Although children frequently engage in creative activities (in which they make foods and objects by hand), the development and scope of children's thinking about handmade items is largely unexplored. In the present studies, we examined whether 4- to 12-year-old children at a local children's museum (54% girls, 46% boys; 51% White, 11% Asian/Asian…

The neurocognitive development of moral and conventional judgments was examined. Event-related potentials were recorded while 24 adolescents (13 years) and 30 young adults (20 years) read scenarios with 1 of 3 endings: moral violations, conventional violations, or neutral acts. Participants judged whether the act was acceptable or unacceptable…

The developmental sequence of preschool children's moral judgments, and their emphasis on intentions versus property damage was investigated. Eight moral judgment stories with drawings were read to twelve 3 1/2- and twelve 4 1/2-year-old children (mean ages = 46.6 and 54.0 months, respectively). The stories included either positive or negative…

Argues that in addition to domains of value, young children recognize distinct domains of truth. Notes that although value judgments have been shown to be differentiated by age 4, research suggests truth judgments may not be similarly differentiated before grade school age. (JPB)

Since Kohlberg (1958) first extended the cognitive developmental theory of moral judgment to include moral reasoning in adults, it has been found that women tended to score at a lower developmental stage than did men. Gilligan (1982) has conceptualized women's moral reasoning as being different in kind from men's moral reasoning, with women's…

Examined 6-, 8-, and 10-year olds' conceptions of flags as social conventions and their understandings of the symbolic and psychological consequences associated with transgressions toward flags. Found that despite age-related increases in understanding of flags as meaningful collective symbols, children at all ages considered transgressions to be…

Investigated 4-, 8-, and 11-year-olds' ability to categorize intentionally false and true statements as lies and truths. Found that older children were more likely to categorize false statements as lies and true statements as truths than were 4-year-olds. Antisocial lies were rated as most serious, and "white lies" as least serious.…

This article reports a theoretically based study on the model of development of epistemological understanding proposed by Kuhn (2000) [Kuhn, D. (2000). Theory of mind, metacognition, and reasoning: A life-span perspective. In P. Mitchell & K. J. Riggs (Eds.), "Children's reasoning and the mind" (pp. 301-326). Hove, UK: Psychology…

This study explored the relationship between children's sense of justice for a criminal offender and their cognitive level. Subjects were 60 children, 10 boys and 10 girls at each of the following developmental or cognitive levels: preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Each child was individually pretested for cognitive…

Examined the moral and ecological reasoning of second, fifth, and eighth graders regarding the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Found that children understood negative effects of the spill, cared that harm occurred to shoreline and marine life, and thought it violated a moral obligation. Fifth and eighth graders used a greater proportion of anthropocentric…

Examined Korean first, third, and fifth graders' judgments about authority commands regarding moral events. Found that children judged that a principal, teacher, class president, and child without an authority position have legitimacy and should be obeyed when giving morally right directives. Children gave greater legitimacy to persons giving…

Investigated development of reasoning about the teaching of values in school and family contexts among 8-, 10-, and 13-year olds and college students. Found that children and young adults' reasoning is multifaceted and distinguishes between moral values that reflect justice, rights, and moral character traits and other forms of desirable…

A study was conducted to investigate developmental aspects of the logical organization of reasons among 30 boys and girls from each of the first, sixth, and tenth grades. Participants were administered the Responsibility Story Test, a measure consisting of stories portraying moral dilemmas and corresponding semistructured interview schedules.…

Examined effects of negative group stereotypes on reasoning about peer retribution (child hits another child in response to name calling) among 2,604 Arab and Jewish adolescents in Israel. Found evidence that Arab and Jewish students hold stereotypes about one another and that in-group bias affected approval and reasoning about peer retribution…

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT) 2016, taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, from 30 of April to 2 of May, 2016. Psychology, nowadays, offers a large range of scientific fields where it can be applied. The goal of understanding individuals and groups (mental functions and…