The effect of training children to make moral judgments that are independent of sanctions

Presented 72 4-5 yr. Olds with 5 stories in which a good act was followed by punishment and 5 stories in which a bad act was followed by punishment. Ss were then randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups which (a) discussed why the act was good or bad and why the punishment occurred, (b) was rewarded for correctly identifying the act as bad or good, and (c) participated in nonrelevant activities. Ss were individually tested 3-8 days later. Older ss and ss in the training groups performed significantly better than younger ss and controls. It is concluded that the results do not support piagetian theory that training is more important than development in producing changes in ss' moral reasoning.