In three experiments involving 207 preschoolers and 28 adults, we investigated the extent to which young children base moral judgments of actions aimed to protect others on utilitarian principles. When asked to judge the rightness of intervening to hurt one person in order to save five others, the large majority of children aged 3 to 5 years…

One focus of "Invitational Theory and Practice" is creating positive environments that summon each individual to "develop intellectually, socially, physically, emotionally, and morally" (Purkey & Novak, 2008). Children's literature is a rich resource for teachers and parents to focus on emotional and moral development. This…

Postmodern pedagogy is constantly confronted with Lyotard's condemnation of grand narratives found in the philosophy of modernity, on the basis of which basic patterns of moral education were developed. In searching for new answers to the question of how education can prepare individuals for life in an age of late modernity, this paper presents…

A case study approach was employed to investigate low-income families' aspirations for their children and their understandings of their children's developmental needs. Participants were four women whose children or grandchildren were enrolled in an urban early childhood program and were considered "at risk." Qualitative methods including…

We investigated whether children's robust conscience, formed during early family socialization, promotes their future adaptive and competent functioning in expanded ecologies. We assessed two dimensions of conscience in young children (N = 100) at 25, 38, and 52 months in scripted laboratory contexts: internalization of their mothers' and fathers'…

Children's theatre in the UK is thriving. Debates about why children should watch theatre and what educational, emotional and expressive benefits it can provide inform cultural policy on education. Children aged 4-11 are increasingly taken to watch tailored theatre performances, yet there has been virtually no reflective research on what theatre…

Research has shown that inclusion benefits children with disabilities and typical developing peers. Children with disabilities enrolled in inclusive settings were found to achieve better developmental outcomes than children with similar abilities enrolled in traditional special education settings (Hundert, Mahoney, Mundy, & Vernon, 1998), higher…

Piaget (1932) and subsequent researchers have reported that young children's moral judgments are based more on the outcomes of actions than on the agents' intentions. The current study investigated whether negligence might also influence these judgments and explain children's apparent focus on outcome. Children (3-8 years of age) and adults (N =…

In order to unify two major theories of moral judgment, a novel task is employed which combines elements of Kohlberg's stage theory and of the theory of information integration. In contrast to the format of Kohlberg's moral judgment interview, a nonverbal and quantitative response which makes low demands on verbal facility was used. Moral…

"How can you help students most effectively in the classroom?" As a Teaching Assistant, you play a vital role in today's schools. This fully updated new edition will help you get to grips with the main issues to do with psychology and its role in the processes of teaching and learning. This accessible text, building on the success of a…

Empathy is the ability to understand another's perspective and to consider it before acting. This is a difficult skill for a young child who is egocentric--in the "Me!" stage. The ability to feel empathy is directly related to the ability to form relationships. Relationships give children the feeling of security, which allows them to feel safe and…

Lawrence Kohlberg first published details of his research on the development of moral judgments in "Vita Humana" (later titled "Human Development"). Along with a series of other articles and essays, he greatly influenced research on moral development. He was instrumental in moving the field out of the narrow confines of analyses of psychological…

Background: The parent-child relationship is considered important for children's future conscience, and conscience is seen as protecting them from disruptive behavior problems, but specific mechanisms of this developmental process are rarely studied. Methods: This multi-trait multi-method study examined, in a longitudinal design, paths linking…

Empathy and sympathy play crucial roles in much of human social interaction and are necessary components for healthy coexistence. Sympathy is thought to be a proxy for motivating prosocial behavior and providing the affective and motivational base for moral development. The purpose of the present study was to use functional MRI to characterize…

Within each chapter of this innovative topical text, the authors engage students by demonstrating the wide range of real-world applications of psychological research connected to child development. In particular, the distinctive Active Learning features incorporated throughout the book foster a dynamic and personal learning process for students.…