social cognition- Selman's levels of perspective-taking Flashcards
perspective taking
the cognitive ability to take on another person’s viewpoint on in physical (i.e. Piaget and Inhelder’s three mountain task) and social (i.e. the ability to consider multiple sides in an argument) situations
use of perspective-taking tasks
perspective-taking tasks used to develop a series of stages, each of which are characterized by a fault in reasoning
research using perspective-taking tasks
tasks used to assess 60 children, 10 boys and 10 girls each of ages 4,5 and 6
i.e. Holly and her kitten
Holly and her kitten
identifying the emotional states of Holly, her father and her friend, whose kitten is stuck up a tree, when she promised her father she wouldn’t climb the tree and has to decide whether or not she should rescue the kitten
name the 4 stages of perspective taking
level 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
level 0
3-6 years
socially egocentric
unable to understand the perspectives of others
level 1
6-8 years
social information role-taking
children can only take on one perspective at a time
level 2
8-10 years
self-reflective role-taking
children can fully identify with and take on the perspective of others, but can only focus on one at a time
level 3
10-12 years
mutual-role taking
children can fully identify with and take on multiple different perspectives at the same time
level 4
12+ years
social and conventional system role-taking
children understand that social rules are needed to maintain order when simply understanding the other person is not enough
Schultz, Selman and La Russo
completed Selman’s theory of social cognition with the additions of interpersonal understanding, interpersonal negotiation strategies (understanding how to deal with conflicting viewpoints and standing your ground) and an awareness of personal meaning of relationships
