Selman's levels of perspective-taking Flashcards
what was Selman concerned with?
how children develop perspective-taking - more specifically social perspective- taking (concerns what someone else is feeling or thinking (social cognition))
this is different to Piaget’s idea of egocentrism (demonstrated with the three mountains task)
Selman proposed that the development of social perspective taking is a separate process, a domain-specific approach to explaining cognitive development
what was the procedure of Selman’s ‘perspective-taking’ research
he looked at changes which occurred with age in children’s responses to scenarios - they were asked to take the role of different people in a social situation
30 boys and 30 girls took part in the study
20 four year olds, 20 five year older and 20 six year olds
they were asked how each person felt in various scenarios - one featured a child called Holly who has promised her father she will no longer climb trees - but who then comes across her friend whose kitten is stuck up the tree
the task was to describe and explain how each person (Holly, the friend and her father) would feel if Holly did or did not climb the tree
what was the findings from this study?
a number of distinct levels of perspective-taking were identified
Selman found that the level of perspective-taking correlated with age, suggesting a clear and developmental sequence
what were Selman’s stages of development?
he used his perspective -taking research to create a stage theory of social perspective taking
how the role of another person allows a child to see situations from other people’s perspective
0) egocentric
1) social informational
2)self -reflective
3) Mutual
4) social and conventional system
Selman believed that development through these stages is based on both maturity and experience
what is stage 0?
Egocentric - between 3-6 years old
the child cannot reliably distinguish between their own emotions and those of others - they can generally identify emotional states in others but don’t understand what social behaviour might have caused them
what is stage 1?
Social-informational between 6-8 years
a child can tell the difference between their own point of view and that of others, but they can usually focus on only one of these perspectives
what is stage 2?
Self reflective 8-10
the child can put themselves in the position of another person and fully appreciate the other’s perspective
they can, however, only take on board one point of view at a time
what is stage 3?
Mutual - 10-12 - children are now able to look at a situation from their own and another’s point of view at the same time
what is stage 4?
Social and conventional system 12+
they are able to see that sometimes understanding other’s viewpoints is not enough to allow people to reach agreement
this is why social conventions are needed to keep order
What are the three aspects to social development - Schultz?
1) interpersonal understanding - what Selman measured in his earlier perspective-taking research - if we take dif roles, we can understand social situations
2) interpersonal negotiation strategies - as well as understanding what others think in social situations we also have to develop skills in how to respond to them - we develop social skills such as asserting our position and managing conflict
3) Social development involves understanding relationships, managing social situations, and reflecting on behaviour within different contexts. Someone, like a violent gang member, may have strong social awareness and skills but still resort to violence due to their role in the gang.
Strength of Selman’s stages
There is evidence that perspective taking becomes more advanced with age
Selman tested 60 children (boys and girls 4-6yrs) using scenarios like the one of Holly and the kitten
there was significant positive correlations between age and the ability to take different perspectives
the cross sectional research has been supported by longitudinal studies (Gurucharri and Selman) - which have followed children over a long period of time and recorded improvements in their perspective -taking ability
longitudinal studies have good validity because they control for individual differences - where as cross sectional studies don’t
so there is soldi support from dif research for Selman’s basic idea that perspective -taking improves with age
strength of Selman’s stages -
support for the importance of perspective- taking in healthy social development
key elements of Selman’s approach - importance of perspective taking in social development - supported by observation study of child-parent interaction in toyshops and supermarkets
Buijzen and Valkenburg observed interactions including those in which parents refused to buy things their child wanted - they noted any coercive behaviour in children - which is an example of unhealthy social behaviour
study found negative correlations between coercive behaviour and both age and perspective -taking ability
suggests that there is a relationship between perspective taking abilities and healthy social behaviour
Counterpoint to the research support for perspective taking
Other lines of research have not supported the links between perspective taking and social development
e.g. Gasser and Keller assessed perspective taking in bullies, victims and non-participants
they found that bullies displayed no difficulties in perspective taking
suggests that perspective taking may not be a key element in healthy social development
Limitation - being too cognitive
L of the stages is the focus on cognitive factors alone - perspective taking is a cog ability
But there is far more to children’s social development than their increasing cognitive abilities
focusing on the cognitive element of development - Selman’s approach fails to take into account the full range of other factors that impact on a child’s social development
Other internal factors include the development of empathy and emotional self regulation
there are also importnant external factors including parenting style, family climate and opportunities to learn from peer interaction
means Selman’s approach to explaining social development is too narrow
Extra - Nature vs nurture
there is some evidence for cultural differences in perspective taking ability
Wu and Keysar compared American and matched Chinese children and found that the Chinese children were significantly more advanced
suggests that the cultural influences might be importnant
But Selman believed that his stages of perspective taking were based primarily on cognitive maturity (biologically driven) and hence universal (Vassallo)
Strength - real world application - Selman’s stages can be applied in the real world
In schools: teaching young children how to appreciate someone else’s point of view
with offenders: working with prisoners to develop their perspective taking skills to develop their empathetic and pro-social behaviour when they are released
social skills training - programmes can be used with older children or in therapeutic settings for people with mental disorders
