Selman’s Levels Of Perspective Taking

Question 1

What is social cognition?

Answer 1

The cognitive ability to take on the viewpoint/perspective of another person in both physical and social situations

Question 2

What is perspective taking?

Answer 2

The ability to see a situation from someone else’s point of view

Question 3

What is social perspective-taking?

Answer 3

Understanding what someone else is feeling or thinking, and being able to take on multiple perspectives of an argument or conversation

Question 4

What did Selman believe?

Answer 4

Social perspective-taking is a separate process and happens in stages (whereas Piaget thought it occurred with physical perspective-taking)

Question 5

How many children were in Selman’s study?

Answer 5

30 boys, 30 girls
20 age 4, 20 age 5, 20 age 6

Question 6

What happened in Selman’s study?

Answer 6

Children asked how different people felt in different situations (e.g. the ‘Holly Scenario’ - H promised her father she wouldn’t climb trees, then she sees her friend who’s kitten is stuck up a tree. How would each person feel if Holly did/didn’t climb the tree?)

Question 7

How many stages did Selman propose?

Answer 7

5

Question 8

What is the 0th stage of perspective taking and what is the age range?

Answer 8

Socially egocentric
3-6 years old

Question 9

What is a description of the 0th stage of perspective taking?

Answer 9

Children are unable to take on the perspectives of others and so are egocentric. They can identify emotions in others but fail to understand what caused it.

Question 10

What is the 1st stage of perspective taking and what is the age range?

Answer 10

Social information role-taking
6-8 years old

Question 11

What is a description of the 1st stage of perspective taking?

Answer 11

Children can now tell the difference between their own point of view and that of others. Able to take on only a single perspective at each time.

Question 12

What is the 2nd stage of perspective taking and what is the age range?

Answer 12

Self-reflective role-taking
8-10 years old

Question 13

What is a description of the 2nd stage of perspective taking?

Answer 13

Children can fully identify with and take on the viewpoint of another person, but again, only focusing on 1 view at a time.

Question 14

What is the 3rd stage of perspective taking and what is the age range?

Answer 14

Mutual role-taking
10-12 years old

Question 15

What is a description of the 3rd stage of perspective taking?

Answer 15

Children can fully identify with and take on multiple perspectives at the same time

Question 16

What is the 4th stage of perspective taking and what is the age range?

Answer 16

Social and conventional system role-taking
12+ years old

Question 17

What is a description of the 4th stage of perspective taking?

Answer 17

Children understand that social rules are needed to maintain order when simply understanding the other person is not enough.

Question 18

What is interpersonal understanding?

Answer 18

Understanding viewpoints of others

Question 19

What are Interpersonal negotiation strategies?

Answer 19

Skills needed to respond to other people, not just understanding what they think (managing conflict, asserting our position)

Question 20

What is Awareness of personal meaning of relationships?

Answer 20

Reflecting on social behaviour in the context of life and history and the full range of relationships

Question 21

Summary of Gurucharri and Selman’s study?

Answer 21

• Longitudinal study using Selman’s methodology
• 41 male Ps over 5 years
• 40 developed perspective-taking in the way Selman suggested

Question 22

What is a strength of Selman’s stages of perspective taking?

Answer 22

Solid research support
- Strong positive correlations
- Longitudinal studies support - high validity

Question 23

What is real life application of Selman’s Stages of Perspective-taking?

Answer 23

Better understanding of neurodiverse development - ADHD and ASD have problems with perspective-taking

Question 24

What is a limitation of Selman’s stages of perspective-taking?

Answer 24

Focuses too much in cognitive development - social + emotional factors also impact social development - therefore theory is too narrow.

Question 25

What is a limitation of Selman’s stages of perspective-taking? (Cultural differences)

Answer 25

Evidence for cultural differences between American and Chinese children - Chinese Ps did much better at perspective-taking

Question 26

What study supports ability of perspective taking?

Answer 26

Buijzen and Valkenburg (2008)

Question 27

What was the procedure of Buijzen and Valkenburg (2008)?

Answer 27

Observational study in which researchers observed interactions including those in which parents refused to buy things their child wanted. The researchers noted any coercive behaviour in the children (i.e. trying to force parents to buy them things), which is an example of unhealthy social behaviour.

Question 28

What were the findings of Buijzen and Valkenburg’s study?

Answer 28

Negative correlations between coercive behaviour and both age and perspective-taking ability (assessed by interview)

Question 29

Why does Buijzen and Valkenburg’s study support Selman’s theory?

Answer 29

Suggests there is a relationship between perspective-taking skills and healthy social behaviour