Which theorist is perhaps the leading figure in moral development and used stories to assess children's moral reasoning?

• A. Erik Erikson
• B. Jean Piaget
• C. Lawrence Kohlberg
• D. B. F. Skinner

Answer: (C)

Moral reasoning is studied by looking at how people justify right and wrong, not just what they decide to do. Lawrence Kohlberg is widely regarded as the leading figure in this area. He built a stage theory of moral development, proposing three levels—preconventional, conventional, and postconventional—with six stages in total, showing how the sophistication of reasoning grows with age. A cornerstone of his work was using moral dilemmas presented as stories (most famous is the Heinz dilemma) to interview people and uncover the reasoning behind their judgments. This emphasis on the justification behind choices, revealed through narrative scenarios, is what makes Kohlberg the best fit for this question. Erik Erikson focused on psychosocial development; Piaget studied moral understanding as well but Kohlberg expanded and refined the approach with a clear, widely taught stage framework and narrative probing. Skinner, a behaviorist, focused on observable behavior and learning rather than moral reasoning.