UNIT - II UNDERSTANDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEARNER

Nature of the Learner: Learner as a developing individual, a psycho- social entity- stages of development, factors influencing development - Developmental characteristics of an adolescent and their interrelationships - Developmental tasks and their implications in adolescence, Knowledge of growth and development and its relevance to teaching – learning process – concept - Its characteristics and purpose – Its stages– Theories of development – Piaget’s cognitive development – Freud’s psycho sexual development – Erikson’s psycho – social development – Kohlberg’s moral development.

The Learner:

·        The Learner is very important around him only all the activities are planned and performed.

·        Sir John Adams says “Teacher teaches John Latin” the teacher must have the knowledge of John’s Psychology.  Therefore, the teacher must know about learners need, interest, attitude, aptitude etc.

·        Individual difference of a learner should given due importance.  Any two person differ in their need, taste, hobbies, talents, skills etc because of their unique heredity, environment and life situations.  So according to that educational activities should be planned.

·        The learner also differ in his level of motivation, Personality, Developmental characters, mental health, intelligence etc so educational activities should be planned and organized around learners.

Learner as a developing individual

v Life begins at conception when mother’s ovum fertilized by the father’s sperm and a new organism is created. From that point till death an individual keeps on changing.

v Such changes are not random but orderly and generally follow a pattern. It may be noted that the developmental changes are not always incremental or evolutionary.

v They may also involve a decline in the functioning called “involution”. A child loses milk teeth in the process of development while an old person may show decay in memory and physical functioning.

Development, therefore, is best viewed as a gain-loss relationship in which newer and different kinds of changes take place. Older behavior patterns may lose their salience while new ones may emerge.

Learner as a psycho- social entity

Development is shaped by the joint influences of both nature and nurture in a cultural context.

Nature refers to the hereditary contribution a child receives from parents at the time of conception. Genetics determines several aspects of a person’s physical structure and functioning as well as some psychological characteristics to a certain extent.

Nurture refers to the influences of the complex physical and social ecology in which we develop and grow. Various aspects of the child’s ecology (e.g. physical facilities, social institutions and rituals, and school) influence the developmental outcomes in important ways.

STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

Any development process proceeds through some stages and each development stage differs from the other. Each stage of development has its characteristic. Psychologists have separated human life span into stages or periods and identified specific changes that may be expected during each stage. The transition from one stage to the next is gradual rather than sudden. The age groups assigned to each stage of the development are general as shown in the

Stage of Development	Description of Each Stages
Infancy Birth to 2 Years	Neonate: This stage is a period from birth to two weeks. Babyhood: This stage is of rapid growth and development. There are changes in body proportions as well as intellectual growth.
Early childhood 2 to 6	This is the preschool period. It is also called the pre-gang age. In this stage, the child seeks gain control over his environment. He also starts to learn to make social adjustment.
Late childhood 6 to 12	This is the primary school age. Here child is expected to acquire the rudiments of knowledge that are considered essential for successful adjustment to adult life. He/She are also expected to learn certain essential skills.
Adolescence 12 to 18	This is the period of physiological change. It is the period when children become sexually mature. It is also the period of intensified personal interaction with peers of the same and opposite sex.
Young adulthood 18 to 40	The responsibilities of adulthood include important decisions like choosing a career, a life partner, etc. Young adulthood begins with setting goals and aspirations.
Middle adulthood 40 to 60	After settling down in thirties and having lived through with rooting phase, the individual starts feeling sense of uprooting and dissatisfaction during the forties. A physical decline in the form of wrinkles, thickening waistlines, greying and thinning hair start appearing. The changes are often termed middle life transition, middleage revolt, mid-career crisis or middle-age slump. These terms point U, the loss of youth and the coming of old age. In women, hormonal changes of menopause (ending of menstruation) generate anxiety and depression.
Late adulthood Over 60	Aging is a process, which causes loss of vitality. Aged adults are more concerned about their health and death. Their visit to doctors is more frequent. Retirement has the worst impact on aged adults. They gradually lose their sense of meaningfulness in life. Some develop interests in social service and spend their time in financial planning, reading, travelling, visiting religious places and enjoying nature.

Adolescence

Adolescence (from Latin adolescere, meaning "to grow up") is a transitional stage of physical and psychological human developmentthat generally occurs during the period from puberty to legal adulthood..Adolescence is a period of transition when the individual changes- physically and psychologically-from a child to an adult. It is a period when rapid physiological and psychological changes demand for new social roles to take place. The adolescents, due to these changes often face a number of crises and dilemmas. It is the period when the child moves from dependency to autonomy. It demands significant adjustment to the physical and social changes.

Developmental Characteristics of Adolescence (Age 12- 18 Years)

Physical Development

Physiological changes at puberty promote rapid growth, the maturity of sexual organs, and development of secondary sex characteristics.

Cognitive Development

During early adolescence, precursors to formal operational thinking appear, including a limited ability to think hypothetically and to take multiple perspectives. During middle and late adolescence, formal operational thinking becomes well developed and integrated in a significant percentage of adolescents.

Social Development

Social relationships in early adolescence are centered in the peer group. Group values guide individual behaviour. Acceptance by peers is critical to self-esteem. Most peer relationships are still same-sex. Young adolescents become interested in sexual relationships, but most contact is through groups. Some youth may begin to experiment with sexual behaviour, but many early adolescents are not sexually active with other youth. Social roles are still largely defined by external sources. During middle and late adolescence, values become individualized and internalized after careful consideration and independent thought. Friends are more often selected on personal characteristics and mutual interests. The peer group declines in importance, individual friendships are strengthened, and more youth "date" in one-on-one relationships. The youth experiments with social roles and explores options for career choice.

 Emotional Development

The early adolescent is strongly identified with the peer group. Youth depend upon their peers for emotional stability and support and to help mold the youth's emerging identity. Self-esteem is greatly affected by acceptance of peers. Early adolescents are emotionally labile with exaggerated affect and frequent mood swings. They are very vulnerable to emotional stress. During middle and late adolescence, identity is more individualized, and a sense of self develops and stabilizes that is separate from either family or peer group. Self-esteem is influenced by the youth's ability to live up to internalized standards for behaviour. Self-assessment and introspection are common.

Developmental Tasks for Adolescents

According to R. Harvighurst a developmental-task is a task which an individual has to and wants to solve in a particular life-period.  Havighurst writes, “A developmental-task is the midway between an individual need and a social demand. 

A developmental task is a task which arises at or about a certain period of life of the individual, successful achievement of which leads to his happiness and to success with later tasks, while failure leads to unhappiness in the individual, disapproval by the society, and difficulty with later tasks."

Developmental tasks may arise from physical maturation, from pressures of cultural processes, or from the emerging personality, usually from the interaction of these factors.

Understanding of these tasks is useful in defining educational objectives and timing educational efforts.

Some years ago, Professor Robert Havighurst of the University of Chicago proposed that stages in human development can best be thought of in terms of the developmental tasks that are part of the normal transition. He identified eleven developmental tasks associated with the adolescent transition. Each of the Havighurst tasks can also be seen as elements of the overall sense of self that adolescents carry with them as they move toward and into young adulthood.

1.     The adolescent must adjust to a new physical sense of self. At no other time since birth does an individual undergo such rapid and profound physical changes as during early adolescence. Puberty is marked by sudden rapid growth in height and weight. Also, the young person experiences the emergence and accentuation of those physical traits that make him or her a boy or girl. The young person looks less like a child and more like a physically and sexually mature adult. The effect of this rapid change is that the young adolescent often becomes focused on his or her body.

2.     The adolescent must adjust to new intellectual abilities. In addition to a sudden spurt in physical growth, adolescents experience a sudden increase in their ability to think about their world. As a normal part of maturity, they are able to think about more things. However, they are also able to conceive of their world with a new level of awareness. Before adolescence, children's thinking is dominated by a need to have a concrete example for any problem that they solve. Their thinking is constrained to what is real and physical. During adolescence, young people begin to recognize and understand abstractions. The growth in ability to deal with abstractions accelerates during the middle stages of adolescence.

3.     The adolescent must adjust to increased cognitive demands at school. Adults see high school in part as a place where adolescents prepare for adult roles and responsibilities and in part as preparatory for further education. School curricula are frequently dominated by inclusion of more abstract, demanding material, regardless of whether the adolescents have achieved formal thought. Since not all adolescents make the intellectual transition at the same rate, demands for abstract thinking prior to achievement of that ability may be frustrating.

4.     The adolescent must develop expanded verbal skills. As adolescents mature intellectually, as they face increased school demands, and as they prepare for adult roles, they must develop new verbal skills to accommodate more complex concepts and tasks. Their limited language of childhood is no longer adequate. Adolescents may appear less competent because of their inability to express themselves meaningfully.

5.     The adolescent must develop a personal sense of identity. Prior to adolescence, one's identity is an extension of one's parents. During adolescence, a young person begins to recognize her or his uniqueness and separation from parents. As such, one must restructure the answer to the question "What does it mean to be me?" or "Who am I?"

6.     The adolescent must establish adult vocational goals. As part of the process of establishing a personal identity, the adolescent must also begin the process of focusing on the question "What do you plan to be when you grow up?" Adolescents must identify, at least at a preliminary level what are their adult vocational goals and how they intend to achieve those goals.

7.     The adolescent must establish emotional and psychological independence from his or her parents. Childhood is marked by strong dependence on one's parents. Adolescents may yearn to keep that safe, secure, supportive, dependent relationship. Yet, to be an adult implies a sense of independence, of autonomy, of being one's own person. Adolescents may vacillate between their desire for dependence and their need to be independent. In an attempt to assert their need for independence and individuality, adolescents may respond with what appears to be hostility and lack of cooperation.

8.     The adolescent must develop stable and productive peer relationships. Although peer interaction is not unique to adolescence, peer interaction seems to hit a peak of importance during early and middle adolescence. The degree to which an adolescent is able to make friends and have an accepting peer group is a major indicator of how well the adolescent will successfully adjust in other areas of social and psychological development.

9.     The adolescent must learn to manage her or his sexuality. With their increased physical and sexual maturity, adolescents need to incorporate into their personal identity, a set of attitudes about what it means to be male or female. Their self-image must accommodate their personal sense of masculinity and femininity. Additionally, they must incorporate values about their sexual behavior.

10. The adolescent must adopt a personal value system. During adolescence, as teens develop increasingly complex knowledge systems, they also adopt an integrated set of values and morals. During the early stages of moral development, parents provide their child with a structured set of rules of what is right and wrong, what is acceptable and unacceptable. Eventually the adolescent must assess the parents' values as they come into conflict with values expressed by peers and other segments of society. To reconcile differences, the adolescent restructures those beliefs into a personal ideology.

11. The adolescent must develop increased impulse control and behavioral maturity. In their shift to adulthood, most young people engage in one or more behaviors that place them at physical, social, or educational risk. Risky behaviors are sufficiently pervasive among adolescents that risk taking may be a normal developmental process of adolescence. Risk taking is particularly evident during early and middle adolescence. Gradually adolescents develop a set of behavioral self-controls through which they assess which behaviors are acceptable and adult-like.

Adolescents do not progress through these multiple developmental tasks separately. At any given time, adolescents may be dealing with several. Further, the centrality of specific developmental tasks varies with early, middle, and late periods of the transition. During the early adolescent years young people make their first attempts to leave the dependent, secure role of a child and to establish themselves as unique individuals, independent of their parents. Early adolescence is marked by rapid physical growth and maturation. The focus of adolescents' self-concepts are thus often on their physical self and their evaluation of their physical acceptability. Early adolescence is also a period of intense conformity to peers. "Getting along," not being different, and being accepted seem somehow pressing to the early adolescent. The worst possibility, from the view of the early adolescent, is to be seen by peers as "different."

Middle adolescence is marked by the emergence of new thinking skills. The intellectual world of the young person is suddenly greatly expanded. Although peers still play an important role in the life of middle adolescents, they are increasingly self-directed. Their concerns about peers are more directed toward their opposite sexed peers. It is also during this period that the move to establish psychological independence from one's parents accelerates. Much of their psychological energies are directed toward preparing for adult roles and making preliminary decisions about vocational goals. Despite some delinquent behavior, middle adolescence is a period during which young people are oriented toward what is right and proper. They are developing a sense of behavioral maturity and learning to control their impulsiveness.

Late adolescence is marked be the final preparations for adult roles. The developmental demands of late adolescence often extend into the period that we think of as young adulthood. Late adolescents attempt to crystallize their vocational goals and to establish sense of personal identity. Their needs for peer approval are diminished and they are largely psychologically independent from their parents. The shift to adulthood is nearly complete.

 CONCEPT OF GROWTH:

            Growth refers only to increase in sing of parts and consequent changes in size and shape of the body as a whole.  It is the result of increase in number or size of a cell.

General Nature of Growth:

-         Every organism begins as a single cell and by taking nourishment it grows into individual.

-         All increase after birth is the result of enlargement of cells and multiplication of cells.

-         Growth is not continuous, it stops at maturity.

-         The rate of growth is not uniform.

-         It is not possible to change the rate, amount and direction of growth.

-         It is a product of the interaction of the organism and its environment.

-         Growth is quantitative and additive

-         Growth is observable and measurable.

-         Growth is a process of integration as well as differentiation

-         Normal growth is a sign of good health.

Development:

            Overall changes in shape, form or structure resulting in improved working or functioning indicates changes in qualitative rather quantitative.

Nature of Development:

-         It is progressive series of changes that occurs in a orderly predicted pattern (Development is sequential Directional).

-         It is continuous process in all areas of mental activities.

-         It helps the individual to adopt in his environment.

-         It is a complex process integrates many structure and functions.

-         It includes many aspects like physical emotional intellectual, social and moral.

-         Rate of Development is not uniform throughout life.

-         Development is influenced by learning and maturation.

-         It related to ones environment.

-         It is based on teachers and parents behaviour.

-         It is qualitative.

-         It is not measurable.

-         It is possible even without growth.

                        D is a Product of      G + M + L

Meaning and Definitions of learning

Learning, in psychology, the process by which a relatively lasting change in potential behaviour occurs because of practice or experience. Learning is also a process of acquiring modifications in existing knowledge, skills, habits, or tendencies through experience, practice, or exercise.

Gates and others “Learning is the modification of behaviour through experience” Henry, P smith “Learning is the acquisition of new behaviour or strengthening or weakening of old behaviour as a result of experience”.

Crow and Crow “Learning is the acquisition of habits, knowledge and attitudes. It involves new ways of doing things, and it operates in an individual’s attempt to overcome obstacles or to adjust to new situations.”

Skinner “Learning is the process of progressive behaviour adaptation.” Munn“To learn is to modify behaviour and experience.”

M. L. Bigge “Learning may be considered as change in insights, behaviour, perception, motivation or a combination of these.”

 The above definitions emphasize four attributes of learning...

• As Process: the first is that learning is permanent change in behaviour.

• It does not include change due to illness, fatigue, maturation and use of intoxicant.

 • The learning is not directly observable but manifests in the activities of the individual.

• Learning depends on practice and experience.

 Characteristics of Learning

Yoakum & Simpson have stated the following general characteristics of learning: Learning is growth, adjustment, organisation of experience, purposeful, both individual and social, product of the environment.

According to W.R Mc law learning has the following characteristics.

1.     Learning is a continuous modification of behaviour continues throughout life

2.     Learning is pervasive. It reaches into all aspects of human life.

3.     Learning involves the whole person, socially, emotionally & intellectually.

4.     Learning is often a change in the organisation of behaviour.

5.     Learning is developmental. Time is one of its dimensions.

6.     Learning is responsive to incentives. In most cases positive incentives such as rewards are most effective than negative incentives such as punishments.

7.     Learning is always concerned with goals. These goals can be expressed in terms of observable behaviour.

8.     Interest & learning are positively related. The individual learns bet those things, which he is interested in learning. Most bys find learning to play football easier than learning to add fractions.

9.     Learning depends on maturation and motivation.

The Learning Process:

            Learning is a process by which we acquire and retain attitudes, knowledge, understanding skills and capabilities.Capacity for learning depends on innate physical and psychological factors.Rate of learning depends on both inherited and environmental factors.The learning process should contain different types of learning like 1) Affective learning 2) Cognitive learning and 3) Psychomotor learning:

a)           Affective Learning: The Teacher has to do with feelings and values of the learner so he influences his attitude and personality.

b)          Cognitive Learning:  This can be achieved by mental process such as reasoning, remembering and recall.

c)           Psychomotor Learning:  It related to developing of skills, which needs effective coordination between brain and muscles.

Stages of Learning

Learning curve is a graphic representation of how learning takes place in a particular situation. In all type of learning situations, the course of learning can be depicted and described graphically by drawing learning curves against x and y axis.

The above figure shows a typical learning curve of many types of learning. The curve consists of a number of irregularities, as the progress is not constant. For the convenience, the curve is divided into 5 stages

(a) Initial Lag Phase (Period of slow progress): Generally, when a person has to start a learning of a given activity from a scratch, his early progress will be slow. E.g., an infant’s progress in learning to walk is very negligible in the beginning.

 (b) Spurt Phase (Period of rapid progress): In this stage, the learner’s output raises rapidly. e.g. In typing once the learner has developed co ordination of the movement of fingers he shows rapid progress.

(c) Plateau Phase (Period of no apparent progress): Learning curves frequently display a period of no apparent progress. It is also known as plateau. A period of no visible learning progress, preceded and followed by improvement is called as plateaus. E.g. In typing, a person may after having made rather consistent progress for some time, reach a point where perhaps for weeks no further progress is made.

Causes of plateau

1.     The learner may be reorganizing the previous learning into a new pattern before further progress is possible.

2.     The learner may have hit upon bad habits

3.     Lack of progress may be due to decrease in motivation.

4.     The task may not be of uniform difficulty.

5.     Loss of interest.

6.     The onset of boredom fatigue is also one of the causes of a plateau.

7.     Inappropriate method of learning.

8.     It may be period of consolidation.

9.     Absence of feedback.

10.                        Low level of aspiration.

(d) Steady rise phase: At the end of a plateau, there is generally a spurt in achievement. While on the plateau, the learner acquires better techniques, which help him later on to show rapid progress and reaches Peak performances-zenith. This is different for different individuals and determined by the psyiological limits of the individuals.

(e) Decline Phase: All learning will finally slow down to such an extent that it will ultimately reach a period of no improvement. No one can continue to improve indefinitely in any given situation. The learning curve will eventually reach a limit, where no further improvement is possible. This limit is known as physiological limit.

Characteristics of Learning Curve.

1.     Slow initial progress.

2.     Spurt-like learning after some time.

3.     Declination in the rate of learning.

4.     Plateaus of learning.

5.     Sudden increase in learning.

6.     Gradual levelling at the end.

Educational importance of learning curve

1. In acquiring the basic skills in various subjects, the learner at times appears to show no progress. At such moments, the teacher can diagnose the reasons for the lack of progress.

2. A student’s progress may be arrested because the work is too complex for him. The teacher can observe the student’s work and detect the part that gives him trouble. The teacher should see if the student has developed any faulty study habits, which impede his progress.

3. The plateau may be due to the lack of motivation. The teacher should provide encouragement in order to maintain motivation at a high level.

 4. The learning curves give a graphic evidence of one’s progress, which is an effective motivational device for the learner. 5. Occurrence of plateaus can be minimized by using superior teaching methods.

THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT

PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY

The theory of psychosexual development was proposed by the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and described how personality developed over the course of childhood. While the theory is well-known in psychology, it is also one of the most controversial. So how exactly does this psychosexual theory work? Freud believed that personality developed through a series of childhood stages in which the pleasure-seeking energies of the id become focused on certain erogenous areas. This psychosexual energy, or libido, was described as the driving force behind behavior.

Psychoanalytic theory suggested that personality is mostly established by the age of five. Early experiences play a large role in personality development and continue to influence behavior later in life. If these psychosexual stages are completed successfully, a healthy personality is the result. If certain issues are not resolved at the appropriate stage, fixations can occur. A fixation is a persistent focus on an earlier psychosexual stage. Until this conflict is resolved, the individual will remain "stuck" in this stage. For example, a person who is fixated at the oral stage may be over-dependent on others and may seek oral stimulation through smoking, drinking, or eating.

ORAL STAGE - Birth to 1 Year,Erogenous Zone: Mouth

During the oral stage, the infant's primary source of interaction occurs through the mouth, so the rooting and sucking reflex is especially important. The mouth is vital for eating and the infant derives pleasure from oral stimulation through gratifying activities such as tasting and sucking. Because the infant is entirely dependent upon caretakers (who are responsible for feeding the child), the infant also develops a sense of trust and comfort through this oral stimulation.

The primary conflict at this stage is the weaning process--the child must become less dependent upon caretakers. If fixation occurs at this stage, Freud believed the individual would have issues with dependency or aggression. Oral fixation can result in problems with drinking, eating, smoking, or nail biting.

 

 

ANAL STAGE  - 1 to 3 years, Erogenous Zone: Bowel and Bladder Control

During the anal stage, Freud believed that the primary focus of the libido was on controlling bladder and bowel movements. The major conflict at this stage is toilet training--the child has to learn to control his or her bodily needs. Developing this control leads to a sense of accomplishment and independence. According to Freud, success at this stage is dependent upon the way in which parents approach toilet training.

Parents who utilize praise and rewards for using the toilet at the appropriate time encourage positive outcomes and help children feel capable and productive. Freud believed that positive experiences during this stage served as the basis for people to become competent, productive, and creative adults.

However, not all parents provide the support and encouragement that children need during this stage. Some parents instead punish, ridicule or shame a child for accidents.

According to Freud, inappropriate parental responses can result in negative outcomes. If parents take an approach that is too lenient, Freud suggested that an anal-expulsive personality could develop in which the individual has a messy, wasteful, or destructive personality. If parents are too strict or begin toilet training too early, Freud believed that ananal-retentive personality develops in which the individual is stringent, orderly, rigid, and obsessive.

PHALLIC STAGE –3 to 6 Years, Erogenous Zone: Genitals

During the phallic stage, the primary focus of the libido is on the genitals. At this age, children also begin to discover the differences between males and females. Freud also believed that boys begin to view their fathers as a rival for the mother’s affections. The Oedipus complex describes these feelings of wanting to possess the mother and the desire to replace the father. However, the child also fears that he will be punished by the father for these feelings, a fear Freud termed castration anxiety.

The term Electra complex has been used to described a similar set of feelings experienced by young girls. Freud, however, believed that girls instead experience penis envy. Eventually, the child begins to identify with the same-sex parent as a means of vicariously possessing the other parent. For girls, however, Freud believed that penis envy was never fully resolved and that all women remain somewhat fixated on this stage. Instead, Horney proposed that men experience feelings of inferiority because they cannot give birth to children, a concept she referred to as womb envy.

LATENT PERIOD - 6 to Puberty, Erogenous Zone: Sexual Feelings Are Inactive

During the latent period, the libido interests are suppressed. The development of the ego and superego contribute to this period of calm. The stage begins around the time that children enter into school and become more concerned with peer relationships, hobbies, and other interests. The latent period is a time of exploration in which the sexual energy is still present, but it is directed into other areas such as intellectual pursuits and social interactions.This stage is important in the development of social and communication skills and self-confidence.

GENITAL STAGE -Puberty to Death, Erogenous Zone: Maturing Sexual Interests

During the final stage of psychosexual development, the individual develops a strong sexual interest in the opposite sex. This stage begins during puberty but last throughout the rest of a person's life.

Where in earlier stages the focus was solely on individual needs, interest in the welfare of others grows during this stage. If the other stages have been completed successfully, the individual should now be well-balanced, warm, and caring. The goal of this stage is to establish a balance between the various life areas.

ERIKSON'S THEORY OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Psychosocial Stage 1 - Trust vs. Mistrust 

The first stage of Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development occurs between birth and one year of age and is the most fundamental stage in life.  Because an infant is utterly dependent, the development of trust is based on the dependability and quality of the child’s caregivers.  If a child successfully develops trust, he or she will feel safe and secure in the world. Caregivers who are inconsistent, emotionally unavailable, or rejecting contribute to feelings of mistrust in the children they care for. Failure to develop trust will result in fear and a belief that the world is inconsistent and unpredictable.

·      Psychosocial Conflict: Trust vs Mistrust

·      Major Question: "Can I trust the people around me?"

·      Basic Virtue: Hope

·      Important Event(s): Feeding

Psychosocial Stage 2 - Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt 

The second stage of Erikson's theory of psychosocial development takes place during early childhood and is focused on children developing a greater sense of personal control.  Like Freud, Erikson believed that toilet training was a vital part of this process. However, Erikson's reasoning was quite different then that of Freud's. Erikson believe that learning to control one’s body functions leads to a feeling of control and a sense of independence.  Other important events include gaining more control over food choices, toy preferences, and clothing selection.  Children who successfully complete this stage feel secure and confident, while those who do not are left with a sense of inadequacy and self-doubt.

·         Psychosocial Conflict: Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt

·         Major Question: "Can I do things myself or am I reliant on the help of others?"

·         Basic Virtue: Will

·         Important Event(s): Toilet Training

Psychosocial Stage 3 - Initiative vs. Guilt 

During the preschool years, children begin to assert their power and control over the world through directing play and other social interaction.  Children who are successful at this stage feel capable and able to lead others. Those who fail to acquire these skills are left with a sense of guilt, self-doubt and lack of initiative.

·      Psychosocial Conflict: Initiative versus Guilt

·      Major Question: “Am I good or bad?”

·      Basic Virtue: Purpose

·      Important Event(s): Exploration, Play

Psychosocial Stage 4 - Industry vs. Inferiority 

This stage covers the early school years from approximately age 5 to 11.  Through social interactions, children begin to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments and abilities.  Children who are encouraged and commended by parents and teachers develop a feeling of competence and belief in their skills. Those who receive little or no encouragement from parents, teachers, or peers will doubt their ability to be successful.

·         Psychosocial Conflict: Industry versus Inferiority

·         Major Question: "How can I be good?"

·         Basic Virtue: Competence

·         Important Event(s): School

Psychosocial Stage 5 - Identity vs. Confusion 

During adolescence, children are exploring their independence and developing a sense of self.  Those who receive proper encouragement and reinforcement through personal exploration will emerge from this stage with a strong sense of self and a feeling of independence and control. Those who remain unsure of their beliefs and desires will insecure and confused about themselves and the future.

·   Psychosocial Conflict: Identity Versus Confusion

·   Major Question: "Who am I?"

·   Basic Virtue: Fidelity

·   Important Event(s): Social Relationships

Psychosocial Stage 6 - Intimacy vs. Isolation 

This stage covers the period of early adulthood when people are exploring personal relationships.  Erikson believed it was vital that people develop close, committed relationships with other people. Those who are successful at this step will develop relationships that are committed and secure.  Remember that each step builds on skills learned in previous steps. Erikson believed that a strong sense of personal identity was important to developing intimate relationships. Studies have demonstrated that those with a poor sense of self tend to have less committed relationships and are more likely to suffer emotional isolation, loneliness, and depression.

• Psychosocial Conflict: Intimacy Versus Isolation
• Major Question: "Will I be loved or will I be alone?"
• Basic Virtue: Love
• Important Event(s): Romantic Relationships

Psychosocial Stage 7 - Generativity vs. Stagnation 

During adulthood, we continue to build our lives, focusing on our career and family.  Those who are successful during this phase will feel that they are contributing to the world by being active in their home and community. Those who fail to attain this skill will feel unproductive and uninvolved in the world.

• Psychosocial Conflict: Generativity Versus Stagnation
• Major Question: "How can I contribute to the world?"
• Basic Virtue: Care
• Important Event(s): Parenthood and Work

Psychosocial Stage 8 - Integrity vs. Despair 

This phase occurs during old age and is focused on reflecting back on life.  Those who are unsuccessful during this phase will feel that their life has been wasted and will experience many regrets. The individual will be left with feelings of bitterness and despair.  Those who feel proud of their accomplishments will feel a sense of integrity. Successfully completing this phase means looking back with few regrets and a general feeling of satisfaction. These individuals will attain wisdom, even when confronting death.

·   Psychosocial Conflict: Integrity versus despair

·   Major Question: "Did I live a meaningful life?"

·   Basic Virtue: Wisdom

·   Important Event(s): Reflecting back on life

Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development Summary Chart

Stage	Basic  Conflict	Important Events	Outcome
Infancy (birth to 18 months)	Trust vs. Mistrust	Feeding	Children develop a sense of trust when caregivers provide reliability, care, and affection. A lack of this will lead to mistrust.
Early Childhood (2 to 3 years)	Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt	Toilet Training	Children need to develop a sense of personal control over physical skills and a sense of independence. Success leads to feelings of autonomy, failure results in feelings of shame and doubt
Preschool (3 to 5 years)	Initiative vs. Guilt	Exploration	Children need to begin asserting control and power over the environment. Success in this stage leads to a sense of purpose. Children who try to exert too much power experience disapproval, resulting in a sense of guilt.
School Age (6 to 11 years)	Industry vs. Inferiority	School	Children need to cope with new social and academic demands. Success leads to a sense of competence, while failure results in feelings of inferiority.
Adolescence (12 to 18 years)	Identity vs. Role Confusion	Social Relationships	Teens needs to develop a sense of self and personal identity. Success leads to an ability to stay true to yourself, while failure leads to role confusion and a weak sense of self.
Young Adulthood (19 to 40 years)	Intimacy vs. Isolation	Relationships	Young adults need to form intimate, loving relationships with other people. Success leads to strong relationships, while failure results in loneliness and isolation.
Middle Adulthood (40 to 65 years)	Generativity vs. Stagnation	Work and Parenthood	Adults need to create or nurture things that will outlast them, often by having children or creating a positive change that benefits other people. Success leads to feelings of usefulness and accomplishment, while failure results in shallow involvement in the world.
Maturity(65 to death)	Ego Integrity vs. Despair	Reflection on Life	Older adults need to look back on life and feel a sense of fulfillment. Success at this stage leads to feelings of wisdom, while failure results in regret, bitterness, and despair.

PIAGET‘S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT.

Piaget‘s theories of infant development were based on his observations of his own three children.  He believed the child‘s cognitive structure increased with development. Piaget‘s theory is based on the idea that the developing child builds cognitive structures (schemes used to understand and respond to physical environment).

The term cognition is derived from the Latin word “cognoscere” which means “to know” or “to recognise” or “to conceptualise”.o It refers to the mental processes an organism learns, remembers, understands, perceives, solves problems and thinks about a body of information.o Experts argue that cognition progresses in stages with increasing levels of complexity and hence the phrase ―cognitive development‖ which is the stages a child goes through conceptualising the world at different age levels

The equilibration is the symbol of a new stage of the cognitive development. Assimilation and accommodation are both processing of the ways of cognitive development. The essential development of cognition is the establishment of new schemes. Cognitive Development is gradual，orderly, changes by which mental process become more complex and sophisticated

There Are Three Basic Components To Piaget's Cognitive Theory:

1.     Schemas:(building blocks of knowledge).

2.     Adaptation processes that enable the transition from one stage to another (equilibrium,assimilation and  accommodation).

3.     Stages of  Development:

1.     Sensorimotor,

2.     Preoperational,

3.     Concrete Operational,

4.     Formal Operational.

A schema (plural schemata or schemas) describes an organized pattern of thought or behavior that organizes categories of information and the relationships among them. It can also be described as a mental structure of preconceived ideas, a framework representing some aspect of the world, or a system of organizing and perceiving new information. 

People use schemata to organize current knowledge and provide a framework for future understanding. Examples of schemata include academic rubrics, social schemas, stereotypes, social roles, scripts, worldviews, and archetypes. In Piaget's theory of development, children construct a series of schemata to understand the world.

Assimilation and Accommodation : Jean Piaget viewed intellectual growth as a process of adaptation (adjustment) to the world. This happens through:

·   Assimilation-Which is using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation. 

Assimilation : is using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation. The process of taking in new information into our previously existing schema‘s is known as assimilation. A child sees a Zebra for the first time and immediately calls it a Donkey. Thus, the child has assimilated into his schema that this animal is a Donkey. Why do you think this happened? The child seeing the object (Zebra), sifted through his collection of schemas, until he found one that seemed appropriate. To the child, the object (Zebra) has all the characteristics of a Donkey– it fits in his Donkey schema – so the child concludes that the object is a Donkey. The child has integrated the object (Zebra) into his Donkey schema.

·   Accommodation – This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation. Another part of adaptation involves changing or altering our existing schemas in light of new information, a process known as accommodation. Accommodation involves altering existing schemas, or ideas, as a result of new information or new experiences. New schemas may also be developed during this process. The boy who had assimilated the Zebra as a Donkey will eventually accommodate more information and thus realize the different characteristics between a Zebra and a Donkey. The child will learn that the Donkey is not a Donkey but a Zebra, an accommodated ability

·   Equilibration – This is the force which moves development along. Piaget believed that cognitive development did not progress at a steady rate, but rather in leaps and bounds.

   Equilibrium occurs when a child's schemas can deal with most new information through assimilation. However, an unpleasant state of disequilibrium occurs when new information cannot be fitted into existing schemas (assimilation).

·        Adaptation- In cognitive development,the process of changing a cognitive structure or the environment (or both) in order to understand the environment.

Assimilation and accommodationare the two sides ofadaptation, Piaget‘s term for whatmost of us would call learningthrough which awareness of theoutside world is internalized.Although one may predominate atany one moment, they are twosides and inseparable and exist ina dialectical relationship.

·        Organization- The tendency to form increasingly coherent and integrated structures.

Adaptation and Equilibration

In the cycle of adaptation and equilibration, a new experience is first assimilated into an existing scheme. If it doesn’t fit properly, cognitive disequilibrium results. Accommodating (adjusting) the scheme brings the child to cognitive equilibrium, until a new assimilation challenges the scheme again.

Equilibration is the force which drives the learning process as we do not like to be frustrated and will seek to restore balance by mastering the new challenge (accommodation).Once the new information is acquired the process of assimilation with the new schema will continue until the next time we need to make an adjustment to it.

Schema : an internal representation of the world. A schema describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and knowing. Schemas are mental or cognitive structures which enables a person to adapt and to organise the environment. Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the world

Sensorimotor Stage

Initially equipped with a set of reflex movements and a set of perceptual systems, an infant quickly begins to build up direct knowledge of the world through trial and error learning. Through the processes of assimilation and accommodation actions become progressively adapted to the world.

Infancy is characterized by extreme egocentrism, where the child has no understanding of the world other than her own current point of view. The main development during this stage is the understanding that objects exist and events occur in the world independently of one's own actions ('the object concept', or 'object permanence').

Object permanence means knowing that an object still exists, even if it is hidden. It requires the ability to form a mental representation (i.e. a schema) of the object.

For example, if you place a toy under a blanket, the child who has achieved object permanence knows it is there and can actively seek it. At the beginning of this stage the child behaves as if the toy had simply disappeared. The attainment of object permanence generally signals the transition to the next stage of development (preoperational).

Substages

From careful observation of his own children (Jacqueline, Lucienne and Laurent) Piaget (1952) concluded that thought developed through 6 sub stages during the sensorimotor period.

1.     The first substage (first month of life) is the stage of reflex acts. The neonate responds to external stimulation with innate reflex actions. For example, if you brush a baby’s mouth or cheek with your finger it will suck reflexively.

2.     The second substage is the stage of primary circular reactions. The baby will repeat pleasurable actions centred on its own body. For example babies from 1 – 4 months old will wiggle their fingers, kick their legs and suck their thumbs. These are not reflex actions. They are done intentionally – for the sake of the pleasurable stimulation produced.

3.     Next comes the stage of secondary circular reactions. It typically lasts from about 4 – 8 months. Now babies repeat pleasurable actions that involve objects as well as actions involving their own bodies. An example of this is the infant who shakes the rattle for the pleasure of hearing the sound that it produces.

4.     The fourth substage (from 8 – 12 months) is the stage of co-ordinating secondary schemes. Instead of simply prolonging interesting events babies now show signs of an ability to use their acquired knowledge to reach a goal. For example the infant will not just shake the rattle but will reach out and knock to one side an object that stands in the way of it getting hold of the rattle.

Object permanence means knowing that an object still exists, even if it is hidden. It requires the ability to form a mental representation (i.e. a schema) of the object.

For example, if you place a toy under a blanket, the child who has achieved object permanence knows it is there and can actively seek it. At the beginning of this stage the child behaves as if the toy had simply disappeared. The attainment of object permanence generally signals the transition to the next stage of development (preoperational).

5.     Fifth comes the stage of tertiary circular reactions. These differ from secondary circular reactions in that they are intentional adaptations to specific situations. The infant who once explored an object by taking it apart now tries to put it back together. For example it stacks the bricks it took out of its wooden truck back again or it puts back the nesting cups – one inside the other.

6.     Finally, in substage six there is the beginning of symbolic thought. This is transitional to the pre operational stage of cognitive development. Babies can now form mental representations of objects. This means that they have developed the ability to visualise things that are not physically present. This is crucial to the acquisition of object permanence – the most fundamental achievement of the whole sensorimotor stage of development.

Preoperational Stage

The preoperational stage ranges from about ages 2 to 7 (Piaget, 1951, 1952). The child in this stage is pre (before) operations. This means the child cannot use logic or transform, combine or separate ideas.

The child's development consists of building experiences about the world through adaptation and working towards the (concrete) stage when it can use logical thought. During the end of this stage children can mentally represent events and objects (the semiotic function), and engage in symbolic play.

The key features of the preoperational stage include:

·         Centration: This is the tendency to focus on only one aspect of a situation at one time. When a child can focus on more than one aspect of a situation at the same time they have the ability to decenter.

During this stage children have difficulties thinking about more than one aspect of any situation at the same time; and they have trouble decentering in social situation just as they do in non-social contexts.

·         Egocentrism: Childrens' thoughts and communications are typically egocentric (i.e. about themselves). Egocentrism refers to the child's inability to see a situation from another person's point of view. According to Piaget, the egocentric child assumes that other people see, hear, and feel exactly the same as the child does.

·         Play: At the beginning of this stage you often find children engaging in parallel play. That is to say they often play in the same room as other children but they play next to others rather than with them. Each child is absorbed in its own private world and speech is egocentric. That is to say the main function of speech at this stage is to externalize the child’s thinking rather than to communicate with others. As yet the child has not grasped the social function of either language or rules.

·         Symbolic Representation: The is the ability to make one thing - a word or an object - stand for something other than itself. Language is perhaps the most obvious form of symbolism that young children display. However, Piaget (1951) argues that language does not facilitate cognitive development, but merely reflects what the child already knows and contributes little to new knowledge. He believed cognitive development promotes language development, not vice versa.

·         Pretend (or symbolic) play: Toddlers often pretend to be people they are not (e.g. superheroes, policeman), and may play these roles with props that symbolize real life objects. Children may also invent an imaginary playmate. 'In symbolic play, young children advance upon their cognitions about people, objects and actions and in this way construct increasingly sophisticated representations of the world' (Bornstein, 1996, p. 293).

As the pre-operational stage develops egocentrism declines and children begin to enjoy the participation of another child in their games and “lets pretend “ play becomes more important. For this to work there is going to be a need for some way of regulating each child’s relations with the other and out of this need we see the beginnings of an orientation to others in terms of rules.

·         Animism: This is the belief that inanimate objects (such as toys and teddy bears) have human feelings and intentions. By animism Piaget (1929) meant that for the pre-operational child the world of nature is alive, conscious and has a purpose. Piaget has identified four stages of animism:

Up to the ages 4 or 5 years, the child believes that almost everything is alive and has a purpose. During the second stage (5-7 years) only objects that move have a purpose. In the next stage (7-9 years), only objects that move spontaneously are thought to be alive. In the last stage (9-12 years), the child understands that only plants and animals are alive.

·         Artificialism: This is the belief that certain aspects of the environment are manufactured by people (e.g. clouds in the sky).

·         Irreversibility: This is the inability the reverse the direction of a sequence of events to their starting point.

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget (1954a) considered the concrete stage a major turning point in the child's cognitive development, because it marks the beginning of logical or operational thought. The child is now mature enough to use logical thought or operations (i.e. rules) but can only apply logic to physical objects (hence concrete operational).

Children in the concrete operational stage are typically ages 7 to 11. They gain the abilities of conservation (number, area, volume, orientation) and reversibility. Their thinking is more organized and rational. They can solve problems in a logical fashion, but are typically not able to think abstractly or hypothetically.

1.     Conservation: Concrete operational children recognize that certain physical characteristics of objects remain the same even when their outward appearance changes.

After spilling 10 pennies stacked on her desk, Lizzie bent down to search for them. "I know there has to be ten," she said to herself, "because that's how many I put in that little pile on my desk yesterday."

2.     Decentration: Concrete operational children coordinate several important features of a task rather than centering on only the perceptually dominant one.

After getting two glasses of lemonade from the kitchen, one for her brother and one for herself, Lizzie remarked, "Don't worry, I gave you just as much. My glass is tall but thin. "Yours is short but wide."

3.     Reversibility: Concrete operational children can think through the steps in a problem and then go backward, returning to the starting point.

Lizzie understands that addition and subtraction are reversible operations. In other words, when you add 7 plus 8 to get 15, then this tells you that 15 minus 8 must be 7.

4.     Hierarchical classification: Concrete operational children can flexibly group and regroup objects into hierarchies of classes and subclasses.

Lizzie discussed how to display her rock collection with her friend Marina. Marina suggested, "You could divide them up by color. Or, you could use shape and color."

5.     Seriation: Concrete operational children are guided by an overall plan when arranging items in a series.

Lizzie decided to arrange her rocks by size. She quickly lined up all 20 rocks in a row, selecting the smallest and then the next smallest from the pile, until the arrangement was complete.

6.     Transitive inference: Concrete operational children can seriate mentally. After comparing A with B and B with C, they can infer the relationship between A and C.

"I saw Tina's new lunch box, and it's bigger than mine," Marina said while eating her sandwich with Lizzie one day. "Well, it must be bigger than mine too, because look - my box isn't even as big as yours," said Lizzie.

7.     Spatial operations: Concrete operational children conserve distance; understand the relations among distance, time, and speed; and create organized cognitive maps of familiar environments.

Lizzie realizes that a truck blocking the sidewalk does not change the distance to the end of her street. She also knows that if she runs faster than Marina for the same amount of time, she will travel farther. In addition, she can draw a map that depicts the route from her house to Marina's house with major landmarks along the way.

8.     Horizontal decalage: Logical concepts are mastered gradually over the course of middle childhood.

Conservation of number and liquid are mastered before conservation of area and weight.

 

Formal Operational Stage

The formal operational stage begins at about age 11. As adolescents enter this stage, they gain the ability to think in an abstract manner, the ability to combine and classify items in a more sophisticated way, and the capacity for higher-order reasoning.

At about age 11+ years, the child begins to manipulate ideas in its head, without any dependence on concrete manipulation; it has entered the formal operational stage. He/she can do mathematical calculations, think creatively, use abstract reasoning, and imagine the outcome of particular actions.

CHARACTERISTICS OF FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE

We can characterize the formal reasoning in terms of these basic and closely interrelated properties

1.     Form" in Formal Operations

Whereas the concrete operations child follows the content of an argument, the formal operations child can follow its form. 

For instance, contrast the content versus the form in the 

appreciation and interpretation of a parable, metaphor, of satire (e.g., Animal Farm, Gulliver's Travels)

2.     Abstract thinking:

According to Piaget, the capacity for abstract thinking begins with the formal operational stage. The formal operational stage Children reach formal operational stage when they are capable of abstract thoughts. They can think beyond reality (here and now) while concrete operational children can perform mental actions on objects, formal operational children can perform mental actions on ideas. While children tend to think very concretely and specifically in earlier stages, the ability to think about abstract concepts emerges during the formal operational stage. Instead of relying solely on previous experiences, children begin to consider possible outcomes and consequences of actions. This type of thinking is important in long-term planning

Concrete = realities

 formal= possibilities

Consequences of Abstract Thought Adolescents’ capacity to think abstractly, combined with the physical changes they are undergoing, means that they start to think more about themselves.

Piaget believed that they arrival of formal operations is accompanied by a new form of egocentrism: the inability to distinguish the abstract perspective of self from other.

Imaginary Audience :– Adolescents’ belief that they are the focus of everyone else’s attention and concern.

Personal Fable: – Adolescents’ belief that others cannot possibly understand their thoughts and feelings.

3.   Reasoning Ability Hypothetico-Deductive reasoning       

It is using a general law to make a situation-specific prediction.It means ability to formulate, consider, and test hypotheses) arises. The child is now able to systematically test hypotheses. Thus, for example, even a       concrete thinker would recognize the logic of the transitive inference, “If elephants are bigger than dogs, and dogs are bigger than mice, then elephants are bigger than mice.” Such a thinker would, however, be dubious of the argument “If mice are bigger than dogs, and dogs are bigger than elephants, then mice are bigger than elephants,” pointing out that mice are not bigger than dogs, dogs are not bigger than elephants, etc.  Only a formal thinker would recognize that although the premises in the second argument are false, and the conclusion thus cannot be counted on, the form of the second argument is identical to that of the first, and thus equally valid.

“ Second degree thinking ” emerges, which is “thinking about your own thinking.”Up to 1/3 of adolescents and adults never actually reach formal operational thought as it is defined by Piaget. Propositional Thought – a type of formal operational reasoning in which adolescents evaluate the logic of verbal statements without referencing to real-world circumstances.

4.     Logic:

Piaget believed that deductive logic becomes important during the formal operational stage. Deductive logic requires the ability to use a general principle to determine a specific outcome. This type of thinking involves hypothetical situations and is often required in science and mathematics.

5.     Real versus Possible

As the adolescent develops formal operations, his or her construction of reality becomes more precise and an awareness of gaps in understanding emerges. These gaps are filled with tentative hypotheses about what might be true. These hypotheses, once proposed, are then put into shape to test their validity. Based on the feedback from an observation or experiment, some hypotheses are confirmed, others are revised and put into shape for further testing, and others are rejected.

6.     Systematic Problem Solving

Concrete operations children use trial-and-error problem solving. Give them a problem with multiple combinations (e.g., a chemistry lab experiment) and they will test one combination after the other fishing for an answer.

With formal operations, the adolescent thinks through problems mentally and abstractly. He or she will envision (predict) a possible course of action, test it in some way, and then use logic to reason through what the likely, upcoming consequences of that predicted course of action will be. The thinking is systematic, and it is supported-once data are collected-by inference, deduction, and reflection. Systematic means the formal operations adolescent will make a prediction of what is likely to occur, test that prediction in some way, notice what actually happens (what the data, not the hypothesis, says), and then attempt to isolate the cause behind what actually occurs.

The approach is a bit like Sherlock Holmes-work to isolate all possible causes and test each one in a systematic fashion, starting with the most likely, preceding to the next most likely (given the evidence obtained so far), and continuing systematically.

7.     Operations on operations

Operation means actions that one performs in one’s mind (which previously required the person to perform the action physically).As operations become more complex; they approximate logic and can be applied to a wide variety of problems. Operational thought is reversible. This means the child knows that the operation can be cancelled (added2 reverse it, subtracting 2)

Operational thought is associative. This means that the child understands that there is more than one way to get to the solution (5+6= 11 and 2+9 also equals eleven). One additional characteristic of formal operations, closely related to both the preceding, is that operations they are on operations, or second-order operations. That is, whereas concrete operations act directly on representations of reality, formal operations involves a coordination of these direct, first-order operations into more abstract higher-order systems. 

Thus, for example, a concrete thinker could divide a set of books into fiction and nonfiction, or into hard bound and paper bound. 

Only at the formal level, however, is it possible to classify these classes themselves. Thus, for example, the formal thinker would understand that the first three of these four classes may be classified together as involving books that are hardbound and/or fiction. Similarly, it is a simple enough task to put a number of items in a series, but formal operations are required to engage in second-order seriation, that is, to seriate a number of series in such a way as to systematically and efficiently produce all the possible variation of the items involved.

Educational Implications of Piaget's Theory

1.     A focus on the process of children’s thinking, not just its products.

2.     Recognition of the crucial role of children’s self-initiated, active involvement in learning activities.

3.     A deemphasis on practices aimed at making children adult like in their thinking.

4.     Acceptance of individual differences in developmental progress.

Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development

  Lawrence Kohlberg (October 25, 1927 – January 19, 1987) was an American psychologist best known for his theory of stages of moral development. He served as a professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Chicago and at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. 

Morality can be developed either negatively or positively, depending on how an individual accomplishes the tasks before him during each stage of moral development across his lifespan. Kohlberg's six stages can be more generally grouped into three levels of two stages each: pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional

Level 1 - Pre-conventional morality

At the pre-conventional level (most nine-year-olds and younger, some over nine), we don’t have a personal code of morality. Instead, our moral code is shaped by the standards of adults and the consequences of following or breaking their rules. Authority is outside the individual and reasoning is based on the physical consequences of actions.

 Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation. The child/individual is good in order to avoid being punished. If a person is punished, they must have done wrong.

 Stage 2. Individualism and Exchange. At this stage children recognize that there is not just one right view that is handed down by the authorities. Different individuals have different viewpoints.

Level 2 - Conventional morality

At the conventional level (most adolescents and adults), we begin to internalize the moral standards of valued adult role models.Authority is internalized but not questioned and reasoning is based on the norms of the group to which the person belongs.

Stage 3. Good Interpersonal Relationships. The child/individual is good in order to be seen as being a good person by others. Therefore, answers relate to the approval of others.

Stage 4. Maintaining the Social Order. The child/individual becomes aware of the wider rules of society so judgments concern obeying the rules in order to uphold the law and to avoid guilt.

Level 3 - Post-conventional morality

Individual judgment is based on self-chosen principles, and moral reasoning is based on individual rights and justice. According to Kohlberg this level of moral reasoning is as far as most people get. Only 10-15% are capable of the kind of abstract thinking necessary for stage 5 or 6 (post-conventional morality). That is to say most people take their moral views from those around them and only a minority think through ethical principles for themselves.

Stage 5. Social Contract and Individual Rights. The child/individual becomes aware that while rules/laws might exist for the good of the greatest number, there are times when they will work against the interest of particular individuals.  The issues are not always clear cut. For example, in Heinz’s dilemma the protection of life is more important than breaking the law against stealing.

• Stage 6. Universal Principles. People at this stage have developed their own set of moral guidelines which may or may not fit the law. The principles apply to everyone. E.g. human rights, justice and equality. The person will be prepared to act to defend these principles even if it means going against the rest of society in the process and having to pay the consequences of disapproval and or imprisonment. Kohlberg doubted few people reached this stage.