Video games have the potential to be contexts for moral learning. We investigated whether "Quandary," a video game designed to promote ethical thinking and moral considerations for decision-making, would help promote positive skills such as perspective taking and empathy in adolescents. We examined the effect of playing…

In this paper, we offer an overview and a critique of the existing theories of the moral-conventional distinction, with emphasis on Nichols's [Nichols, S. (2002). Norms with feeling: Towards a psychological account of moral judgment. "Cognition, 84", 221-236] neo-sentimentalist approach. After discussing some distinctive features of Nichols's…

This article revisits Kohlberg's cognitive developmental claims that stages of moral judgment, facilitative processes of social perspective-taking, and moral values are commonly identifiable across cultures. Snarey [Snarey, J. (1985). "The cross-cultural universality of social-moral development: A critical review of Kohlbergian research."…

Discusses the history of the dichotomy drawn between fact and value, tracing its development from modernity to postmodernity. Advocates a relational approach that permits diversity in the context of unity, in which the conditions "is" and "ought" are complimentary. (JPB)

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…

Examines the distinctions and interrelations between necessary and contingent knowledge and relates these concepts to the distinction between scientific and empirical validity. Considers how these distinctions can be applied to an understanding of morality, arguing for a relational rather than absolutist approach to questions of necessity. (JPB)

Investigates the ways in which young adults make judgments about two contrasting kinds of rights: moral worthiness (the aretaic) and moral obligation (the deontic), reflecting on how thinking in these areas may be coordinated with responsibility judgments and behavior. Discusses what might be gained if the aretaic domain were taken into account in…

Notes that moral decisions include both moral concepts and factual beliefs. Considers possible sources of variation in factual beliefs and presents research into children's and adults' thinking about practices based on factual beliefs different from their own. Discusses how individuals take these differences into account when judging the seemingly…

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…

Makes a case for rereading the fact-value dichotomy that currently divides the contemporaneous literatures dealing with children's moral reasoning development and their evolving theories of mind. Presents findings from two research programs, in which children's beliefs about truth and rightness are combined, to illustrate the natural…

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 paper explores the issue of sex bias in a contemporary major theory of moral development, cognitive moral theory. It explains critical reactions by Carol Gilligan and others questioning whether cognitive moral theory adequately accounts for female moral reasoning and behavior in its theory and research procedures. Several general…

Presents a theoretical perspective for the psychological study of moral development which does not rely on the notion that different types of moral view have different logical structures and which provides a framework for specific predictions about moral content and moral reasoning, motivation, and behavior. (Author/RH)

Examined the variability in the development of moral judgment by reanalyzing a set of Kohlberg's data studies on the concept of structured wholeness, a deep cognitive organization unifying different surface judgments given by the same subject. Although the results failed to show total consistency they also show that it is not meaningful to claim…

Maintains that although Kohlberg emphasized the importance of perspective taking in moral reasoning, his view of developmental stages is inconsistent with this position. Argues that a modification of Kohlberg's conception of stages drawing on Piagetian theory would result in a view of moral reasoning as a process of coordinating all perspectives…