Last week we were instructed to examine trends in research in a
subdivision field of psychology of interest, per the American Psychological
Association (APA), via looking through the appropriate journal article
selection for that subdivision. My personal interest as a mother, scholar,
and previous preschool and special education teacher led up to my
current research interest in psychology involved in young children (i.e.,
learning, development, behavior, etc.). For such reasons I investigated the
journal for "Developmental Psychology", despite the numerous related
journals and topics deriving from the generally broad area that is
developmental psychology. Because learning and development are so
rapid within the first years of life, which consequently set the tone and
foundations for all lifelong learning and development, I would like to
specify and describe child development and psychology as research
interest areas for me. To be more specific, for this assignment I would like
to describe how moral development in childhood develops and is/can be
fostered. From a Christian perspective, this area especially is important in
raising and teaching generations the righteous way for the glory of, and
dedication to God and His commandments. We must instill a sense of
righteousness, conscientiousness, and morality in children, who will inherit
the earth after us, and then formulate the values and compasses of those
who will inherit the earth after them, and then so on. Previous research
using Bandura's Social-Learning Theory (1977) has already revealed how
vicarious learning can impact others' behaviors, learning, and decision
effectively (whether it be reinforcement or punishment); Ma et. al (2018)
further branched off this phenomenon to find that observational learning
also promotes honesty, as a specific example of Bandura's
establishments.
: : : :The current article in the recent Developmental Psychology journal
that focused on this moral developmental aspect of honesty investigated
how guilt is linked to truth-telling. Ma et al. (2022) describe guilt as a self-
conscious emotion that makes one "feel responsible for causing harm or
for violating internalized standards of conduct" (p. 694). In their study, Ma
et al. (2022) conduct an experiment with two different experimental
conditions using induced emotions, those emotions being guilt and
sadness, and a control group. Guilt was significantly linked to preschoolers
telling the truth more often in comparison to those who felt sadness
unrelated to oneself, or no particular induced emotion at all (no difference
between the control group and the sadness group). The background
information discussed how self-awareness itself promoted more prosocial
behavior and truth-telling likelihood with preschoolers as already
established in research. Self-awareness in as rudimentary of a method of
a mirror being present for the children to see themselves when placed in
areas of temptation and social play is astounding in its implications and
results!
: : : :Naturally, morality can be identified as a biblical foundational
principle, so its place in Christianity is just as apparent as its place in
human development and psychology. As we can see many ways it can be
investigated through a secular focal point, we can also see how it could,
and should, be investigated using a biblical worldview. This research area
can be investigated from a biblical worldview through discussion of the
Holy Spirit as our conscience's guide that stimulates reparatory responses
that guilt is presumed to elicit. Why does one feel guilt at all? Guilt is
considered a secondary emotion, as opposed to a primary emotion (ones
that are innate and unlearned). The APA defines secondary emotion as
ones that are not universal and require social construction, experience,
and learning to feel (VandenBos & APA, 2022). In other words, there is no
empirical definition or explanation as to why and how we feel guilt, or its
source; it is only recognized that guilt is not attributed to a definite
biological human-bound "feeling". This, to me, is a perfect example of
faith being a sensical explanation of epistemology over reason, as we
have been probed to think about from our readings of Sproul (2020) and
Esqueda (2014), and to Esqueda's reference to Naugle (2004). Research
in this area, thus, can be investigated and discussed using a biblical
worldview that recognizes the Holy Spirit as our source of innate
knowledge in our spirits of Christ.
:
References
Bandura, A. (1977).:Social learning theory.Prentice Hall.
Esqueda, O. J. (2014):Biblical Worldview: The Christian Higher Education
Foundation for Learning, Christian Higher Education, 13:2, 91-100, DOI:
10.1080/15363759.2014.872495
Ma, F., Heyman, G. D., Jing, C., Fu, Y., Compton, B. J., Xu, F., & Lee, K.
(2018). Promoting honesty in young children through observational
learning.:Journal of experimental child psychology,:167, 234–245.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2017.11.003
Ma, F., An, R., Wu, D., Luo, X., Xu, F., & Lagattuta, K. H. (2022). Guilt
promotes honesty in preschoolers.:Developmental Psychology, 58(4),
693–699. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001323
Naugle, D. K. (2004).:Renewing integrity: A Christian worldview and
educational practice. Paper presented at the meeting of the National
Faculty Leadership Conference, Washington, DC.
VandenBos, G. R., & American Psychological Association. (2007). APA
dictionary of psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
