Used a pretest/post-test control group design involving 44 female adolescent subjects to determine whether Moral Stage 3 subjects who have attained early basic formal operations are more susceptible to attempts to stimulate moral development than Stage 3 subjects who have attained only beginning formal operations and lack the cognitive…

This paper indicates how, in the two areas of (1) habit and reason and (2) affective and cognitive, Kohlberg's theory of cognitive moral development may be expanded to include the conceptualizations necessary for any visable moral developmental theory. (MM)

This exploratory study of 152 undergraduate students examined the relationships among spirituality, cognitive and moral development, and existential sense of meaning. Results suggest that no relationship exists between spirituality and cognitive development, but that spirituality is positively related to both moral development and purpose in life.…

David Carr (2002) has argued against the use of developmental theories as a basis for curriculum development in moral education. Although we find common ground with some aspects of Carr's arguments, we disagree with several of his criticisms of the cognitive-developmental approach to moral education. He confuses romantic ideology (as espoused by…

Service-learning courses can be powerful instruments for cognitive, affective, and moral transformation. This chapter examines the strengths and weaknesses of service-learning as an agent for cognitive, moral, and interpersonal development and its ability to promote civic or social engagement.

Differing findings exist on how Defining Issues Test (DIT) scores relate to intelligence. Further study is needed in order to address aspects of intellect not previously considered and to address how these relationships rival studies that have compared indices of intellect with constructs similar to DIT scores. In the present study, a sample of…

Education is not a respected profession because educational practice is not based on a solid body of scientific research and theory. Education is at a prescientific or early scientific stage of development. Attempts by educators to base their practice on behavioral science fail because behaviorism encompasses only a narrow segment of human…

In this paper a recent critique of Kohlberg's cognitive-developmental approach to morality by Krutines and Greif is examined in detail. The critique is found to contribute some useful indications of needed study. However, a careful analysis of the literature on moral development shows the criticisms to be largely unfounded, in several cases…

A group of 45 undergraduates discussed a moral issue with a confederate who had the same opinion (no-controversy) or opposite opinion (controversy). Subjects in the controversy conditions were induced to have a high level of defensiveness by a disconfirmation of personal competence or a low level of defensiveness by a confirmation. Subjects in…

This study investigated children's conceptions of death from a developmental perspective. Subjects were 170 children from grades K-4. Children were tested for conservation and interviewed, following story presentations about an elderly woman's death, to assess their understanding of three concepts concerning death: irrevocability, cessation of…

Offers a report on a January 1987 colloquium on moral cognition in Chinese culture. Calls for creative teamwork on longitudinal interviews to gain a more exact picture of moral development structures in non-western cultures such as Taiwan. (BSR)

R. S. Peters's paper, "Reason and Habit: The Paradox of Moral Education," is used as a medium through which to explore the paradox of education. An argument against the theory of just one developmental paradox of education is presented. Four paradoxes, consisting of the basic, stultification, conceptual change, and authority and autonomy are…

Article investigated the possibility of teaching a non-sectarian morality in the multi-cultural school while benefiting Muslim, Humanist, Hindu and Jew. (Author/RK)

While accepting that certain points made by Phillips and Nicolayev are accurate, the statement that Kohlberg's research program is degenerative is perhaps too extreme an interpretation. (JN)

This paper argues that morality is essentially a matter of rational reflection and judgment and has little to do with feelings or affections. The notions of reason and justification are analyzed. Four types of feelings are defined and shown to provide inadequate bases for moral judgment. (Author/SJL)