The four components in James Rest's model of morality are "interpreting the situation as a moral one," "moral reasoning," "deciding to carry out the moral alternative," and "implementing the moral decision." Further, psychologists' work in designing and testing various structures for moral education has direct bearing on the structure of curricula in the professions. These findings suggest that effective ethics education should present students with opportunities to analyze complex hypothetical dilemmas that encourage them to focus on the rationale for their interpretations of the dilemmas, making more explicit the criteria they use to judge moral issues. Opportunities for role- taking and empathy-building are central to the success of this instructional methodology. In addition, the researchers recommend that the emotional atmosphere of the classroom be conducive to the free and open expression of ideas. Next, students should be given some kind of model for the process of ethical decisionmaking to help them keep their analysis of the issues clear and to reduce the stress inherent in any ethical issue. Finally, students should come away from ethics education with realistic expectations about ethical practice and with awareness that if they violate ethical standards, they are not monsters, but they are responsible for remedying the difficulties they have caused and should act to prevent their recurrence. 25 notes