Intention Attribution and the Development of Moral Evaluation

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Moral Reasoning
• Cognitive Development

Background:

• Infants and toddlers evaluate actions based on intention.
• Preschoolers show mixed results in moral evaluation, sometimes focusing on outcomes, sometimes on intentions.
• Contradictory findings fuel debate on the development of moral reasoning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine existing research on early moral evaluation.
• To propose how task procedures influence children's intention attribution and moral evaluations.
• To explain variability in young children's moral reasoning development.

Main Methods:

• Review of extant research on early moral evaluation.
• Analysis of how task procedures present intention and outcome information.
• Theoretical examination of factors influencing intention attribution.

Main Results:

• Task procedures can either support or hinder young children's ability to attribute intentions.
• Variations in task design alter the prominence of intention versus outcome information.
• These procedural differences impact the frequency and extent of intention-based moral judgments.

Conclusions:

• Methodological variations in research design are critical to understanding moral reasoning development.
• Children's moral evaluations are sensitive to how intention and outcome information is presented.
• Further research should consider procedural influences on intention attribution in young children.