Patricia Kitchener's Reflective Judgment Model

Epistemological and Intellectual Development is very interesting because this when an individual starts to make judgements based on their belief and opinions. Many theorist and researchers have offered their view and model on how an individual goes about answering ill-structured problems. Patricia King and Karen Kitchener have both offered that their Reflective Judgement Model best defines what happens with an individual as they development arguments to answer ill-structured problems. Their model can be tied to Marcia’s Ego Identity Statuses theory in their similarity. In the end, the Reflective Judgment Model should be used to better understand and support colleges students in the journey to become competent adults in their future.
Before
Ill-structured problems being complex and controversial problems that are perplexing and for which a solution cannot be known with completeness, certainty, or correctness.This theory was a revision and expansion on William Perry’s Theory of Intellectual and Ethical Development (1968). In Perry’s theory, there are nine positions that a person moves through developing during transition, but the is no age range attached to each position. Most researchers group these positions into stages. The first stage is dualism, where an individual believes that there is only one answer and that knowledge comes from authority without questioning the information being received. The second stage is multiplicity, here the person begins to have thoughts and behaviors that do not match and that all opinions are equally valid, regardless if it comes from authority. The third stage is relativism, where an individual believes that not all opinions are valid and that those opinions must have evidence to support them. If the evidence is valid to the individual, they may adopt the opinion themselves. The fourth stage is commitment in relativism, here the person realizes that they must have stances on issues and understand the context of having those stances. Perry’s theory inspired King and Kitchener to expand on Perry’s final stage
The first level is pre-reflective thinking. In this level (stages 1, 2, and 3), individuals believe that there is one answer for every question and knowledge comes from authority figures or from personal observation. The second level is quasi-reflective thinking. In this level (stages 4 and 5), individuals recognize that uncertainty is part of the process of obtaining knowledge and see some situations as problematic. In addition, individuals believe that everyone has an opinion and that those are all valid because no one really has all the answers. The third level is reflective thinking. Here in this level (stages 6 and 7), individuals are able to have judgements and have valid arguments about ill-structured