Correspondence between some life-span, stage theory developmental sequences of stages and levels

Abstract

Good comparisons of development sequences have been made in the past. The model of hierarchical complexity is one developmental sequence which has often been compared to other developmental sequences including: Piaget & Inhelder (1969); Fischer & Bidell (1998); Colby and Kohlberg’s ( 1987a, 1987b) 9 point stages and moral maturity scores (mms) of moral judgment. However, Colby and Kohlberg’s 13 point scale has never been assessed in making comparisons to other scales. The current paper constructed a comparison table of all five models, including Colby and Kohlberg’s 13 point scale, which together cover the developmental stages of an entire life-span. Adjustments had to be made to the 9 point and 13 point scales. The formula, ohc = 3 + 2 * (Stage of Colby & Kohlberg’s), was introduced to demonstrate the relationship between the orders of hierarchical complexity and Kohlberg’s stages of development.