Selman: Levels of Perceptive-Taking Flashcards
What type of cognition did Selman conduct research into?
Social cognition.
What is social cognition?
The mental processes we use when engaged in social interaction.
What is perspective-taking?
Our ability to appreciate a social situation from the perspective of other people.
What is Selman’s research methodology?
30 boys and 30 girls (20 aged 4, 20 aged 5, 20 aged 6) were given scenarios asking them how each person felt in a different scenario.
What were the findings of Selman’s research?
A number of distinct stages were found.
What is Stage 0 of Selman’s level of perspective-taking?
Socially Egocentric- Can’t distinguish between their own emotions and those of others. They can identify emotional states but not understand what social behaviour has caused them.
What is Stage 1 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
Social Information Role-Taking- Can tell the difference between their own and others points of view but can only focus on one at a time.
What is Stage 2 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
Self-Reflecting Role-Taking- They can put themselves in the position of another person and fully appreciate their perspective but only one perspective at a time.
What is Stage 3 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
Mutual Role-Taking- They can look from their own perspective and another’s at the same time.
What is Stage 4 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
Social and Conventional System Role-Taking- They can see that understanding others perspectives is not enough to reach agreements and is why social convention is needed.
What is a positive about the application of Selman’s theory?
The stages can be applied to atypical development and understanding perspective–taking in atypical development (children with ADHD have done worse on perspective-taking tasks than typical children).
What is a limitation with research into Selman’s theory?
There is mixed evidence with some observations having negative correlations between age and perspective-taking showing, suggesting its important in developing prosocial behaviour. Other studies have shown the bullies have displayed no difficulties in perspective-taking suggesting it’s not effective in the development in prosocial behaviour.
