A Moral Developmental Perspective on Children’s
Eyewitness Identification: Does Intent Matter?
This article is research about children’s development of morality. The
children were asked to identify perpetrators in eyewitness scenarios, and the
presumption the researchers made is that identification of the perpetrators
calls for a moral judgement from the children that may differ depending on
the age of the child.
The researchers had a hypothesis. Their hypothesis is that the age of
the child impacts the child’s moral framing of the event will impact the
child’s response to the eyewitness, specifically the decisional criterion used
to identify the perpetrator. More specifically, the researchers thought that
the older children, adolescents, would have a high sensitivity to the intent of
the perpetrator and adjust their bias accordingly. In other words, the
researchers thought the older children would be more accurate in their
judgements. They also believed that the younger children would be less
influenced by intent and thus they would be more influenced by memory
than morality. The hypothesis is that the children’s moral development would
increase with age.
Two experimental studies were conducted to study the moral
development of older and younger children. They both involved children
making moral judgements, specifically about the consequences and
intentions, about a perpetrator committing a harmful act.
Eyewitness Identification: Does Intent Matter?
This article is research about children’s development of morality. The
children were asked to identify perpetrators in eyewitness scenarios, and the
presumption the researchers made is that identification of the perpetrators
calls for a moral judgement from the children that may differ depending on
the age of the child.
The researchers had a hypothesis. Their hypothesis is that the age of
the child impacts the child’s moral framing of the event will impact the
child’s response to the eyewitness, specifically the decisional criterion used
to identify the perpetrator. More specifically, the researchers thought that
the older children, adolescents, would have a high sensitivity to the intent of
the perpetrator and adjust their bias accordingly. In other words, the
researchers thought the older children would be more accurate in their
judgements. They also believed that the younger children would be less
influenced by intent and thus they would be more influenced by memory
than morality. The hypothesis is that the children’s moral development would
increase with age.
Two experimental studies were conducted to study the moral
development of older and younger children. They both involved children
making moral judgements, specifically about the consequences and
intentions, about a perpetrator committing a harmful act.
