12 SOCIAL COGNITION DEVELOPMENT Flashcards
Why is social cognition important
- social relationships are hugely influential
- social relationships
basic social cognitive concepts
- basic understanding of others
- basic understanding of the self
how can we identify a basic understanding of others early in development
- early social interactions: still face, early conversations, joint attention
- description of others
still face …what is this task and what are the results
- mom interacts with baby
- mom puts on a still face (emotionless )
- observe how baby reacts
-baby cries when he does not received the same reaction
joint attention
-child, toy, and caregiver
how do description of others change with development
- early childhood: observable, tangible, concrete features (long hair, neat toy)
- later childhood: abstract, internal, enduring traits, social context (nice, funny, cares about other people )
self concept
how one defines themselves
components of self concept
- how I see myself
2. how others see me
how can we identify a basic understanding of the self early in development
- rouge test
- descriptions of oneself
rouge test …what is it and results
- Gold standard test for acquisition of self concept
- 12-month-olds fail (touch the mirror), whereas 15- to 18-month-olds begin to pass (touch the dot on themselves)
how do descriptions of the self change with development
- toddler: demographics appearance (age, sex)
- preschool: concrete, observable features, activities, possessions (I have a dog)
- middle childhood: comparing to others (I’m smarter than Sarah)
- late childhood and up: enduring disposition and social relationships (I’m an environmental activist)
What is ToM
- a key social concept
- a concept of the mind and mental states
-the ability to understand that our own and others’ behavior is governed by internal mental states
ToM illustrated in Friends episode
- Interpreting emotions from facial expressions
- Interpreting desires from actions and emotions
-Interpreting and predicting actions from inferred knowledge/belief states
- deception
- cooperation
- empathy
Heider and Himmel task
- triangles
- allows us to organize and make sense of actions and interactions
why is ToM important
- allows us to make sense of our social world
- allows us to predict and explain behavior
- underlines complex social behaviors and interactions (pro sociality, empathy, cooperation, deception, relationship formation )
-helps understanding some disorders in which ToM is impaired
how do we test ToM in children
false belief task
false-belief task 2 common variations
- location change
- deceptive contents
what specific aspects of mental state understanding is ToM testing
- mental states are person specific, distinct from reality
- mental states guide action
Why is it the gold standard test of a fully fledged ToM
is person specific, and reality distinct
what is the developmental trajectory of ToM
- Most 5 yr olds on average pass
- 4 yr old= some pass, some fail
- 3 yr old= consistently fail
- across variations in tasks, and cultures/countries
bellman, cross and Watson
- Researchers asked if this was the overall pattern, 3 yr old fails, 5 yr old passes depending on : task, question, participant involvement, culture
- results: Across 591 studies, 3 yr olds fail, 5 yr olds pass, 4 yr olds are in between
diverse desires
- pass btw 2-3
- desire shows up before belief reasoning
- Ask kid which snack they liked, then introduce them to a character that likes the opposite snack
- Ask kid which snack will the character pick
diverse beliefs
-pass btwn 3-4
-Show kid that the cat in in the tree, but that Elmo thinks the cat is in the shed
-Ask where Elmo will look
-
knowledge access
- pass btw 3.5-4.5 years
- participant finds out there’s a pineapple in the box
- does Garfield know what’s in the box?
-Understanding that people think differently is passed earlier than reality-distinct tasks
what forces (nature/nurture) influence ToM development
- experience with others
- exposure to language
- domain-general memory and inhibitory control
- brain maturation
experience with others supporting evidence
○ Children with more siblings perform better on ToM tasks
○ Children who engage in pretend/fantasy play perform better on ToM tasks
exposure to language supporting evidence
○ Children with more advanced language skills perform better on ToM tasks
-Deaf children born to non-signing families (who thus get degraded language exposure) demonstrate delayed/impaired ToM performance
domain-general memory and inhibitory control supporting evidence
○ Deaf children born to non-signing families (who thus get degraded language exposure) demonstrate delayed/impaired ToM performance
-When inhibition/memory demands are reduced, children perform better
brain maturation supporting evidence
- 3 yr olds fail
- 5 yr olds pass
do infants hav a ToM
-yes infants understand basic intentions, goals, and desires
do infants understand false beliefs
-Onishi article
does ToM continue to develop beyond False belief at age 5
-yes older children and adults continue to refine mental stat concepts
- emotions based on beliefs
- mental state reasoning across past/future events
