Patricia King and Karen Kitchener

The Development of Reflective Judgment

Patricia M. King (1934 - 2025) and Karen Strohm Kitchener (1943 - 2016) are American educational psychologists renowned for their Reflective Judgment Model (RJM). Their work addresses a crucial aspect of adult cognitive development: how individuals come to understand the nature of knowledge, how it is gained, and how they justify beliefs about complex, ill-structured problems—those without clear-cut solutions. The RJM describes a developmental progression in epistemological assumptions, illustrating how adults move from simplistic, absolute views of knowledge to more nuanced, contextual, and reflective ways of reasoning about controversial issues.

Key Concepts and Contributions:

Ill-Structured Problems: King and Kitchener focus on how individuals reason about “ill-structured problems.” These are problems that cannot be solved with certainty, have no single correct answer, and for which solutions must be constructed and justified based on available evidence and reasoned judgment (e.g., issues like global warming, ethical dilemmas in medicine, or socio-political conflicts). Unlike “well-structured problems” (which have definite solutions), ill-structured problems require advanced forms of thinking and judgment.

Epistemic Cognition: The RJM is a model of “epistemic cognition,” which refers to individuals’ underlying assumptions about knowledge, how knowledge is acquired, and how beliefs are justified. These assumptions profoundly influence how individuals approach and resolve complex issues.

Seven Stages of Reflective Judgment: King and Kitchener propose seven distinct stages of reflective judgment, typically grouped into three broad periods:

Prereflective Thinking (Stages 1-3):
Stage 1: Knowledge is absolute and concrete; obtained by direct observation. Beliefs don’t need justification beyond “what I have seen.”
Stage 2: Knowledge is absolute but may not be immediately available; obtained from authority figures. Beliefs are justified by authority.
Stage 3: Knowledge is absolutely certain or temporarily uncertain. In areas of uncertainty, only personal beliefs are known. Beliefs are defended as personal opinion where certain answers don’t exist.
Quasi-Reflective Thinking (Stages 4-5):
Stage 4: Knowledge is uncertain due to situational variables or the subjective nature of knowing; knowing always involves ambiguity. Beliefs are justified by giving reasons and using evidence, but the choice of evidence is idiosyncratic.
Stage 5: Knowledge is contextual and subjective, filtered through a person’s perceptions and criteria for judgment. Only interpretations of evidence may be known. Beliefs are justified within a particular context by means of rules of inquiry for that context.
Reflective Thinking (Stages 6-7):
Stage 6: Knowledge is constructed into individual conclusions about ill-structured problems, integrating information from various sources. Beliefs are justified by comparing evidence and opinion from different perspectives and by constructing solutions evaluated by criteria like weight of evidence or utility.
Stage 7: Knowledge is the outcome of a process of reasonable inquiry in which solutions to ill-structured problems are constructed and continually re-evaluated. Beliefs are justified probabilistically, considering the weight of evidence, explanatory value, and consequences of judgments.

King and Kitchener found that individuals typically progress through these stages from late adolescence into adulthood, with higher education often facilitating development into the later reflective stages. This development is not automatic but requires engagement with complex problems and a supportive environment that encourages critical thinking and reflection.

Significance for Adult Development:

The Reflective Judgment Model holds immense significance for understanding adult cognitive and intellectual development for several reasons:

Mapping Adult Cognitive Complexity: It provides a detailed, empirically supported model of how adults’ understanding of knowledge and their capacity for complex reasoning evolve, particularly in navigating the ambiguities of real-world problems.
Beyond Formal Operations: While Piaget’s theory focused on formal operational thought (logical reasoning with well-defined problems), King and Kitchener extended this to a post-formal level, describing how adults cope with uncertainty, conflicting evidence, and multiple perspectives—skills crucial for mature adult functioning.
Critical Thinking and Higher Education: The model has profound implications for higher education and adult learning, offering a framework for educators to design curricula and teaching methods that foster critical thinking, nuanced judgment, and the capacity to reason about complex issues throughout adulthood.
Problem-Solving in Adulthood: It illuminates the developmental trajectory of how adults approach and solve problems that are characteristic of professional and personal life, where simple answers are rare and judgment requires weighing competing claims and constructing a coherent perspective.
Influence on Professional Practice: The development of reflective judgment is seen as a key component of professional expertise in fields requiring critical thinking, ethical decision-making, and the ability to work with ambiguity (e.g., healthcare, law, engineering, education).