Lectical Levels in context

A comparison of developmental levels


The table below shows how the levels of different developmental systems are aligned.

We have not included sentence completion tests here because research has shown that these assessments are not measures of the same dimension tapped by instruments that emerged from the Piagetian tradition.

Scroll down for video and table references.

Lectical Level Skill Levels
(Fischer)
GMHC
(Commons)
SISS
(Kohlberg)
GLSS
(Armon)
RJ
(Kitchener & King
SOI
(Kegan)
Strata
(Jaques)
14 cross-paradigmatic
13 principled mappings paradigmatic Stage 6 Stages 6 & 7
12 single principles metasystematic Stage 5 Stage 5 Stage 5 5th order consciousness 6-7
11 abstract systems systematic Stage 4 Stage 4 Stage 4 4th order consciousness 3-5
10 abstract mappings formal Stage 3 Stage 3 Stage 3 3th order consciousness 1-2
9 single abstractions abstract Stage 2 Stage 2 Stage 2 2nd order consciousness
8 representational systems concrete Stage 1 Stage 1 Stage 1 1st order consciousness
7 representational mappings primary
6 single representations operational
5 sensorimotor systems sentential
4 sensorimotor mappings nominal
3 single sensorimotor schemes sensory-motor
2 reflexive systems circular densory-motor
1 Reflexive mappings sensory or motor
0 Single reflexes calculatory

References

Armon, C., & Dawson, T. L. (2000). A longitudinal study of adult value reasoning about the good life. In M. E. Miller & A. N. West (Eds.), Spirituality, ethics, and relationship in adulthood: Clinical and theoretical explorations. Madison, CT: Psychosocial Press/International Universities Press.

Colby, A., & Kohlberg, L. (1987). The measurement of moral judgment: Standard issue scoring manual (1). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Dawson, T. L. (2002). New tools, new insights: Kohlberg’s moral reasoning stages revisited. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 26, 154-166.

Dawson, T. L. (2002). A comparison of three developmental stage scoring systems. Journal of Applied Measurement, 3, 146-189.

Dawson, T. L. (2003). A stage is a stage is a stage: A direct comparison of two scoring systems. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 164, 335-364.

Dawson, T. L., & Gabrielian, S. (2003). Developing conceptions of authority and contract across the life-span: Two perspectives. Developmental Review, 23, 162-218.

Dawson-Tunik, T. L. (2004). “A good education is…” The development of evaluative thought across the life-span. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 130(1), 4-112.

Dawson-Tunik, T. L., Commons, M. L., Wilson, M., & Fischer, K. W. (2005). The shape of development. The European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 2(2), 163-196.

Kegan, R. (1977). Ego and truth: Personality and the Piaget paradigm. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

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., & King, P. M. (1981). Reflective judgment: Concepts of justification and their relationship to age and education. Journal of applied developmental psychology, 2, 89-116.

Kohlberg, L. (1958). The development of modes of moral thinking and choice in the years ten to 16. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Chicago.

Lahey, L., Souvaine, E., Kegan, R., Goodman, R., & Felix, S. (2011). A guide to the Subject-Object Interview: Its administration and interpretation. Boston, MA: Robert Kegan.

Perry, W. G. (1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.

Piaget, J. (1934). Principal factors determining intellectual evolution from childhood to adult life. In Factors determining human behavior. Harvard University Press.

Pratt, M. W., Diessner, R., Hunsberger, B., Pancer, S. M., & Savoy, K. (1991). Four pathways in the analysis of adult development and aging: Comparing analyses of reasoning about personal-life dilemmas. Psychology & Aging, 6, 666-675.

Selman, R. L. (1969). Role-taking ability and the development of moral judgment. Ph.D. Boston U., Graduate School.

Selman, R. L. (1979). Assessing interpersonal understanding: an interview and scoring manual in five parts constructed by the harvard-judge baker social reasoning project.

Wood, P. K. (1997). A secondary analysis of claims regarding the Reflective Judgment interview: Internal consistency, sequentiality and intra-individual differences in ill-structured problem-solving. In Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. 12, pp. 243-312). New York: Agathon.

Selected funders

IES (US Department of Education)

The Spencer Foundation

NIH

Dr. Sharon Solloway

The Simpson Foundation

The Leopold Foundation

Donor list

Selected clients

Glastonbury School District, CT

The Ross School

Rainbow Community School

The Study School

Long Trail School

The US Naval Academy

The City of Edmonton, Alberta

The US Federal Government

Advisory Board

Antonio Battro, MD, Ph.D., One Laptop Per Child

Marc Schwartz, Ph.D. and former high school teacher, University of Texas at Arlington

Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Ed.D., University of Southern California

Willis Overton, Ph.D., Temple University, Emeritus