Theoretical Foundations in Nursing

STUDENT ACTIVITY SHEET BS NURSING / FIRST YEAR

Session # 22

LESSON TITLE: Materials:

▪ JEAN PIAGET’S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Pen and notebook
▪ LAWRENCE KOHLBERG’S THEORY OF MORAL
DEVELOPMENT

LEARNING TARGETS:
Upon completion of this lesson, you can:
▪ Acknowledge the background and credentials of these
local nursing theorists;
▪ Identify the major concepts and definitions of terms as
utilized in their respective models;
▪ Highlight their major areas of contributions in the
nursing field; and, Reference:
▪ Describe each of these theories in view of their Alligood, M. (2018). Nursing theories and their
implications in the nursing field. work (9th ed.). Singapore: Elsevier.

LESSON REVIEW/PREVIEW
Let us have a review of what you have learned from the previous lesson. Kindly answer the following questions on the
space provided. You may use the back page of this sheet, if necessary. Have fun!

What are the three components of Sigmund Freud’s personality theory? Differentiate each of these components.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

MAIN LESSON
You will study and read their book, if available, about this lesson.

JEAN PIAGET’S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

✔ Jean Piaget (1952-1980) was a Swiss developmental psychologist.

✔ He developed one of the most comprehensive theories of cognitive development.
✔ He explained genetic epistemology, a concept which refers to "study of developmental
changes in the process of knowing and in the organization of knowledge".

Major Concepts and Definition:

▪ Schema
→ A term used by Piaget to describe the models, or mental structures, that we
create to represent, organize, and interpret our experiences.
▪ Organization
→ The process by which children combine existing schemes into new and more
complex intellectual structures.
▪ Adaptation
→ An inborn tendency to adjust to the demands of the environment through assimilation and
accommodation.
▪ Assimilation
→ The process of interpreting new experiences by incorporating them into existing schemes.

This document and the information thereon is the property of

PHINMA Education (Department of Nursing) 1 of 7
 ▪ Accommodation
→ The process of modifying existing schemes in order to incorporate or adapt to new experiences.
▪ Development
→ Changes occurring throughout the lifespan that are orderly and adaptive.

Stages of Cognitive Development:

✔ Learning through 5 senses

Sensorimotor Stage
(0 to 2 years)
Preoperational Stage
(2 to 7 years)
Concrete Operational Stage
(7 to 11 years)
Formal Operational Stage
(11 years to adulthood)
✔ Development of imitative behaviors
✔ Development of symbolic knowledge
✔ Develops object permanence
✔ The beginning of goal-directed actions
✔ Semiotic function – ability to use symbols
✔ One-way logic
✔ Difficulty with the principle of conservation
✔ Egocentrism
✔ “Hands on” thinking
✔ Identity
✔ Compensation
✔ Reversibility
✔ Classification
✔ Seriation
✔ Hypothetic deductive reasoning
✔ Abstract thinking
✔ “Scientific” reasoning
✔ Adolescent egocentrism & imaginary audience
✔ Not all individuals reach this stage

Conclusion:
▪ Piaget made important contributions to our understanding of normal intellectual development.
▪ Piaget theories provide a fundamental starting point for understanding childhood cognitive development.

This document and the information thereon is the property of

PHINMA Education (Department of Nursing) 2 of 7
LAWRENCE KOHLBERG’S THEORY OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT

✔ Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) devised a theory in which he explained

the six stages of moral development divided into three levels.
✔ Morality is the system one uses to decide what is right and wrong; how
one’s conscience affects choices.
✔ Moral development refers to the capacity of the individual to act in
accord with conscience and moral imperatives rather than egocentric
values.
✔ Kohlberg defines moral judgments "as judgments of value, as social
judgments, and as judgments that oblige an individual to take action”.
✔ He was inspired by Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget and the American
philosopher John Dewey.

Moral Development Across LifeSpan

▪ By the second year of life, “moral emotions” emerge.
▪ By 36 months, most children demonstrate the internalization of parental
standards.
▪ During the school years, the importance of rules and adhering to them
become well-defined.
▪ Moral development after adolescence is complex and influenced by social factors.

Kohlberg’s Three
Level of Reasoning
and Six Stages of
Moral Development
Each level has two
stages that represent
different degrees of
sophistication in
moral reasoning.

This document and the information thereon is the property of

PHINMA Education (Department of Nursing) 3 of 7
3 Levels of Reasoning:
1. Pre-conventional – reason according to the self-perspective
2. Conventional – reasoning based on social rules and norms
3. Post-conventional – use the principle behind the social norm to direct their behavior

Stages of this Theory:

1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation
2. Individualism and Exchange
3. Good Interpersonal Relationships
4. Maintaining the Social Order
5. Social Contract and Individual Rights
6. Universal Principles\

✔ The first two stages have a pre-conventional level of morality.

✔ During stage 3 and 4, the child shows a conventional level of morality.
✔ Post-conventional level of reasoning is observed during stage 5 and 6.

Conclusion:
▪ Parents influence the moral development of their children.
▪ Kohlberg’s theory explained moral development in a philosophical and psychological context.

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING

You will answer and rationalize this by yourself. This will be recorded as your quiz. One (1) point will be given to the
correct answer and another one (1) point for the correct ratio. Superimpositions or erasures in your answer/ratio is not
allowed.

1. Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four different stages of mental
development. Child learns that he is separate from his environment and that aspects of his environment continue to
exist even though they may be outside the reach of his senses. Which of Piaget's stages is this?
a. Sensorimotor stage
b. Preoperational stage
c. Concrete operational stage
d. Formal operational stage
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Observing children, Jean Piaget proposed a sequence consisting of normal development that all normal children
follow. Which of the following is one of the most important accomplishments at the sensorimotor stage?
a. Children propose the questions of why and how come
b. Intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts.
c. Object permanence
d. They start solving problems in a more logical fashion
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. _________ is the third of four stages from Piaget's theory of cognitive development. It follows the preoperational
stage, occurs between the ages of 7 and 11 years and is characterized by the appropriate use of logic.
a. Sensorimotor stage
b. Preoperational stage
c. Concrete operational stage
d. Formal operational stage
ANSWER: ________

This document and the information thereon is the property of

PHINMA Education (Department of Nursing) 4 of 7
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. ___________ is the final stage of cognitive development. Intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of
symbols related to abstract concepts.
a. Sensorimotor stage c. Concrete operational stage
b. Preoperational stage d. Formal operational stage
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Jean Piaget is a Cognitive psychologist; He created a 4-stage theory of cognitive development, and said that two
basic processes work in tandem to achieve cognitive growth. What is reversibility and stage being it prominent in?
a. Prominent until the preoperational stage, reversibility is a child's belief that others see the world in
precisely the same way they do.
b. Prominent until the sensorimotor stage, reversibility is an ability to think about your own thought
processes.
c. Prominent until the concrete operational stage, reversibility is the understanding that numbers and objects
can change and then return to their original state.
d. Prominent until the formal operational stage, reversibility is an ability to think about your own thought
processes.
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Pepper, a pediatric nurse, is planning to teach the concepts of moral development theory with Mrs. Orah. What
motivates the good boy and good girl concepts for the child at the preconventional level?
a. The behavior of the parents c. Peer pressure
b. Punishment and reward d. Social pressure
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Pepper, a nurse educator, plans to conduct a webinar for the staff nurses regarding Kohlberg's theory of moral
development. What information should the nurse include in the session? Which of the following are included? (Select
all that apply)
a. A person can move through all six stages in a sequential fashion
b. Moral development can move through in relationship to cognitive development
c. A person's capability to make moral judgments progresses over a period of time
d. The theory provides a framework for understanding how individuals determine a moral code to guide their
behavior
e. In stage 1 (punishment-obedience orientation), children are expected to reason as mature members of
society
f. In stage 2 (instrumental-relativist orientation), the child conforms to rules to obtain rewards or have favors
returned.
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Morality rests upon the individual conscience. What was Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development for?
a. That caring regenerates life energies and potentiates our capabilities
b. Emphasis on hospital cleanliness and sanitation.
c. To determine how children would solve a series of moral dilemmas based on their responses

This document and the information thereon is the property of

PHINMA Education (Department of Nursing) 5 of 7
 d.Adaptive methods not only help the family through the healing process, but teaches the nurse methods to
help the family emotionally and physically.
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. A stage of moral development in which the individuals consider universal moral principles, which supersede the
authority of the group.
a. Conventional Level
b. Pre-conventional Level
c. Post Conventional Level
d. Conventional Level, Stage 4
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. Comprising stages 1 and 2; a stage or moral development in which moral reasoning is based on reward and
punishment from those in authority?
a. Conventional Level
b. Pre-conventional Level
c. Post Conventional Level
d. Conventional Level, Stage 4
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

RATIONALIZATION ACTIVITY
The instructor will now provide you the rationalization to these questions. You can now ask questions and debate among
yourselves. Write the correct answer and correct/additional ratio in the space provided.

1. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
3. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
4. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
5. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
6. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

This document and the information thereon is the property of

PHINMA Education (Department of Nursing) 6 of 7
7. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
8. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
9. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
10. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

LESSON WRAP-UP

You will now mark (encircle) the session you have finished today in the tracker below. This is simply a visual to help you
track how much work you have accomplished and how much work there is left to do.

You are done with the session! Let’s track your progress.

AL Activity: CAT: MUDDIEST POINT

This technique will help you determine which key points were missed in the main lesson. You will respond to only one
question:

In today’s session, what was least clear to you?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

***Celebrate with the students as you are able to finish all the essential topics covered in this subject. Make sure to
remind them with the exam coverage and the topics to prioritize.

This document and the information thereon is the property of

PHINMA Education (Department of Nursing) 7 of 7