People who have sought to trace the developmental of morality in children have typically focused on one or more of three aspects of personality:
In the case of observed behavior, the question asked by the investigator is, dose the child display greater honesty or integrity or a sense of justice as he or she grows older? . Extensive studies of honesty in children and youths have yielded either inconclusive or negative answers to this question. Rather than basing their response to temptation only on a growing internal sense of honesty, children and adolescents appear more often to base their actions on prudential judgments or on social pressures. Thus Kohlberg rejected observed behavior as a profitable criterion for moral development.