In an evening seminar held in the Illinois Math and Science Academy (IMSA) auditorium, Lisa Anderson-Shaw, Director of Clinical Ethics Consulting Service at the University of Illinois Medial Center, posed a scenario that inspired a thirty-minute discussion of contemporary bioethics, during which speaker and students untangled issues of patient…

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…

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…

Gifted adolescents who attended a one-month intensive summer institute were administered the Defining Issues Test, which measures levels of moral development. Results indicated that the students (n=167) received scores above the norm for their age range. (Author/JDD)

The Defining Issues Test (DIT) has been subjected to construct validation in a number of studies relating it to the development of moral judgment and to measures of cognitive development and political attitudes. The DIT has been found to have significant positive correlations with the Comprehension of Social-Moral Concepts Test for a variety of…

Six papers, originally presented in different form at the 1977 Convention of the Society for Research in Child Development, highlight approximately 100 studies that have used the Defining Issues Test (DIT) of moral judgment. The DIT's standardized format and objective scoring makes comparisons possible among studies, and this body of research…

Empirically weighted scores for Rest's Defining Issues Test were found to be more reliable than the simple sum of scores theoretically weighted sum, or Rest's p scores. They also had slightly higher correlations with Kohlberg's interview scores. Empirically weighted scores also showed more significant change in two longitudinal studies. (CTM)

Reports a study which examined objective ratings of the moral issues expressed in the Defining Issues Test (DIT) items in relation to verbal reports of the reasoning with which those ratings were generated. Finds that differences in the educational level of the subjects were significant. A case is made for verbal assessment of information on…

Fifty-five studies of a variety of education interventions designed to stimulate development in moral judgment, which used the Defining Issues Test, are reviewed. Results are discussed in terms of general treatment effects, program type, exposure to Kohlberg's Theory, subject age, and treatment duration. (Author/BS)

The encoding and processing components of moral judgment-making responses were investigated by using a "thinking aloud" response mode to Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT) of moral judgment. Three subject groups were asked to "think aloud" as they took the DIT: (1) 30 male and female graduate students from a philosophy…

Presents a study in which students from Kuwait were given Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT) to measure the development of moral judgment skills. Explains that results were compared with scales measuring student perception of parental behavior. Concludes that the DIT may not be a valid test for development of moral judgment in an Arab culture. (DK)