cognitia sociala Flashcards
What is social cognition?
How people make sense of themselves, others and the social world.
What does social cognition include?
- Person perception
- Self concept and self esteem
- Understanding mental states
- ToM
- Understanding intentions
Why does social cognition matter?
Enables individuals to take advantage of being part of a social group
includes parent-infant bonds vital for survival
Understanding social signals that enable us to learn about the world
facial expressions (fear) warn us of danger
eye-gaze direction indicates where dangerous things can be found
social referencing (infants refer to carer’s facial expressions to see if to approach a novel object
What is the self?
The self is a concept of: oneself, other people we interact with, relationships
Children develop quite early
Sense of self enables perspective taking
How does the self emerge?
Through social interactions infants begin to construct a sense of self.
The self develops over time.
How do infants understand the physical self?
- Understanding that they are separate from others
- Understanding that others view them
- Understanding that they can initiate actions from others
How do we know infants develop a sense of self when they don’t speak?
What was done in the Rouge test (1970)?
Test visual self-recognition: infant reaction to self in the mirror
Smudge rouge on infants face
Do they reach for the spot in the mirror or on their own face?
They have self-awareness if they reach their own face
Following the Rouge test, when does self awareness develop?
Between 15 to 24 months
How do 2+ year olds learn self awareness?
- learn words that reflect self-awareness (name)
- understand property relations (that’s mine)
- differentiation of me from everything else
- self-knowledge shown to relate to attachment style
What has the sticker task shown?
Sticker on forehead
They were videos and after brief delay they are shown the video.
Those who reach up to obtain the sticker after delay are said to understand the link between the ‘past self’ and the ‘present self’
Which group age passes the sticker test?
2 yo don’t reach for sticker
20% of 3yo reach for sticker
70% of 4yo reach for sticker
What does the Sticker test suggest?
in relation to the Rouge test
Mirror self-recognition emerges at 2 years BUT it does not mean they have cognitive representation of continuous self.
Results from Sticker Test suggest 2 yo may not understand past self.
What is a limitation of the Sticker test?
Experiment was conducted in 1996 so it those infants are not used to encountering videos of themselves.
How do preschool kids enhance their self-awareness?
- learn about external and internal properties of self
- make descriptions based on social comparisons (I run faster than you)
- aware of internal processes (aware others have different feelings)
How does self-concept further develop in school years?
- use psychological characteristics to describe self and others
- use social concepts (race)
- engage in complex social comparisons and understand and demonstrate self-presentation
What has Barenboim found about the 3 categories that we use to talk about people?
6-11 yo children
asked to talk about 3 people they knew well
3 categories of answers:
1. Behavioural comparisons (I ran faster than you)
2. Psychological constructs (He is stubborn)
3. Psychological comparisons (She is more sensitive than others)
How do these 3 categories change over time?
As children progress through skl there is decrease in behavioural comparisons and increase in psychological constructs.
What is concrete-to-abstract shift?
Ruble (1979)
A central feature of social-cognitive development.
4 yo ppts watched actor select an item
Younger focused on the external properties of chosen item (chocolate is nice)
Older focused on internal psychological state of actor (he likes chocolate)
How is concrete-to-abstract shift evident in children’s conceptions of friendship?
- Younger children <7-8 yo: describe friendship using concrete factors (common activities)
- Middle childhood 8-12yo: increase emphasis on reciprocity
- Adolescence: psychological characteristics dominant
What is understanding others’ mental processes?
Understanding that each person has their own perspective and feelings, thougths and intensions.
What is ToM?
The ability to make inferences about others’s mental states and to predict behaviour accordingly
How do we measure ToM?
Through false-belief tasks
They assess if child understands that someone else. may not know the truth when the child knows the truth.
To pass, child must understand that other people have minds of their own.
e.g. Sally Anne Task
What are the issues with Sally Anne task?
There might be difficulty with test question.
3-4 yo
In the original task 35% pass the task.
HOWEVER
When they are asked where would Sally look for the ball first, 70% pass.
What is another issue with the Sally Anne task?
Maybe children do not understand the question.
It was shown that children who have poor comprehension have a low success rate in the task.
How does ToM develop?
- 2-3yo: ppl have mental states that influence beh (emotions)
- 4-5yo: the mind can represent things accurately or inaccurately (ppl can have false beliefs)
- 5+yo: the mind as an active constructor of knowledge (the same event can be interpreted in many different ways )
What experiment has shown how ToM develops?
Experimenter disguised his cat in a dog or a rabbit
Under 3yo thought cat had changed into a dog/rabbit
4-5yo were confused
6+ yo: understood cat was disgguised
How is ToM impaired in autism?
12 yo
20% autistic children passed false belief task
86% of those with down syndrome passed
85% typically developing preschoolers passed
What do those with autism also have difficulties with?
Difficulties with other socio-cognitive areas:
- distinguish mental states from physical states
- understand the mental fucntion sof the brain
- pretend play
- eye gaze
What about social cognition and behaviour?
- Oppositional Defiant Disorder (DDD): hostility, defiance, obedience
- Conduct Disorder (CD): repetitive, persistent beh that violates basic rights of others (stealing, aggression)
- Children with ODD are at risk for developing CD
What is socio-emotional competence?
SEC: aware of other people’s feelings, noticing affect of behaviour on others, pickingn up on body language
What is the moderating role of SEC in CD development?
People with High SEC - better able to self regulate their ODD beh and less likely to escalate to CD
Limited SEC- less self-regulation, more escalation of behaviour
Good sample size: 6218
What does this conclude about ODD and CD?
ODD traits in childhood are a risk factor for the development of CD
BUT social cognitive capacity (*perceiving the perspectives and emotions of others) *may buffer the risk
Improving socioemotional competence may be useful intervention aimed at reducing conduct problems
