Mary E. Brown, Ph.D., Professor
Information Science

Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT 06515

Department of Information and Library Science
Fax: 1.203.392-5780 / Phone: 1.203.392-5781
Toll Free: 1-888-500-SCSU, then press 4

UNIT 3 READING ASSIGNMENT

UNIT 3 LECTURE

Kohlberg's MORAL STAGE THEORY

Kohlberg systematized PiagetŐs thinking on morality and developed a hierarchy of moral development--this theory is still evolving. Only a minority of adults reach the post-conventional (conformity) levels of behavior, that is, those levels marked by the rights of others and the conscience acting as a guide to moral conduct.

Level I --

Moral values reside in external happenings, in bad acts or quasi-physical needs rather than in persons and standards.

• Stage 0 -- Premoral [infancy]
• Stage 1 -- Obedience and punishment orientation [early childhood, about 1-1/2 to 3 years]
  • The child defers to superior powers or prestige, or wants to stay out of trouble.
• Stage 2 -- Reciprocity orientation [middle childhood, about 3-6]
  • The child realizes that right action satisfies its needs and occasionally the needs of others.
  • Self-interest is paramount.
  • Trade-offs are values: "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours."
  • Loyalty and gratitude don't enter in.

Level II --

Moral values reside in performing good or right roles, in maintaining the conventional order and pleasing others.

• Stage 3 -- The good child orientation [late childhood, about 6-12]
  • The main thing is to get approval by pleasing and helping others.
  • child conforms to majority or "natural" behavior.
• Stage 4 -- Law and order orientation [adolescence, about 13-20]
  • Doing one's duty, respect for authority, and maintaining the social order for its own sake are seen as "moral" actions.

Level III --

Moral values reside in principles separate from those who hold and enforce them, and apart from a person's identification with the enforcing group.

• Stage 5 -- The legalistic orientation [only a minority of adults reach this stage]
  • The rights of others as well as individuals rights are recognized.
  • Rights agreed upon by the whole society are accepted as binding, yet looked upon as subject to change.
  • Rights and duties are derived from the social contract.
• Stage 6 -- The conscience or principle orientation [only a minority of adults reach this stage]
  • Universally agreed upon ethical standards rather than "rules" guide moral conduct.
  • The ideas of justice, respect for others, and equality are examples of moral "ideals."

Social Learning Theory (Bandura)

Skinner and traditional learning theory emphasized the viewpoint that behavior change is based on principles of operant conditioning (behavior that is reinformed or rewarded will be learned). Bandura and others assert that children learn vicariously, that is, by observing the behavior of social models. Whether a child will imitate a behavior depends on the type of behavior as well as the consequences of that behavior, that is, whether the model is rewarded or punished. Behavior is more likely to be imitated when it is rewarded by a high-prestige person than by one with low prestige.

Vygotsky's ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT

• Lev Vygotsky was a Soviet cognitive development psychologist.
• His concept of the "zone of proximal development" maintains there is a zone of learning marked at the bottom by assisted performance and at the top by individual manipulation.
• Within this zone, the child learns to manipulate ideas and skills independently by being assisted in varying degrees, as need by the individual child at the specific time. For example, a child is unable to tie his or her own shoelaces. However, by mimicking the steps performed by other, or by following each step as reminded verbally by another, the child is able to complete the task. Another form of assistance may be reminders of steps through questioning, for example, "Where do we lay the right lace?" "How do we make the right lace go under and over the left lace?"
• Assisted performance permits the child to successfully accomplish tasks that might otherwise be beyond the abilities of the child.
• [Reference: Mind in Society, 1978, Harvard University Press]
• Vygotsky is sometimes spelled Vygotski

UNIT 3 QUIZ ON LECTURE

After reading and reviewing the Unit 3 lecture, please take the quiz in WebCT (SCSU Vista)

UNIT 3 PEER EDITING

After you have entered your Type Three writing [describe the use of toys and games in children's stories and why they are important (350 words)], read the entry immediately before yours and make suggestions for improving the writing, based on the focus correction areas (FCAs). [First person will need to read the last entry.] Upload your writings to the Peer Editing / Threaded Discussion for the day/unit due. Remember to make comments promptly on classmates' writings so they can be used in rewriting to the Type Four assignments. Type Four writings are expected to be a substantial improvement over the Type Three assignment.