PSY406 Educational Psychology Assignment 1 for Fall 2026 covers Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development. Four situations must each be matched to a moral development level and stage, with a rationale worth 3 marks each, for a total of 20 marks. The solution file linked below identifies all four concepts with their rationales.
What Does the Solution File Cover?
Which Stages Are Pre-conventional and Conventional?
The first situation fits the Pre-conventional Level, Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation. The student avoids cheating because he fears punishment from his teacher and parents, so right and wrong are judged by negative consequences rather than honesty or fairness. The second fits the Conventional Level, Stage 3: Good Interpersonal Relationships, also called the Good Boy or Good Girl Orientation. The student helps her classmate because she wants to be considered kind, responsible and helpful by her teacher and peers, so moral reasoning is driven by approval and social acceptance.
Which Stages Are Post-conventional?
The third situation fits the Post-conventional Level, Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights Orientation. The student believes school rules should promote fairness and protect everyone’s interests and well-being, and suggests reviewing a rule through consultation because rules can change when they do not serve the community. The fourth fits the Post-conventional Level, Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principles Orientation. The student opposes bullying because every individual deserves dignity and respect regardless of what the majority considers acceptable, so universal principles of dignity, equality and justice take priority over peer approval. How behavior is judged against social expectations is a related theme in the PSY404 Assignment 1 solution on criteria for abnormal behavior.
How Do You Download the Solution File?
You can download the complete solution file from Google Drive using the link below. It contains all four identified concepts with their full rationales. Fill in your own name and student ID in the blanks at the top before submitting, and check your VULMS for the submission deadline, since no due date was part of the file we received.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Kohlberg’s three levels?
Kohlberg proposed three levels of moral development: pre-conventional, where reasoning is based on consequences and self-interest; conventional, where reasoning follows social approval and law and order; and post-conventional, where reasoning is based on social contracts and universal ethical principles. Each level contains two stages, six in total.
How do you tell Stage 1 from Stage 3?
Stage 1 is driven by fear of punishment: the person avoids an act because of what will happen to them. Stage 3 is driven by approval: the person acts to be seen as good, kind or helpful by others. The motive behind the act is the deciding clue, not the act itself.
How do you tell Stage 5 from Stage 6?
Stage 5 appeals to agreements, rights and the common good: rules matter because people agreed to them and they can be changed by consultation. Stage 6 appeals to universal principles such as dignity, equality and justice that hold even when the majority disagrees. Stage 6 outranks majority opinion; Stage 5 works through it.
Last updated: November 2026.
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