CHAPTER 13 SOCIAL COGNITION AND MORAL DEVELOPMENT

1. CHAPTER 13SOCIAL COGNITION AND MORAL DEVELOPMENT

2. Learning Objectives • What is a theory of mind? • What are the developmental milestones associated with the acquisition of a theory of mind? • What developmental changes occur in the acquiring of a theory of mind and what factors affect its emergence?

3. Social Cognition • Social cognition is thinking about the perceptions, thoughts, emotions, motives, and behaviors of self, other people, groups, and social systems • A theory of mind is the understanding that people have mental states such as desires, beliefs, and intentions and that these mental states guide their behaviors • Researchers used the false belief task to assess children’s development of a theory of mind

4. Caption: The false belief task involving Sally and Anne. The child who has developed a theory of mind should say that Sally will look in the basket based on her false belief that the marble is there. The child who fails this false belief task says that Sally will look in the box (where the child knows the marble has been moved).

5. Social Cognition • In the false belief task, children are asked to respond to the following scenario: “A girl named Sally puts her marble in her basket and leaves the room. While she is gone, Anne moves the marble to her box. Sally returns to the room. Where will Sally look for her marble?”

6. Social Cognition • Children who pass the false belief task and show evidence of having a theory of mind to explain human behavior say that Sally will look for her marble in the basket (where she falsely believes it to be) rather than in the box (where it was moved without her knowledge) • Children who have a theory of mind believe that Sally’s behavior will be guided by her false belief about the marble’s location; they are able to set aside their own knowledge of where the marble ended up after Anne moved it

7. Social Cognition – Developing a Theory of Mind • Certain abilities are considered important early signs of a theory of mind • An infant’s ability to get involved in bouts of joint attention (by pointing at an object and then looking toward a companion to encourage the other to look at the object, too) • In their first months of life, infants come to understand, partly from their own actions on the world, that other people have intentions, set goals, and act to achieve them

8. Social Cognition – Developing a Theory of Mind • Certain abilities are considered important early signs of a theory of mind (continued) • Between 1 and 2 years, when infants engage in their first simple pretend play, they show a primitive understanding of the difference between pretense (a kind of false belief) and reality • Imitation of other people in the first year of life reveals an ability to mentally represent their actions and possibly the goals or intentions behind them

9. Social Cognition – Developing a Theory of Mind • Emotional understanding (for example, comforting a playmate who is crying) reflects an understanding that other people have emotions and that these emotions can be influenced for good or bad

10. Social Cognition – Developing a Theory of Mind • Wellman (1990) theorized that children’s theories of mind develop in two phases • Around age 2, children develop a desire psychology in which they explain their behavior and that of others in terms of wants or desires • By age 4, children progress to a belief-desire psychology and understand that people do what they do because they desire certain things and because they believe that certain actions can help them fulfill their desires

11. Social Cognition – Developing a Theory of Mind • What are the roles of nature and nurture in the development of a theory of mind? • In support of the role of nature • Evolutionary theorists argue that having a theory of mind was adaptive for the evolution of the human species • Development of a theory of mind requires a certain level of biological maturation, especially neurological and cognitive development • Researchers believe that mirror neurons – neurons that are activated both when we perform an action and when we observe someone else perform the same action – are involved in theory-of-mind understandings

12. Social Cognition – Developing a Theory of Mind • What are the roles of nature and nurture in the development of a theory of mind? • In support of the role of nurture, certain factors influence children’s development of a theory of mind • Social interaction involving language • Parental sensitivity to children’s needs and perspectives and the formation of secure attachments • Especially important is parental “mind-mindedness,” which involves talking in elaborated and appropriate ways about children’s mental states • Cultural perspectives on beliefs and thoughts

13. Social Cognition – Developing a Theory of Mind • Formulating a theory of mind has consequences for development • Children who have mastered theory-of-mind tasks generally tend to have more advanced social skills and better social adjustment than those who have not • They understand that others’ emotional responses might differ from their own, and they can think more maturely about moral issues • Theory-of-mind skills also can be used for inappropriate purposes: bullies and good liars often are adept at “mind reading”

14. Social Cognition – Describing and Evaluating Other People • Children younger than 7 or 8 describe themselves and others in terms of physical appearance, possessions, and activities • Around age 7 or 8, children’s descriptions of people show that they are beginning to think about people in terms of enduring psychological traits (“nice,” “funny,” “bossy”)

15. Social Cognition – Describing and Evaluating Other People • As children reach age 11 or 12, they make more use of psychological traits to explain why people behave as they do (“. . . because he is mean”) • Compared to children, adolescents describe others in psychological terms – traits, interests, values, and feelings • Adolescents can incorporate seeming inconsistencies into their understanding of others • “She brags but it is because she is insecure and wants to hide her insecurities”

16. Learning Objectives • How do person perception and role-taking skills develop? • Why are these skills important? • How do they change over the lifespan?

17. Social Cognition – Social Perspective-Taking • An important aspect of social cognitive development involves outgrowing childhood egocentrism and developing social perspective-taking • The ability to adopt another person’s perspective and understand her thoughts and feelings in relation to your own • Social perspective-taking skills are essential in thinking about moral issues from different points of view, predicting the consequences of a person’s actions for others, and empathizing with others

18. Social Cognition – Social Perspective-Taking • Selman (1976) described the development of social perspective-taking abilities in stages • Because children 3 to 6 years old are egocentric; tend to assume that others share their point of view • By age 8 to 10, as concrete-operational cognitive abilities solidify, children appreciate that two people can have different points of view even if they have access to the same information • Children are able to think about their own thoughts and about the thoughts of another person, and they realize that their companions can do the same

19. Social Cognition – Social Perspective-Taking • Selman (1976) described the development of social perspective-taking abilities in stages (continued) • By age 12, adolescents who have reached the formal-operational stage of cognitive development become capable of mentally juggling multiple perspectives • Adolescents can keep in mind simultaneously their own perspective, that of another person, and that of an abstract “generalized other,” or the broader social group

20. Social Cognition – Social Perspective-Taking • Advances in social cognition are more likely if parents are good models of social perspective taking, consider their children’s feelings and thoughts, and rely on explanation rather than punishment in disciplining their children • Advanced social perspective-taking skills help make children more sensitive and desirable companions • Children with advanced social perspective-taking skills are more likely than age-mates with less advanced skills to be sociable and popular and to enjoy close relationships with peers

21. Social Cognition – Social Perspective-Taking • The social-cognitive skills of adults may continue to improve after adolescence • Researchers found that adults, especially those of middle age, were better able than adolescents to see both sides of an issue and to integrate multiple perspectives into a workable solution

22. Social Cognition – Social Perspective-Taking • Some researchers have detected deficiencies in the social-cognitive skills of older adults • Declines in basic cognitive functions such as working memory and processing speed can take a toll on social-cognitive performance

23. Social Cognition – Social Perspective-Taking • Social cognitive skills also may be well-maintained late in life • Hess and colleagues (2005) found that middle-aged and elderly adults were more adept than young adults at reading a person’s behavior to infer whether he possessed traits such as honesty or intelligence • Elderly adults perform as well as young and/or middle-aged adults on many social-cognitive tasks, probably because they have accumulated expertise about the world of people

24. Social Cognition – Social Perspective-Taking • Reasons that social-cognitive skills may be well-maintained late in life included the following • The areas of the cortex that support social cognition and emotional understanding age more slowly than the areas that support nonsocial cognition • It has been observed that in completing social-cognitive tasks, older adults tend to rely on cognitive strategies such as simple rules of thumb and strongly-held beliefs about people • Social-cognitive skills may hold up well, especially in “real life” people-reading tasks, because they are used – exercised – every day

25. Social Cognition – Social Perspective-Taking • Possibly the most important research finding on social-cognitive development in adulthood is that older adults differ greatly in their social cognitive abilities • Those who have the sharpest social-cognitive skills tend to be socially active and involved in meaningful social roles such as spouse, grandparent, church member, and worker • It is mainly when elderly people become socially isolated or inactive that their social cognitive skills become rusty

26. Learning Objectives • What is morality? • What are the three basic components of morality? • How did Piaget and Kohlberg explain the development of moral reasoning? • What are the important characteristics of each stage of Piaget’s theory? • What are the important characteristics of each level and stage of Kohlberg’s theory?

27. Perspectives on Moral Development • Developmental scientists have focused on three basic components of morality • The affective, or emotional, component consists of the feelings (guilt, concern for others’ feelings, and so on) that surround right or wrong actions and that motivate moral thoughts and actions • The cognitive component centers on how we conceptualize right and wrong and make decisions about how to behave • The behavioral component reflects how we behave when, for example, we experience the temptation to cheat or are called upon to help a needy person

28. Perspectives on Moral Development • Moral affect – positive and negative emotions related to matters of right and wrong – can motivate behavior • Negative emotions (shame, guilt) can keep us from doing what we know is wrong • Positive emotions (pride, self-satisfaction) can occur when we do the right thing • Empathy –the vicarious experiencing of another person’s feelings – is an emotional process that is important in moral development • Empathy can motivate prosocial behavior – positive social acts, such as helping or sharing, that reflect concern for the welfare of others

29. Perspectives on Moral Development • Although aspects of Freud’s theory of moral development are not supported, researchers agree about his main themes • Moral emotions are an important part of morality and motivate of moral behavior • Early relationships with parents contribute to moral development • Children must internalize moral standards if they are to behave morally even when no authority figure is present to detect and punish their misbehavior

30. Perspectives on Moral Development • Cognitive developmental theorists study morality by looking at the development of moral reasoning –the thinking process involved in deciding whether an act is right or wrong • Moral reasoning is believed to progress through an invariant sequence – a fixed and universal order of stages, each of which represents a consistent way of thinking about moral issues that is different from the stage preceding or following it

31. Perspectives on Moral Development • Piaget’s theory of moral development includes three aspects – the premoral period, heteronomous morality, and autonomous morality • Premoral period • During the preschool years, children show little awareness or understanding of rules and cannot be considered moral beings • Heteronomous morality • Children 6 to 10 years old take rules seriously, believing that they are handed down by parents and other authority figures and are sacred and unalterable • They judge rule violations as wrong based on the extent of damage done, not paying much attention to whether the violator had good or bad intentions

32. Perspectives on Moral Development • Piaget’s theory of moral development (continued) • Autonomous morality • At age 10 or 11, most children enter a final stage of moral development in which they begin to appreciate that rules are agreements between individuals – agreements that can be changed through a consensus of those individuals • In judging actions, they pay more attention to whether the person’s intentions were good or bad than to the consequences of the act

33. Perspectives on Moral Development • Lawrence Kohlberg concluded that moral growth progresses through a universal and invariant sequence of three broad moral levels, each of which is composed of two distinct stages • Each stage grows out of the preceding stage and represents a more complex way of thinking about moral issues

35. Perspectives on Moral Development • Summary of Kohlberg’s theory • Level 1: preconventional morality • Stage 1: punishment-and-obedience orientation • Stage 2: instrumental hedonism • Level 2: conventional morality • Stage 3: “good boy” or “good girl” morality • Stage 4: authority and social order-maintaining morality • Level 3: postconventional morality • Stage 5: morality of contract, individual rights, and democratically accepted law • Stage 6: morality of individual principles of conscience

36. Perspectives on Moral Development • Influences on moral thinking • Freud emphasized the role of parents • Piaget and Kohlberg believed that the two main influences on moral development are cognitive growth and social interactions with equals • Cognitive growth • At the conventional level, the ability to take other people’s perspectives is required • At the postconventional level, formal-operational thinking is required • Social interactions with equals • Negotiations to work out differences in perspectives • Advanced schooling • Participation in a complex, diverse, democratic society

37. Learning Objectives • How do social-learning theorists explain moral behavior? • According to evolutionary theory, what are the functions of morality?

38. Moral Behavior: Social-Learning Theory • Social-learning theorists have focused on the behavioral component of morality – what we actually do when faced with temptation or with an opportunity to behave prosocially • According to social-learning theory, moral behavior is learned in the same way that other social behaviors are learned: through observational learning and reinforcement and punishment principles

39. Moral Behavior: Social-Learning Theory • Social-learning theorists believe moral behavior is believed to be strongly influenced by situational • Due to situational influences, what we do (moral performance) is not always reflective of our internalized values and standards (moral competence)

40. Moral Behavior: Social-Learning Theory • Bandura emphasized that moral cognition is linked to moral action through self-regulatory mechanisms that involve • Monitoring and evaluating our actions • Disapproving of ourselves when we contemplate doing wrong • Approving of ourselves when we behave responsibly or humanely

41. Moral Behavior: Social-Learning Theory • Bandura suggested that mechanisms of moral disengagement allow us to avoid condemning ourselves when we engage in immoral behavior even though we know right from wrong • Individuals who have perfected moral disengagement tend to be the ones who engage in the most antisocial and unethical behaviors

42. Moral Behavior: Functions of Morality –Evolutionary Theory • Evolutionary theorists focus on how moral thought, emotion, and behavior may have helped humans adapt to their environments over the course of evolution • Prosocial behaviors (cooperation, altruism) and mechanisms for controlling and inhibiting harmful behaviors may have evolved because they enhanced survival

43. Moral Behavior: Functions of Morality –Evolutionary Theory • Evolutionary theorists argue that humans have an evolved genetic makeup that predisposes them not only to behave antisocially but also to empathize with their fellow humans and to behave prosocially and morally

45. Learning Objectives • How can parents provide their infants and children with moral socialization? • What child characteristics determine how morally trainable a child is likely to be? • How do current researchers evaluate Piaget’s and Kohlberg’s views on infants’ and children’s moral reasoning?

46. The Infant – Early Moral Training • Infants are predisposed to be empathic, prosocial beings and learn many important moral lessons during their first 2 years of life • Infants begin to learn that their actions have consequences, to associate negative emotions with violating rules, and to exert self-control when they are tempted to violate rules

47. The Infant – Early Moral Training • According to Kochanska and colleagues (2009), moral socialization is based upon • A secure parent-infant attachment • Development of a mutually responsive orientation • A close, emotionally positive, and cooperative relationship in which child and caregiver care about each other and are sensitive to each other’s needs • Parents also can foster early moral development by discussing their toddlers’ behavior in an open way, expressing their feelings, and evaluating their children’s acts as good or bad

48. The Infant – Empathy and Prosocial Behavior • There is evidence that empathy and prosocial behavior are part of human evolutionary heritage • Newborns display a primitive form of empathy when they are distressed by the cries of other newborns • From the ages of 1 to 2, infants develop a form of empathy that motivates helping, such as when a toddler tries to comfort someone in distress • Prosocial behaviors (helping, sharing, comforting) become increasingly common from age 1 to age 2

49. The Child • Both Piaget and Kohlberg underestimated children’s abilities to engage in moral reasoning • Nelson’s (1980) study showed that young children can base their moral judgments on both a person’s intentions and the consequences of his act

50. The Child – Understanding Rules • Turiel (1978, 1983, 2006) observed that children distinguish between different kinds of rules • Moral rules: standards that focus on the welfare and basic rights of individuals • Rules against hitting, stealing, lying, and otherwise harming others or violating their rights • Social-conventional rules: standards determined by social consensus that tell us what is appropriate in particular social settings • Rules of social etiquette, including the rules of games and school rules for behavior • From their preschool years, children understand that moral rules are more compelling and unalterable than social-conventional rules