Lecture 8: Social Cognition and Moral Development Flashcards
social cognition
thinking about perceptions, thoughts, emotions, motives and behaviors of oneself, other people, groups, and even entire social systems
false belief task
investigates the beliefs of a person and how they influence their behavior. used to measure theory of mind in children
theory of mind (TOM)
understanding that people have feelings, beliefs and intentions, and that this influences behavior
shared/joint attention
at around 9 months old, babies develop shared attention, where they can look the same object at the same time as the caregiver
understanding of intentions
in the first month after birth, babies understand that other people have intentions, set goals, and want to achieve them
pretending
between ages 1 and 2, children show the difference between pretending and reality
imitation
in the first year of life when they understand and imitate the actions of others
emotional understanding
in the second year of life, children show an understanding of other people’s emotions
TOM nature
having a TOM has been adaptive to natural selection. developing a TOM requires neurological and cognitive development
mirror neurons
needed for social cognition, through which we observe and imitate the behaviors of others. this stimulates observational learning and imitation, in children with autism, the mirror neurons are less active
TOM nurture
interactions with others is necessary for developing social cognitive skills such as TOM
language experience
deaf children who can communicate in sign language develop TOM at the same rate as hearing children
mind-mindedness
parents who provide a secure attachment to the child and are sensitive to their needs, together with parents who show mind mindedness, have children with better TOM skills. mind-mindedness is talking about mental states in comprehensive ways
interaction with siblings and peers
these children develop TOM earlier than children without siblings
cultural diferences
most children develop TOM skills around the same age, except cultures where there is little talk about mental states
morality
ability to distinguish right from wrong, and to experience such emotions as pride when we do something right and regret or shame when we do something wrong. there are 3 components of morality
emotional component of morality
contains the feelings that accompany right or wrong actions and that influence moral actions and thoughts
cognitive component of morality
focuses on how we think about right and wrong and how we make choices about our behavior based on social cognitive skills such as perspective taking
behavioral component of morality
is about how we behave when, for example, we see a person in need