Effects of Multiple Model Variations and Rationale Provision on the Moral Judgments and Explanations of Young Children

Abstract

BRODY, GENE H., and HENDERSON, RONALD W. Effects of Multiple Model Variations and Rationale Provision on the Moral Judgments and Explanations of Young Children. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 1117-1120. The influence of both peer and adult models who displayed either consistent, conflicting, or inconsistent moral judgments on the moral judgments and explanations of first graders was examined. The influence of rationale provision was also asssessed. Subjects who were exposed to adult and peer models who consistently displayed mature judgmental criteria produced the most mature judgments and explanations. Rationale provision had a positive influence on both judgments and explanations rendered by subjects. Several treatment combinations led to acquisition and generalization of more mature moral judgments, relative to the performance of a control group, but only the condition in which adult and peer models consistently displayed mature judgments accompanied by a rationale resulted in experimental subjects producing a greater number of mature moral explanations than controls.