Developmental Psychology Module 3 Study Guide

Question 1

Selman’s Stage Theory of Role-taking

Answer 1

Role taking- the ability to think from another’s point of view
The social cognition of young children is limited because of their difficulty taking others’ perspectives.
- Stage 1 (around ages 6 to 8)- children learn that someone else can have a perspective different from their own, but they assume that the different perspective is merely due to that person’s not possessing the same information they do.
- Stage 2 (ages 8 to 10)- children not only realize that someone else can have a different view, but they also are able to think about the other person’s point of view.
- Stage 3 (ages 10 to 12)- that children can systematically compare their own point of view with another person’s.
- Stage 4 (ages 10 to 12)- adolescents attempt to understand another’s perspective by comparing it with that of a “generalized other,” assessing whether the person’s view is the same as that of most people in their social group.

Notice that in Selman’s stages of role taking, as children become less egocentric, they become increasingly capable of considering multiple perspectives simultaneously (e.g., their own, another person’s, and “most people’s”). This growth in social cognition mirrors the changes identified by Piaget (and discussed in Chapter 4).