The current study examines developing changes in children's intuitions about why disagreements about decisions might occur, focusing on what children understand about partiality and how it may vary depending on the context. Eighty children ages 6 to 13 years old and 20 adults were presented with stories in which there was a disagreement with the…

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…

The role of narrative and dramatic processes in mediating and shaping both moral judgment and moral action, two processes central to moral development, is examined. The notion of the "moral audience," in which individuals seem to rehearse, review, and redefine their moral actions, is proposed and illustrated. (LB)

To enhance the ability of youth to help peers and themselves, the author proposes specific training in mature social decision-making to help youth overcome immature moral development and egocentric thinking. The EQUIP program emphasizes the positive moral potential of anti-social adolescents, as well as the limitations of antisocial youth:…

Research suggests that adolescents as young as 13 years old reason about such abstract rights as freedom of speech and religion. It is unclear whether such reasoning develops earlier. Also unclear is the role of adults as agents in inculating in children the adults' views on such rights. A study examined 184 Canadian students in the first, third,…