Lawrence Kohlberg: Child Psychological Analysis

1763 Words8 Pages

Describe Lawrence Kohlberg, a child psychologist who studied the theory of moral development, similar to Piaget and Skinner's theory, researched and examined young children by applying reward and punishment in his experimental scenarios (2014). Kohlberg was known for the “Heinz dilemma” which analyzes moral arrangement of young children by examining the way they think and evaluate pros and cons of real-life circumstances (2014). Kohlberg researched three levels: The first one is the “Preconventional Level” (2014). At these level children will follow rules so that they avoid any punishment from authority figures (2014). Knowing the differences between good and bad behavior helps children to understand the consequences when it’s related to their …show more content…

At this level, “individuals want to maintain the affection and approval of friends and relatives by being a “good person”, trustworthy, loyal, respectful, helpful and nice” (Berk, 2014). Finally, the “Postconventional Theory, is where children define their own rights and question society about certain circumstances that are going on in the world by trying to look for a medium in good and bad situations (2014). Analyze Referencing from the book, it shows how children become more in tune with their surroundings and grow into a human being with their own moral reasoning ’s and like behaviors about circumstances that involve the good and the bad in life (2014). Going forward, harmonizing with Kohlberg's theory, were similar to Piaget and Skinner's theory. He makes a point on how individuals who are advanced in their moral understanding have a beneficial high standard to contemplate what is right and wrong and how to solve difficult situations with an ethical understanding (2014). …show more content…

He explains how babies are born into learning and “as babies notice similarities between their own actions and those of others while experiencing other people and learning about themselves” (Berk, 2014). By showing gestures and interest, babies can learn more in the first five years such as recognizing sounds and different languages which help with vocabulary growth (2014). According to research, “bilingualism has positive consequences for development. Children who are fluent in two languages outperform others on tests” (Berk, 2014). Also, gender differences take a role in stereotyping things such as boys only play with cars or girls are better in the art