ABSTRACT
The focus of cognitive explanations is on mind and how mental processes operate to help us make sense of what is right and wrong, rather than necessarily on some fixed and unchanging notion of morality. Kohlberg uses a similar stage approach to the understanding of moral development by arguing that moral reasoning develops in levels, with each level having a slightly different understanding of what is right and wrong. Kohlberg seems to be arguing in his theory of moral reasoning that the understanding of what is right and wrong and morality are linked to a general level of intelligence, as some people are not capable of the sophisticated understanding of morality that is required at higher levels. The researchers found that there was no correlation between intelligence level of children and their level of moral reasoning, which seems to suggest that Kohlberg was wrong to assume that there might be and that moral reasoning and cognitive ability are completely separate.
