HUMBLDT STATE UNIVERSITY

INITIAL DEVELOPMENT AND PSYCHOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF
THE MORAL COGNITION INVENTORY

HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY by Jessica Black

Thesis Presented to
The Faculty of Humboldt State University

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts in Psychology
May, 2012

INITIAL DEVELOPMENT AND PSYCHOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF
THE MORAL COGNITION INVENTORY

HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY

by
Jessica Black

Approved by the Master’s Thesis Committee

Dr. William M. Reynolds, Major Professor

Date

Dr. Christopher Aberson, Committee Member

Date

Dr. John W. Powell, Committee Member

Date

Dr. Christopher Aberson, Graduate Coordinator

Date

Dr. Jená Burges, Vice Provost

Date

Initial
Whether the influence of cognitive processes is conscious or unconscious seems to be a matter of debate (cf. Pasupathi & Wainryb, 2010; Cosmides & Tooby, 2006;
Cushman, Young, & Hauser, 2006). Cognition refers to the acquisition, encoding, and use of knowledge, through experience or thought (Anderson, 2004). Cognitive means
“relating to cognition” or “of, relating to, being, or involving conscious intellectual activity (as thinking, reasoning, or remembering)” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary).
According to the first definition, not all cognition is conscious. Experimental results have shown that although people make choices according to underlying moral principles or rules, they tend to be unaware of doing so, and frequently cannot explain their choices
(Cushman et al., 2006). Heuristics, as the result of the internalization and automatization of rules and knowledge, depends on conscious cognition at first, but then becomes

4 unconscious (Sunstein, 2005). Some moral decision-making happens at an unconscious level; recent evidence supports the theory that activity initiates in the brain up to 10 seconds before a conscious intention is reported (Smith, 2011).
If everything that participates in the acquisition and application of
According to Kohlberg, the goal of education should be to facilitate the natural ability of children to reach the highest stages of moral and intellectual development (Kohlberg &
Hersh).

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Kohlberg’s theory makes three theoretical assumptions (Colby & Kohlberg,
1987). First, it makes the phenomenological assumption that moral judgments are the result of the conscious deliberation of rational beings. Second, it focuses on the structure of moral thought, and how it changes developmentally, rather than on the content of specific moral dilemmas. Third, Kohlberg’s theory holds that people construct their reality in that their judgments grant moral meaning to actions and context. People can learn to apply reason to complex moral dilemmas, and as their intellectual ability increases, they are better prepared to make decisions according to universal principles rather than responding to the pressures of their immediate environment. Kohlberg believed that the moral education of children should include the presentation and discussion of moral dilemmas that would help them attain the ability to apply universal moral laws (Kohlberg & Hersh,