Moral and evaluative reasoning across the life-span.

Abstract

In a longitudinal/cross sectional study of moral and evaluative reasoning, Armon interviewed 23 females and 19 males, ages ranging from 5 at the first test time (1977) to 86 at the 4th (1989) test-time. Rasch analysis of Armon's data demonstrated that Armon's and Kohlberg's measures tap a single underlying dimension of reasoning; that individual stages across five items measure the same levels of reasoning, and that development on all items progresses at about the same rate. Participants found it easier to apply already available reasoning structures to new areas than to reason at a new stage, implying that stage transition is step-like.