The influential psychologist Jean Piaget believed that children developed their morality in stages. The first was the heteronomous morality stage (between 5 and 9 years) where morality is imposed from the outside largely by authority figures like parents and teachers. The autonomous morality stage begins at around age 9 or 10 when children begin to recognize there is no absolute right or wrong. Piaget observed that children at this stage tend to base moral judgments on the intention of the actor rather than the consequences of the actions
. They also think of hypothetical circumstances that might affect whether a rule should be applied or not. At this age the peer group of the child widens and they learn more about the morality of others and their own ideas begin to change.
