Nelson - Motives and Outcomes as Moral Criteria

The famous developmental psychologist, Piaget, observed that young children do not distinguish between motive (the reason why someone does sonething) and outcome (the effect of an action) in applying moral standards to actions.  In other words, in the situation where someone sets out to help their friend, but in the end hurts them, the child will label the actor as morally 'bad'. Older children and adults would consistently understand that they were well-intentioned and describe them as 'good'.

This study tests whether the fault is due to a developmental deficit in the children, or due other factors such as difficulties in remembering the story.