Selman’s Levels of Perspective Taking

Question 1

What is Social Perspective-Taking?

Answer 1

The mental processes used when engaging in social interaction

Question 2

Describe Selman’s Research into Perspective-Taking

Answer 2

• He individually asked 60 children aged 4-6 how they felt when presented with various moral dilemmas
• From this, he identified 5 distinct levels of perspective-taking
• He also found that perspective-taking abilities correspond with age

Question 3

How many Levels of Perspective-Taking Development did Selman identify?

Answer 3

5

Question 4

What is an example of one moral dilemma Selman presented the children in his study with?

Answer 4

A girl was asked by her Dad not to climb trees anymore, but then came across her friend’s cat who was stuck up a tree. Should she climb the tree? Why/why not? How would each person in the scenario feel if she did/didn’t?

Question 5

In order, what are the 5 Levels of Perspective-Taking Development that Selman identified and the ages they correspond with?

Answer 5

• Stage 0: Egocentric (3-6 years)
• Stage 1: Social-Informational (6-8 years)
• Stage 2: Self-Reflective (8-10 years)
• Stage 3: Mutual (10-12 years)
• Stage 4: Social and Conventional (12+ years)

Question 6

Describe Stage 0 of Selman’s Levels of Perspective-Taking

Answer 6

• The Egocentric Stage
• The child struggles to distinguish between their own emotions and the emotions of others, as well as what social behaviour may have caused others emotions (e.g. being left out)

Question 7

Describe Stage 1 of Selman’s Levels of Perspective-Taking

Answer 7

• The Social-Informational Stage
• The child can tell the difference between their own perspective and the perspectives of others, but can typically only focus on one perspective at a time

Question 8

Describe Stage 2 of Selman’s Levels of Perspective-Taking

Answer 8

• The Social-Reflective Stage
• The child can take on and appreciate others perspectives fully as well as their own. However, they can’t take on both their perspective and someone else’s at the same time

Question 9

Describe Stage 3 of Selman’s Levels of Perspective-Taking

Answer 9

• The Mutual Stage
• The child can take on both their perspective and someone else’s at the same time

Question 10

Describe Stage 4 of Selman’s Levels of Perspective-Taking

Answer 10

• The Social and Conventional Stage
• The child can appreciate that sometimes understanding others perspectives isn’t enough to reach agreement

Question 11

What study can be used to criticise Selman’s Levels of Perspective-Taking for not acknowledging potential cultural differences?

Answer 11

• Wu & Keysar’s Study, which compared the perspective-taking abilities of Chinese and American participants
• Chinese participants performed significantly better in terms of perspective-taking abilities than American participants
• This suggests that differing cultural experiences can affect perspective-taking abilities, and the speed at which they develop

Question 12

Which study supports Selman’s Levels of Perspective-Taking and their corresponding ages?

Answer 12

• Selman et al’s longitudinal study, who found that children developed perspective-taking abilities in line with the stages and their corresponding ages that he identified

Question 13

What study contradicts Selman’s ideas in terms of Levels of Perspective Taking?

Answer 13

• Gasser & Keller, who found that bullies display no difficulties in perspective-taking and therefore are fully aware of how their victims feel
• This suggests that social behaviour is motivated by more than just perspective-taking, and that there are other factors involved, such as attachment type

Question 14

What could Selman’s Levels of Perspective-Taking potentially be used as an explanation for?

Answer 14

Crime, as delinquent children’s level of perspective-taking may be in below where it should be according to their age, meaning they struggle to fully comprehend the emotional consequences of their actions

Question 15

What is a positive application of using Selman’s Levels of Perspective-Taking to explain crime in children?

Answer 15

Roleplay programs, which have been implicated and been found successful

Question 16

What did Selman conclude from his Moral Dilemma Study?

Answer 16

• Younger children tended to utilise egocentric thinking to understand how other people might feel, such as that Holly’s Dad won’t know if she’s climbed the tree
• From this, Selman concluded that younger children are less able to take on another person’s perspective