must understand that talking to oneself or inaudible muttering is not misbehavior but, rather, indicates an effort to complete a difficult task or self-regulate behavior.
Finally, young children’s transition from audible private speech to internalization accompanies advances in theory of mind, an awareness of how the mind works, and they are better able to consider other people’s perspectives, which helps them become more effective in communicating their ideas (de Villiers & de Villiers, 2014). Preschoolers who are aware of their own private speech are better at using language to communicate their needs, use more private speech, and display more understanding of deception than those who are less aware of their use of private speech (Manfra & Winsler, 2006).
Thinking in Context 7.4
1 How might advances in language development influence other domains of development, such as social or cognitive development?
2 Given what we know about private speech, what advice do you give to parents and teachers?
Moral Development in Early Childhood
Young children’s cognitive capacities and skills in theory of mind influence moral reasoning, how they view and make judgments in their social world (Skitka, Bauman, & Mullen, 2016). Two-year-old children classify behavior as good or bad. They respond with distress when viewing or experiencing aggressive or potentially harmful actions (Kochanska, Casey, & Fukumoto, 1995). By age 3, children judge a child who knocks another child off a swing intentionally as worse than one who does so accidentally (Yuill & Perner, 1988). Four-year-old children can understand the difference between truth and lies (Bussey, 1992). By age 5, children are aware of many moral rules, such as those regarding lying and stealing. They also demonstrate conceptions of justice or fairness (e.g., “It’s my turn,” “Hers is bigger,” “It’s not fair!”). How do these capacities develop?
There are many perspectives on moral development, as discussed in later chapters. Here we consider two classic views of moral development: social learning theory and cognitive-developmental theory. Both consider a young child’s moral values and behavior as first influenced by outside factors. With development, moral values become internalized and moral behavior becomes guided by inner standards.
Social Learning Theory
Social learning theory views all behavior, including moral behavior, as acquired through reinforcement and modeling (Bandura, 1977; Grusec, 1992). Bandura and McDonald (1963) demonstrated that the moral judgments of young children could be modified through a training procedure involving social reinforcement and modeling. Parents and others naturally dole out reinforcement and punishment that shapes the child’s behavior. Modeling also plays a role in children’s moral development. Adults and other children serve as models for the child, demonstrating appropriate (and sometimes not!) actions and verbalizations. When children observe a model touching a forbidden toy, they are more likely to touch the toy. Some research suggests that children who observe a model resisting temptation are less likely to do so themselves (Rosenkoetter, 1973). However, models are more effective at encouraging rather than inhibiting behavior that violates a rule or expectation. Children are more likely to follow a model’s transgressions rather than his or her appropriate behavior.
Children are more likely to imitate behavior when the model is competent and powerful (Bandura, 1977). They are also more likely to imitate a model that is perceived as warm and responsive rather than cold and distant (Yarrow, Scott, & Waxler, 1973). Over the course of early childhood, children develop internalized standards of conduct based on reinforcements, punishments, and observations of models (Bandura, 1986; Mussen & Eisenberg-Berg, 1977). Those adopted standards and moral values are then internalized and used by children as guides for behavior (Grusec & Goodnow, 1994). In this way, children’s behavior is shaped to conform with the rules of society.
Cognitive-Developmental Theory
The cognitive-developmental perspective views moral development through a cognitive lens and examines reasoning about moral issues: Is it ever right to steal even if it would help another person? Is lying ever acceptable? Similar to cognitive development, children are active in constructing their own moral understanding through social experiences with adults and peers (Smetana, 1995; Smetana & Braeges, 1990). Young children’s reasoning about moral problems changes with development as they construct concepts about justice and fairness from their interactions in the world (Gibbs, 1991, 2003).
Heteronomous Morality
Cognitive-developmental theorist Jean Piaget (Piaget, 1932) studied children’s moral development—specifically, how children understand rules. He observed children playing marbles, a common game played in every schoolyard during Piaget’s time, and asked them questions about the rules. What are the rules to the game? Where do the rules come from? Have they always been the same? Can they be changed? Piaget found that preschool-age children’s play was not guided by rules. The youngest children engaged in solitary play without regard for rules, tossing the marbles about in random ways. Piaget posited that moral thinking develops in stages similar to those in his theory of cognition.
By 6 years of age, children enter the first stage of Piaget’s theory of morality, heteronomous morality (also known as the morality of constraint). In this stage, as children first become aware of rules, they view them as sacred and unalterable. For example, the children interviewed by Piaget believed that people have always played marbles in the same way and that the rules cannot be changed. At this stage, moral behavior is behavior that is consistent with the rules set by authority figures. Young children see rules, even those created in play, as sacred, absolute, and unchangeable; they see behavior as either right or wrong; and they view the violation of rules as meriting punishment regardless of intent (DeVries & Zan, 2003; Nobes & Pawson, 2003). Young children may proclaim, without question, that there is only one way to play softball: As their coach advocates, the youngest children must be first to bat. Preschoolers will hold to this rule, explaining that it is simply the “right way” to play.
By 6 years of age, children become aware of rules, and they view them as sacred and unalterable. Children interviewed by Piaget believed that marbles are always played in the same way and that the rules cannot be changed. In the heteronomous stage, children believe that moral behavior is behavior that is consistent with the rules set by authority figures.
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Preconventional Reasoning
Lawrence Kohlberg (1969, 1976) investigated moral development by posing hypothetical dilemmas about justice, fairness, and rights that place obedience to authority and law in conflict with helping someone. For example, is stealing ever permissibl—even in order to help someone? Individuals’ responses change with development; moral reasoning progresses through a universal order of stages representing qualitative changes in conceptions of justice. Young children who display cognitive reasoning at the preoperational stage are at the lowest level of Kohlberg’s scheme: preconventional reasoning. Similar to Piaget, Kohlberg argued that young children’s behavior is governed by self-interest, avoiding punishment and gaining rewards. “Good” or moral behavior is a response to external pressure. Young children have not internalized societal norms, and their behavior is motivated by desires rather than internalized principles. We will examine Kohlberg’s perspective in greater detail when we discuss later childhood. Similar to cognitive development, children are active in constructing
