Controversy regarding moral development research has given rise to a proliferation of theories competing for acceptance. For all these researchers, the work of Lawrence Kohlberg is the pivot point for comparisons, contrasts, and discussions. Still, no theories to date adequately describe and document a theoretically complete conception of moral judgment and behavior. The contention in this thesis is that Kohlberg's moral development theory should remain the base-camp for further exploration but concepts from the past as well as new components from other fields should be added to construct a better model of human moral thinking and behaving. This thesis formulates a comprehensive and more adequate moral development theory which fits existing data. Pertinent aspects of past and present moral theories are summarized. Theories are evaluated in light of knowledge gained from past thinkers and recent research. Inadequacies are discussed. New pieces from psychological personality theories are presented to replace the normally accepted concept of a unitary ego theory. A more realistic model of growth as a spiral development process is presented. This spiral model allows features of the invariant stage sequence and step-wise hierarchial development process, critical to Piaget's cognitive development theory and to Kohlberg's justice-oriented moral development theory, to exist while couched in a broader growth process that encompasses the pertinent additional features of other researchers' works. The newly constructed theory is presented. Documented case materials and portions of counseling sessions are used to show some adequacy-of-fit of aspects of this theory. / Graduation date: 1992

Thesis--Ph. D., University of Hong Kong, 1987.

In this study, a sequenced, self-"earning guide and a supplementary instructional kit designed to facilitate a student's ability to apply formal operational thought patterns to problems requiring Mendelien genetic analysis were developed and tested. A pre/post-test was designed to test the application of formal operational reasoning patterns and acquired knowledge about Mendelian principles to the solving of problems in genetics. A seven-item, written Piagetian Task Instrument (PTI) containing tasks requiring propositional logic, combinatorial logic, and hypethetico-deductive reasoning was developed and employed to detect cognitive growth toward. the formal operational level. These two instruments were administered in the pre/post-test, format to a control group and to a treatment group, allowing for the testing of the following null hypotheses:Null Hypothesis. 1. There are no significant systematic differences within the classes of the treatment group.Nul1 Hypothesis 2. There are no significant systematic differences within the classes of the control group.Null Hypothesis 3_. There are no statistically significant differences within the classes with regard to sex.Null Hypothesis 4. There are no significant differential effects of the experimental treatment on males and females.Null Hypothesis 5. There is no significant correlation between the content post-test score and th total PTI post-test score. Null Hypothesis 6. There is no significant difference between the adjusted content post-test mean for the treatment group and the adjusted content post-test mean for the control group.Failure to reject null Hypotheses 1, 2, 3, and 4 indicated that there were no systematic differences within the groups with regard to class, meeting time, or sex of the individual. Therefore, each group was statistically treated as a homogenous group. Null Hypothesis 5 was rejected at the .028 level. Since the content post-test referred to in null Hypothesis 5 was determined to be a valid measure of the ability to perform genetic analysis and since the PTI referred to in null Hypothesis 5 was shown to be an effective measure of formal operations, rejection of null Hypothesis 5 indicated that performing genetic analysis requires the application of formal reasoning patterns. Null hypothesis 6 was also rejected. Failure to reject null Hypotheses 1,2, 3, and 4 indicated that the differences between the adjusted content post-test means was the direct result of the instructional treatment. Analysis of the pre/post-test data revealed that those students who received instruction via the sequenced, self-learning materials scored significantly higher (.0001) than did students taught the same material in the traditional manner. Thus, the sequenced instruction developed for the study was effective in increasing student performance on a problem-solving test in Mendelian genetics.The investigation also explored possible relationships between scholastic performance and the ability to perform Piagetian formal operational tasks. The results of this investigation indicated that the ability to perform two of the three elements of Piagetian formal operations is prerequisite to the ability to analyze complex problems in Mendelian genetics. Specifically, the .findings suggested that the higher-order reasoning patterns of propositional logic and combinatorial logic are essential for inductive and deductive analysis of genetic data.An unexpected finding of the study indicated that the ability to perform the formal operation of hypothetico-deductive reasoning is unrelated to problem- solving in Mendelian genetics. However, suice the application of propositional and/or combinatorial logic in the solving of genetics problems also requires consideration of the effects of alternate hypotheses, one may also assume that the ability to perform hypothetico-deductive reasoning is necessary, but, alone, is not sufficient for the ability to apply genetic analysis.The results of the study generated the following major conclusions:1. The written PTI developed for the study is an effective measure of an individual's ability to apply Piagetian formal operations.2. The logical sequencing of self-instructional materials via performance objectives can facilitate the student's ability to apply Piagetian formal operations to genetic analysis.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-124).

Akademisk avhandling--Department of Psychology--Stockholm, 1988.

Thesis--University of Florida. / Description based on print version record. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 249-256).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1974. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-225).

Texte remanié de: Diss. / Bibliogr. p. 267-276. Index.

Esta dissertação apresenta como propósito de pesquisa compreender e explicar como a literatura infantil contribui para a construção do pensamento das crianças: como a criança assimila a história que lhe é lida ou contada? A reflexão acerca dos processos cognitivos e suas inter-relações com a literatura infantil tem por hipótese de que esta pode desencadear, através do seu conteúdo, as ações vividas pela criança, ou seja, a criança passa a relacionar suas experiências de vida com o que está no livro. Nesse sentido, a história do livro pode trazer uma contribuição importante para a Estruturação do Real. O trabalho fundamenta-se especialmente nas contribuições de Jean Piaget e utiliza o estudo de caso como estratégia de pesquisa. A investigação foi realizada com um grupo de seis crianças, cujas idades variavam entre 6 e 7 anos, que freqüentavam uma turma de 1º ano, do 1º Ciclo de uma escola pública da Rede Municipal de Ensino de Porto Alegre, ao longo do segundo semestre de 2003. O grupo foi observado em contextos que envolviam a literatura infantil dentro da escola. O procedimento de avaliação do processo cognitivo das crianças deu-se através de entrevistas clínicas – a primeira, realizada em setembro, e a segunda, em dezembro. O processo cognitivo dessas crianças é entendido aqui como sendo aquele que assinala a passagem dos raciocínios pré-conceptuais (transduções) para a atividade representativa de ordem operatória. O ato de escutar, recontar, comentar e discutir as histórias, presente tanto nas entrevistas clínicas como no trabalho escolar com a literatura infantil, privilegiou a narrativa (linguagem) das crianças, justamente por reconhecer a importância da mesma, tanto no que diz respeito ao começo como ao avanço da conceituação. Os resultados desta pesquisa apontam para a existência de um caminho solidário entre Letramento e Estruturação do Real, inclusive no que diz respeito à confirmação da hipótese inicial referente à relação estabelecida pela criança entre suas experiências de vida e as histórias guardadas nos livros infantis, tanto de tendência realista como fantasista. A qualidade das trocas simbólicas ocorridas entre as crianças e a professora durante as situações sistemáticas de interação com a literatura infantil produziu avanços significativos no quadro da representação cognitiva de todas as crianças, quando foram comparados os dados obtidos na segunda entrevista com aqueles da primeira. Além disso, a pesquisa confirma as contribuições de Piaget no que diz respeito ao pensamento intuitivo das crianças pesquisadas, as quais manifestaram raciocínios aparentemente operatórios, porém ligados a uma configuração perceptiva. Esses raciocínios indicam que para a criança compreender a ordem (seqüência da história) preestabelecida no objeto livro são necessárias ações ordenadas no plano da representação, bem como sua interação com o objeto livro e o adulto intérprete-leitor.