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Preschoolers' cognitive skills predict their developing moral self

  • 0Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USA.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology +

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December 25, 2024

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December 25, 2024

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Cognitive skills like executive function and theory of mind support children's developing moral self-concept. Different cognitive abilities predict different aspects of the moral self, suggesting a multifaceted approach to support.

Area Of Science

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Moral Development

Background

  • Children's moral self-concept emerges in early childhood and predicts behavior.
  • The cognitive underpinnings of moral self development are not well understood.
  • Previous research has not sufficiently explored the link between executive function, theory of mind, and the moral self.

Purpose Of The Study

  • To investigate the relationship between cognitive skills and the development of the moral self in young children.
  • To identify specific cognitive skills that predict initial moral self-concept and changes over time.
  • To examine how executive function (hot and cool) and theory of mind contribute to different facets of the moral self.

Main Methods

  • Longitudinal study of 106 children (mean age 52.78 months) from urban economic deprivation.
  • Assessment of moral self-concept through interviews at two time points, 6 months apart.
  • Evaluation of cognitive skills including hot and cool executive function tasks, a theory of mind battery, and verbal ability.

Main Results

  • Different cognitive skills uniquely predicted various aspects of the moral self.
  • Cool executive function predicted the socioemotional moral self initially and its change over time.
  • Theory of mind initially predicted the instrumental helping moral self.

Conclusions

  • The moral self is multidimensional, with distinct cognitive predictors.
  • Cognitive development, including executive function and theory of mind, plays a crucial role in shaping the moral self.
  • A multipronged approach to cognitive support may be most effective for enhancing the moral self.

Keywords:

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