Theageatwhichyoungchildrenbegintomakemoraldiscriminationsaboutharmfulactionscommittedagainstthemselvesorothershasbeenthefocusofrecentresearchintothemoraldevelopmentofchildren.Untilrecently,childpsychologistssupportedpioneerdevelopmentalistJeanPiagetinhishypothesisthatbecauseoftheirimmaturity,childrenunderagesevendonottakeintoaccounttheintentionsofapersoncommittingaccidentalordeliberateharm,butrathersimplyassignpunishmentfortransgressionsonthebasisofthemagnitudeofthenegativeconsequencescaused.AccordingtoPiaget,childrenunderagesevenoccupythefirststageofmoraldevelopment,whichischaracterizedbymoralabsolutism(rulesmadebyauthoritiesmustbeobeyed)andimminentjustice(ifrulesarebroken,punishmentwillbemetedout).Untilyoungchildrenmature,theirmoraljudgmentsarebasedentirelyontheeffectratherthanthecauseofatransgression.However,inrecentresearch,Keaseyfoundthatsix-year-oldchildrennotonlydistinguishbetweenaccidentalandintentionalharm,butalsojudgeintentionalharmasnaughtier,regardlessoftheamountofdamageproduced.Bothofthesefindingsseemtoindicatethatchildren,atanearlieragethanPiagetclaimed,advanceintothesecondstageofmoraldevelopment,moralautonomy,inwhichtheyacceptsocialrulesbutviewthemasmorearbitrarythandochildreninthefirststage. Keasey’sresearchraisestwokeyquestionsfordevelopmentalpsychologistsaboutchildrenunderageseven:dotheyrecognizejustificationsforharmfulactions,anddotheymakedistinctionsbetweenharmfulactsthatarepreventableandthoseactsthathaveunforeseenharmfulconsequences?Studiesindicatethatjustificationsexcusingharmfulactionsmightinclude?public?duty,self-defense,andprovocation.Forexample,NesdaleandRuleconcludedthatchildrenwerecapableofconsideringwhetherornotanaggressor’sactionwasjustifiedbypublicduty:fiveyearoldsreactedverydifferentlyto“BonniewrecksArm’spretendhouse”dependingonwhetherBonniedidit“sosomebodywon’tfalloverit”orbecauseBonniewanted“tomakeAnnfeelbad”.Thus,achildoffivebeginstounderstandthatcertainharmfulactions,thoughintentional,canbejustified;theconstraintsofmoralabsolutismnolongersolelyguidetheirjudgments. Psychologistshavedeterminedthatduringkindergartenchildrenlearntomakesubtledistinctionsinvolvingharm.Darleyobservedthatamong-actsinvolvingunintentionalharm,six-year-oldchildrenjustenteringkindergartencouldnotdifferentiatebetweenforeseeable,andthuspreventable,harmandunforeseeableharmforwhichtheperpetratorcannotbeblamed.Sevenmonthslater,however,Darleyfoundthatthesesamechildrencouldmakebothdistinctions,thusdemonstratingthattheyhadbecomemorallyautonomous. Itcanbeinferredthattheterm“public?duty”(pra.2),inthecontextofthepassage,meanswhichofthefollowing?
A.The necessity to apprehend perpetrators
B.The responsibility to punish transgressors
C.An obligation to prevent harm to another
D.The assignment of punishment for harmful action
正确答案是C