3) Cognition and Development - Social Cognition - Selman's Level of Perspective-taking

Question 1

What is social cognition?

Answer 1

The mental processes we make use of when engaged in social interaction.

Question 2

What is perspective taking?

Answer 2

Our ability to appreciate a social situation from the perspective of other people.

Question 3

Who conducted research into perspective taking?

Answer 3

Selman

Question 4

What did Selman look at in his perspective taking research?

Answer 4

Changes that occurred with age in children’s responses to scenarios in which they were asked to take the role of different people in a social situation.

Question 5

What was the procedure for Selman’s research into perspective taking?

Answer 5

• 60 Participants: 30 boys, 30 girls. 20 aged four, 20 aged five, 20 aged six
• All were individually given a task designed to measure their role-taking ability.
• This involved asking them how they felt in various scenario.
• One scenario involved a child called Holly who has promised her father she will no longer climb trees, but then she comes across her friend who’s kitten is stuck up a tree.
• the task was to describe and explain how each person would feel if Holly did or did not climb the tree to rescue the kitten.

Question 6

Who were the participants of Selman’s perspective taking research?

Answer 6

• 60 Participants
• 30 boys, 30 girls
• 20 aged four
• 20 aged five
• 20 aged six

Question 7

What were the findings for Selman’s perspective-taking research?

Answer 7

• A number of distinct levels of role taking were identified.
• He found that the level of role taking correlated with age, suggesting a clear developmental sequence.

Question 8

What is Selman’s stages of development?

Answer 8

The stages of social cognitive development identified from the children’s responses in Selman’s study.

Question 9

How many stages are there in Selman’s stages of development?

Answer 9

Five

Question 10

What is stage 0 of Selman’s stages of development?

Answer 10

(3-6yrs)

Socially Egocentric:

• Child cannot reliably distinguish between their own emotions and those of others.
• Can generally identify emotional states in others but do not understand what social behaviour might have caused them.

Question 11

At what age does stage 0 occur?

Answer 11

3-6yrs

Question 12

What is stage 0 called?

Answer 12

Socially Egocentric (stage)

Question 13

What happens in Stage 1 of Selman’s stages of Development?

Answer 13

(6-8yrs)

Social information role-taking:
- Child can now tell the difference between their own point of view and that of others
but
- Can usually focus on only one of these perspectives.

Question 14

At what age does Stage 1 of Selman’s Stages of Development occur at?

Answer 14

6-8yrs

Question 15

What is Stage 1 of Selman’s stages of Development called?

Answer 15

Social information role-taking

Question 16

What is Stage 2 of Selman’s Stages of Development?

Answer 16

(8-10yrs)

Self-reflective role-taking:

• The child can put themselves in the position of another person and fully appreciate their perspective.
• Can only take on one point of view at a time.

Question 17

At what age does Stage 2 of Selman’s Stages of Development occur at?

Answer 17

8-10yrs

Question 18

What is Stage 2 of Selman’s Stages of Development called?

Answer 18

Self-reflective role-taking

Question 19

What is Stage 3 of Selman’s Stages of Development?

Answer 19

(10-12yrs)
Mutual Role-Taking:
- Children are now able to look at a situation from their own and another’s point of view at the same time.

Question 20

At what age range does Stage 3 of Selman’s Stages of Cognitive Development occur at?

Answer 20

10-12yrs

Question 21

What is Stage 3 of Selman’s Stages of Development called?

Answer 21

Mutual role-taking (Stage)

Question 22

What is Stage 4 of Selman’s Stages of Development?

Answer 22

(12+yrs)

Social and Conventional System role-taking:

• Young people become able to see that sometimes understanding other peoples viewpoints is not enough to allow people to reach agreement.
• This is why social conventions are needed to keep order. (Actions)

Question 23

At what age range does Stage 4 of Selman’s Stages of Development take place?

Answer 23

12+yrs

Question 24

What is Stage 4 of Selman’s Stages of Development called?

Answer 24

Social and Conventional System role-taking (Stage)

Question 25

What were the later developments to Selman’s theory?

Answer 25

Selman recognised that his stages of cognitive development do not fully explain social development.

Question 26

What did Schultz, Selman and La Russo identify?

Answer 26

Three aspects to social development

Question 27

What are the three aspects to social development called?

Answer 27

• Interpersonal understanding
• Interpersonal negotiation strategies
• Awareness of Personal Meaning of Relationships

Question 28

What is the Interpersonal understanding aspect to social development?

Answer 28

• What Selman measured in his role-taking research.

- If we can take different roles then this shows that we can understand social situations.

Question 29

What is the Interpersonal negotiation strategies aspect to Social Development?

Answer 29

• We have to develop skills in how to respond to what others think in social situations.
• Social skills are therefore developed such as asserting our position and managing conflict.

Question 30

What is the Awareness of Personal Meaning of Relationships aspect to Social Development?

Answer 30

• Social development requires the ability to reflect on social behaviour in the context of life history and the full range of relationships alongside understanding what others think and how to respond to them.

Question 31

Give a Strength for Perspective taking.

Answer 31

P - There is supporting evidence that perspective taking ability improves with age.
E - In one study Selman gave perspective taking tasks to 60 children, half boys and half girls, aged 4-6yrs.
E - Significant positive correlations were found between age and the ability to take different perspectives in scenarios similar to the Holly and the Kitten scenario.
E - Longitudinal follow-up studies also show that perspective-taking develops with age in each individual child showing that results were not due to individual differences in children.
L - Therefore Selman’s ideas has validity as they are based on solid research and supported by a range of studies.

Question 32

Give a mixed evaluation point to perspective-taking.

Answer 32

P - There is mixed evidence as to how important the cognitive ability to take alternative perspectives is in understanding children’s social development.
E - In an observation of child-parent interaction in toyshops and supermarkets, a negative correlation between age, perspective taking and coercive behaviour (trying to force parents to buy things).
E - This suggests that perspective-taking is important in developing prosocial behaviour (e.g alternatives to coercion).
CA - In another study by Gasser and Keller it was found that bullies displayed no difficulties in perspective-taking.
E - This is a problem for Selman’s Approach as it suggests that perspective taking may not be an important factor in the development of socially desirable behaviour.