Abstract
A neglected research area involving the relationship between structure and content in thinking is explored in this study. Fifty-nine adults participated in initial (1986–88) and follow-up (1993–94) interviews on Reflective Judgment (RJ) dilemmas devised by Kitchener and King. An earlier study by A.-M. Pirttilä-Backman and A. Kajanne (2001) showed that Reflective Judgment mean scores were higher in the second interview round than those in the first. One of the Kitchener and King dilemmas on food additives was investigated further. In another study using the same data, A. Kajanne and A.-M. Pirttilä-Backman (1996) presented 4 categories of standpoints (Harmful, Safe, Both, and Neither) on food additives that were apparent in both interviews. A shift from the more clear-cut (Harmful and Safe) to the more moderate (Both and Neither) standpoints was detected between the 2 studies. The results of these two studies are utilized here in investigating the connection between form and content in thinking. In both interviews the mean stage scores on Reflective Judgment differed according to the standpoint taken. Stages 4 and 5 formed a dividing line: those under this line chose one of the clear-cut standpoints more often than those above it. Some contents were independent of the stage scores, but others were closely linked to them.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Armon, C. (1993). Developmental conceptions of good work: A longitudinal study. In J. Demick & P. M. Miller (Eds.), Development in the workplace (pp. 21–37). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Armon, C. (1998). Adult moral development, experience, and education. Journal of Moral Education, 27(3), 345–371.
Armon, C., & Dawson, T. L. (1997). Developmental trajectories in moral reasoning across the life span. Journal of Moral Education, 26(4), 433–453.
Broughton, J. (1978). Development of concepts of self, mind, reality, and knowledge. In W. Damon (Ed.), Social cognition. New directions for child development (Vol. 1, pp. 75–100). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Broughton, J. (1981). Piaget's structural developmental psychology. V. Ideology-critique and the possibility of a critical developmental theory. Human Development, 24, 382–411.
Candee, D. (1976). Structure and choice in moral reasoning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34(6), 1293–1301.
Carlston, D. E. (1991). Free association and the representation of complex cognitive structures. In R. S. Wyer Jr., & T. K. Srull (Eds.), Advances in social cognition: Vol. 4. The content, structure, and operation of thought systems (pp. 87–96). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Commons, M. L., Armon, C., Richards, F. A., Schrader, D., Farrell, E., Tappan, M., et al. (1989). A multidomain study of adult development. In M. Commons J. Sinnott F. Richards & C. Armon (Eds.), Adult development: Vol. 1. Comparisons and applications of developmental models (pp. 33–56). New York: Praeger.
Edwards, C. P. (1986). Cross-cultural research on Kohlberg's stages: The basis of consensus. In S. Modgil & C. Modgil (Eds.), Lawrence Kohlberg: Consensus and controversy (pp. 419–430). London: The Falmer Press.
Fischer, K. W. (1980). The theory of cognitive development: The control and construction of hierarchies of skills. Psychological Review, 87(6), 477–534.
Fischer, K. W., & Bidell, T. R. (1998). Dynamic development of psychological structures in action and thought. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology; Vol. 1. Theoretical models of human development (5th ed., pp. 467–561). New York: Wiley.
Fisher, A. (1991). Risk communication challenges. Risk Analysis, 11(2), 173–179.
Fischer, G. W., Morgan, M. G., Fischhoff, B., Nair, I., & Lave, L. B. (1991). What risks are people concerned about? Risk Analysis, 11(2), 303–314.
Flick, U. (1998). An introduction to qualitative research. London: Sage.
Harvey, O. J., Hunt, D. E., & Schroder, H. M. (1961). Conceptual systems and personality organization. New York: John Wiley.
Hermand, D., Mullet, E., & Rompteaux, L. (1999). Societal risk perception among children, adolescents, adults, and elderly people. Journal of Adult Development, 6(2), 137–143.
Kajanne, A., & Pirttilä-Backman, A.-M. (1996). Toward an understanding of laypeople's notions about additives in food: Clear-cut viewpoints about additives decrease with education. Appetite, 27, 207–222.
King, P. M. (1977). The development of reflective judgment and formal operational thinking in adolescents and young adults. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota.
King, P. M., & Kitchener, K. S. (1994). Developing reflective judgment. Understanding and promoting intellectual growth and critical thinking in adolescents and adults. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kitchener, K. S. (1978). Intellectual development in late adolescents and young adults: Reflective Judgment and verbal reasoning. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota.
Kitchener, K. S. (1986). The reflective judgment model: Characteristics, evidence, and measurement. In R. A. Mines & K. S. Kitchener (Eds.), Adult cognitive development (pp. 76–91). New York: Praeger.
Kitchener, K. S., & King, P. M. (1985). Reflective Judgment scoring rules (Rev. ed.). Available from the authors.
Kitchener, K. S., & King, P. M. (1990). The reflective judgment model: Ten years of research. In M. L. Commons J. D. Sinnot F. A. Richards & C. Armon (Eds.), Adult development: Vol. 2. Models and methods in the study of adolescent and adult thought (pp. 63–90). New York: Praeger.
Kohlberg, L. (1969). Stage and sequence: The cognitive–developmental approach to socialization. In D. Goslin (Ed.), Handbook of socialization theory and research (pp. 349–480). New York: Praeger.
Kohlberg, L. (1971). Stages of moral development as a basis for moral education. In C. M. Beck B. S. Crittenden & E. V. Sullivan (Eds.), Moral education: Interdisciplinary approaches (pp. 23–92). New York: Newman Press.
Kohlberg, L. (1984). The psychology of moral development. New York: Harper & Row.
Kohlberg, L., & Armon, C. (1984). Three types of stage models used in the study of adult development. In M. L. Commons F. A. Richards & C. Armon (Eds.), Beyond formal operations. Late adolescent and adult cognitive development (pp. 383–394). New York: Praeger.
Loevinger, J. (1976). Ego development: Conceptions and theories. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
MacGregor, D. (1991). Worry over technological activities and life concerns. Risk Analysis, 11(2), 315–324.
McGuire, W. J., & McGuire, C. V. (1991). The content, structure, and operation of thought systems. In R. S. Wyer Jr. & T. K. Srull (Eds.), Advances in social cognition: Vol. 4. The content, structure, and operation of thought systems (pp. 1–78). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Miller, M. (1994). Worldviews, ego development, and epistemological changes from the conventional to the postformal: A longitudinal perspective. In M. E. Miller & S. R. Cook-Greuter (Eds.), Transcendence and mature thought in adulthood. The further reaches of adult development (pp. 147–179). Lantham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Muhr, T. (1991). ATLAS/TI: A prototype for the support of text interpretation. Qualitative Sociology, 14, 349–371.
Perry, W. G., Jr. (1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years. A scheme. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Piaget, J. (1960). The general problems of the psychobiological development of the child. In J. M. Tanner & B. Inhelder (Eds.), Discussions on child development: Vol. 4. (pp. 3–27). Edinburgh: Tavistock.
Piaget, J. (1969). The psychology of the child. New York: Harper Torch-books.
Pirttilä-Backman, A.-M. (1993). The social psychology of knowledge reassessed. Toward a new delineation of the field with empirical substantiation (Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae). Dissertationes Humanarum Litterarum 68, Academia Scientiarum Fennica, Helsinki, Finland.
Pirttilä-Backman, A.-M., & Hakanen, H. (in press). How the origin of human life is constructed? In A. S. de Rosa S. Ayestaran & J. Valencia (Eds.), Social representations in the “social arena”: The theory towards applications. San Sebastian: Servicio Editorial University of Basque Country, Spain.
Pirttilä-Backman, A.-M., & Kajanne, A. (2001). The development of implicit epistemologies during early and middle adulthood. Journal of Adult development, 8(2), 81–97.
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Selman, R. L. (1980). The growth of interpersonal understanding: Developmental and clinical analyses. New York: Academic Press.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (1996). Using multivariate statistics (3rd ed.). New York: HarperCollins College.
Tinsley, H. E. A., & Weiss, D. J. (1975). Interrater reliability and agreement of subjective judgments. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 22, 358–376.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kajanne, A. Structure and Content: The Relationship Between Reflective Judgment and Laypeople's Viewpoints. Journal of Adult Development 10, 173–188 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023414313800
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023414313800