for justice--"It's the moles' house. It's a

deal. The porcupine leaves"

 girls looking for solutions that would keep all

parties content and comfortable, such as "Cover
the porcupine with a blanket."
 Gilligan’s Moral Stages

 Gilligan believes that feminine morality emphasizes an ‘ethic of

care’ and that Kohlberg’s theory devalues this and does not
adequately represent the morality of females

 Much research has not supported the claim that female

moral maturity is neglected by Kohlberg
 Themes of justice and caring appear in the responses of
both sexes
 Gilligan’s Moral Stages

 Gilligan’s theory of moral development includes 3

general phases (stages) through which humans can
develop. Here care for others, rather than justice, is
the basis for moral judgment

 Gilligan’s stages:
 morality as individual survival
 morality as self-sacrifice
 morality as equality
 Gilligan expanded
 Morality as individual survival
 The young child’s first sense of what is good for them.
Young children follow rules to obtain rewards for
themselves and avoid punishment
 Morality as self-sacrifice
 This is attained after becoming aware of the needs of
others. In this stage, the person believes that to be good
and to be approved of by others, they must sacrifice their
own needs and meet the needs of others
Gilligan expanded
 Morality as equality
 the person views their own needs as equal to
those of others.
 People at this stage have progressed from
believing that they must always please others at
the expense of their own wishes to a belief that
everyone’s needs should be met when possible
– sacrifices should be shared equally when the
needs of all cannot be met
 This involves advocacy of non-violence
 For next Wednesday…
 Create a hypothetical person and describe their journey
through the different stages of life. You will use
Piaget’s, Erikson’s, Kohlberg’s and Gilligan’s theories
to guide you.

 Start by looking at the nature of each stage and then

describe how your individual fits within the stage
 Cognitively what can they do, how are they resolving
psychosocial conflicts (healthfully or maladaptively), morally
how do they reason?
 Make your connections to the stage theories explicit
 Example
 Arnold was born October 18, 1980

 His caregiver consistently fed him when he would

show signs of hunger and before he cried (a late
hunger cue). He was worn in a sling for much of the
time and his caregivers co-slept with him. He is
securely attached and could be said to have
successfully resolved Erikson’s Trust vs Mistrust
psychosocial conflict meaning he will have a sense
that the world is a place to have hope; that he will
feel secure even if threatened. He will bring a sense
of trust into his future relationships.
Welcome to development
beyond childhood!
In the past, AP test takers have
been asked…
 Adolescence has been called a time of “storm
and stress.” Describe how each of the following
brain areas or psychological concepts might
contribute to this storm and stress.

 Then five prompts were given that test takers

had to respond to
 Consider five key components of the storm and
stress of adolescence in terms of units 2 &3
(Let’s share/collaborate)
Adolescence
 Consider the teenage brain article, watch the
video, think back to the bio-psyc unit and then
be prepared for a FRQ!
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiduiTq1ei8
Adolescence
 The transition period from childhood
to adulthood
 Extending from puberty to
independence
 What qualifies as independence?
 Puberty
 the period of sexual maturation
 when a person becomes capable of
reproduction
 Physical aspects of
adolescence
 Primary Sex Characteristics
 body structures that make sexual reproduction possible
 ovaries--female
 testes--male
 external genitalia

 Secondary Sex Characteristics

 Non-reproductive sexual characteristics
 female--breast and hips
 male--voice quality and body hair

 Menarche (meh-NAR-key)
 first menstrual period – now occurs earlier
Social-Emotional aspects of
Adolescence
 Some adolescents forge an identity early by adopting
parental values and expectations (do not explore)
 Others adopt an identity in opposition to parents but
then conform to a particular peer group (drama geeks,
jocks, etc.)
 Those having high-quality relationships with family and
friends tend to enjoy high-quality romantic relationships
(sets the stage for healthy adult relationships)
Social-Emotional aspects of
Adolescence
 In Western cultures there is a pulling away from
parents while adolescents craft their own
identities
 Parent child conflict is greater with first-borns
than with second-borns
 Adolescence now stretches longer than it used
to and we now use the term ‘emerging
adulthood’ to refer to the gap between
adolescent independence and full adulthood
It will happen to you!
physical changes as you age
Menopause
 the time of
natural
cessation of
menstruation
 also refers to
the biological
changes a
woman
experiences
as her ability
to reproduce
declines
 Physical Changes as you Age

 Internal Changes:
 Brain becomes smaller and lighter
 Pulls away from skull, increasing effects of

injury
 Decrease in number of neurons

 Reduction in blood flow

 Circulation decreases
 25% less blood flow compared to age 20

 Caused by hardening and shrinking of blood

vessels
Cognition in adulthood
Crystallized Intelligence
 one’s accumulated knowledge and verbal
skills
 tends to increase with age

Fluid Intelligence
 ones ability to reason speedily and
abstractly
 tends to decrease from 20s and 30s up to
75 (then rapidly declines)
 Losses and
gains

 We lose recall memory and processing speed

BUT we gain vocabulary knowledge
 Decisions are less prone to distortion/influence
by anxiety, anger and depression
 Increased social reasoning (taking multiple
perspectives and appreciating knowledge
limits)
Alzheimer’s disease is…
 …a progressive and irreversible brain
disorder
 characterized by a gradual deterioration of
memory, reasoning, language, and finally,
physical functioning

Is this simply a part of aging?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkIg-SxPzTA
Grief: Kübler-Ross “Stages of Acceptances”

Kubler-Ross (1969) studied the feelings of relatives after

someone close had died as well as observing those who
had been told they are dying.

She found that we all go through the same set of emotions

over a period of many months:
1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance
Kubler-Ross’ 5 stages of death
1) Denial
 Denial is resisting the whole idea of
death ("No I'm not or she's not").
 Denial is a form of defense mechanism
to allow one to absorb difficult
information at one's own pace
2) Anger
 "Why me/her?" "Why not you?"
 In this stage people may be very difficult to be
around.

3) Bargaining
 At this stage individuals are trying to negotiate
their way out of the death.
 Typically, people try to "make deals" with God.
 Sometimes the bargain creates an event or date
until which the person can hold on to (such as a
grandchild's wedding, or a 100th birthday).
4) Depression
 The individual at this stage is
overwhelmed by a deep sense of loss.
 Reactive depression is a type of
depression based on what has already
occurred, such as loss of dignity, health,
etc.
 Preparatory depression is the
anticipation of future losses, such as the
loss of a relationship.
5) Acceptance
 People are fully aware that death is
impending.
 In this stage individuals near death make
peace with death and may want to be left
alone.
 Persons in this stage are often unemotional
and uncommunicative.
Poor Homer
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYN4CllW
uiM
Evaluation of Kubler-Ross
 People don’t go through identical predictable
stages , eg . Denial before anger
 However, one study did show that yearning for
a loved one peaked at four months after the
loss and anger peaking about a month later
 Applies only to those aware of pending death
 Not very useful in cases with ambiguous
prognosis
 May be too restrictive
 Role of anxiety
 Role of chronic severe pain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsECS5qsGLs
Life can begin at 60!

 https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/how-98-year-old-photographer-
thelma-pepper-captured-the-extraordinary-in-the-ordinary-women-of-
Read, synthesize, analyze and
discuss
 Read the two articles assigned to you (Teen brain and Thelma
Pepper)
 Consider the following discussion questions:

 Characterize some ways these two stages of human development

have been portrayed or understood within dominant North
American culture in the past century
 If possible bring into consideration other cultural contexts
 How do these articles, and research related to them, reframe our
understanding of these phases of life?
 To what extent is adolescence and older adulthood similar? Are
they more similar or more different as phases of life and how do
you know?
 Which phase is more appealing to you? What is your rationale?