Moral Comparisons

Piaget

• Participants are given 2 short stories 
• In one, the intention is good but a large amount of damage is done
• In the other, the intention is bad but little damage is done

• The task of remembering the details of the two stories places too great a demand on the memory of some children 
• This means that P's give answers based on incomplete recollection of the details of the stories

• Children are particularly inclined to try to please the experimenter 
• They are likely to give responses that they feel the situation demands, even when they are unsure or do not understand

• Intention is only implied meaning some children might not recognise it 
• Nelson made intentions clear in his study and found that even 3 year olds were capable of taking intention into account

So many variables such as levels of damage done and intention are involved it is impossible to say which variable is influencing the child's decision