College students who took the Defining Issues Test (DIT) were instructed to simulate the responses of 11-, 15-, and 19-year-old adolescents; other college students selected moral issues which they believed should be presented to adolescents in those age groups who were faced with the moral dilemmas in the DIT. (Author/DB)

Traces the history of Minnesota's approach to moral judgment research. Claims this history can be subdivided into four phases, each with a different goal and theoretical consideration. Concludes the Minnesota approach has been a progressive force in the field. Argues that this approach reaffirms Lawrence Kohlberg's view that moral judgments are…

Provides a critical appraisal of two significant contributions of the Minnesota approach to moral development. Describes one contribution as the componential model that describes the four psychological components underlying moral behavior. Identifies the second contribution as the conceptual and methodological reformulations known as the…

Undergraduates discussed a moral issue with a confederate who had the same opinion (no controversy) or opposite opinion (controversy) within either a cooperative or a competitive context. Subjects in the controversy conditions indicated more conceptual conflict, engaged in more information seeking, and were more accurate in taking the cognitive…

Results of this study reveal that professionals have a higher level of moral development, and counselor training has no effect on moral development. (Author)

Research on moral development from a cognitive-developmental perspective has been undertaken predominantly with Western subjects and most often with males. To investigate variables associated with moral reasoning among Palestinian Arabs, 259 male and female university students between the ages of 18 and 26 completed Rest's Defining Issues Test…

This paper describes the rationale for the Defining Issues Test (DIT), an objective test of moral judgment which attempts to improve upon three aspects of Kohlberg's research: data collection, categorization of moral judgments (the scoring system), and method of indexing a subject's progress in a developmental sequence. In each case, the way in…

This study explored the moral reasoning and scientific argumentation skills of 31 gifted Finnish adolescents participating in a science program at the University of Helsinki. Students were given the Defining Issues Test (DIT) to determine their level of moral reasoning and the Raven test to evaluate their scientific reasoning. The argumentation…

Reporting assumptions, procedures, findings, and implications re the second year of a two-year study of moral education involving 411 secondary students and 13 teachers, this article indicates hypotheses concerning treatment group differences in distinguishing factoral and value claims and moral development were not confirmed. (JC)

Discusses the Defining Issues Test as an invaluable tool for research and practice in moral education. Explains that because such instruments are based upon previous developmental research, they are unsuitable for research on moral development. Argues that these measures stand in the way of generating new knowledge. (CAJ)

Reports on a study of 24 Australian secondary teachers before and after an inservice program on the whole-school approach to discipline. Finds that higher principled teachers provided more perspective and guidance than those in the low moral judgment group. Recommends more joint decision making by teachers in developing a school's discipline…

The document discusses the nature of moral judgment, reviews previous studies which link higher education to moral judgment, and presents results of a longitudinal study comparing college and non-college subjects. This project report from the Higher Education and Cognitive-Social Development Project at the University of Minnesota is presented in…

Discusses three core moral judgement ideas: (1) modern schema theory, (2) automatic decision-making frequency, and (3) implicit processes as the default mode of human information processing. Compares the Defining Issues Test (measures the beginnings of moral judgement) and the Lawrence Kohlberg Moral Judgement Interview (measures the highest level…

Draws on evidence from Alverno College's (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) longitudinal research to make the case that the Defining Issues Test (DIT) is best characterized as measuring growth in moral reasoning rather than a broader construct of moral development. Challenges current DIT theory, but is consistent with prevailing interpretations of growth on…

Examines the level of moral development and empathy in adult male sex offenders. Male sex offenders (n=21) and male physical assaulters (n=30) were assessed using the Defining Issues Test and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Results indicate significant differences between group means and norm group means on two dimensions of empathy. (JPS)