Theageatwhichyoungchildrenbegintomakemoraldiscriminationsaboutharmfulactionscommittedagainstthemselvesorothershasbeenthefocusofrecentresearchintothemoraldevelopmentofchildren.Untilrecently,childpsychologistssupportedpioneerdevelopmentalistJeanPiagetinhishypothesisthatbecauseoftheirimmaturity,childrenunderagesevendonottakeintoaccounttheintentionsofapersoncommittingaccidentalordeliberateharm,butrathersimplyassignpunishmentfortransgressionsonthebasisofthemagnitudeofthenegativeconsequencescaused.AccordingtoPiaget,childrenunderagesevenoccupythefirststageofmoraldevelopment,whichischaracterizedbymoralabsolutism(rulesmadebyauthoritiesmustbeobeyed)andimminentjustice(ifrulesarebroken,punishmentwillbemetedout).Untilyoungchildrenmature,theirmoraljudgmentsarebasedentirelyontheeffectratherthanthecauseofatransgression.However,inrecentresearch,Keaseyfoundthatsix-year-oldchildrennotonlydistinguishbetweenaccidentalandintentionalharm,butalsojudgeintentionalharmasnaughtier,regardlessoftheamountofdamageproduced.Bothofthesefindingsseemtoindicatethatchildren,atanearlieragethanPiagetclaimed,advanceintothesecondstageofmoraldevelopment,moralautonomy,inwhichtheyacceptsocialrulesbutviewthemasmorearbitrarythandochildreninthefirststage. Keasey’sresearchraisestwokeyquestionsfordevelopmentalpsychologistsaboutchildrenunderageseven:dotheyrecognizejustificationsforharmfulactions,anddotheymakedistinctionsbetweenharmfulactsthatarepreventableandthoseactsthathaveunforeseenharmfulconsequences?Studiesindicatethatjustificationsexcusingharmfulactionsmightinclude?public?duty,self-defense,andprovocation.Forexample,NesdaleandRuleconcludedthatchildrenwerecapableofconsideringwhetherornotanaggressor’sactionwasjustifiedbypublicduty:fiveyearoldsreactedverydifferentlyto“BonniewrecksArm’spretendhouse”dependingonwhetherBonniedidit“sosomebodywon’tfalloverit”orbecauseBonniewanted“tomakeAnnfeelbad”.Thus,achildoffivebeginstounderstandthatcertainharmfulactions,thoughintentional,canbejustified;theconstraintsofmoralabsolutismnolongersolelyguidetheirjudgments. Psychologistshavedeterminedthatduringkindergartenchildrenlearntomakesubtledistinctionsinvolvingharm.Darleyobservedthatamong-actsinvolvingunintentionalharm,six-year-oldchildrenjustenteringkindergartencouldnotdifferentiatebetweenforeseeable,andthuspreventable,harmandunforeseeableharmforwhichtheperpetratorcannotbeblamed.Sevenmonthslater,however,Darleyfoundthatthesesamechildrencouldmakebothdistinctions,thusdemonstratingthattheyhadbecomemorallyautonomous. Whichofthefollowingbestdescribesthepassageasawhole?
A.An outline for future research B.An expanded definition of commonly misunderstood terms C.An analysis of a dispute between two theories D.A discussion of research findings in an ongoing inquiry正确答案D
