social cognition: Selman's levels of perspective - taking Flashcards
what was Selman concerned with
He was concerned with how children develop perspective-taking or more specifically Social perspective-taking
how is this different from Jean Piaget’s idea of physical perspective-taking ( egocentrism)
Piaget believed in domain-general cognitive development so he believed that physical and social perspective-taking would occur hand in hand
Selman proposed that the development of social perspective-taking is a separate process - this is a domain-specific approach to explaining cognitive development
what research did Selman conduct into perspective-taking
Selman looked at changes that occurred with age in children’s responses to scenarios in which they were asked to take the role of different people in a social situation
what is the procedure for Selman’s perspective-taking research
30 boys and 30 girls took part:
20 age 4
20 age 5
20 age 5
all were individually given a task designed to measure the role-taking ability
This involved asking them how each person felt in a various scenario
One scenario featured a child called Holly who has promised her father she will no longer climb trees, but who then comes across her friend who kitten is stuck up a tree
The task was to describe and explain how each person (Holly, her friend and her father) would feel if Holly did or did nor climb the tree to rescue the kitten
what were the findings from the research
A number of distinct levels of perspective taking were identified
Selman found the level or perspective-taking correlated with age, suggesting a clear developmental sequence
what are Selman’s stages of development
Selman used his perspective-taking research to formulate a stage theory of social perspective-taking
He actually used the term “role-taking” i.e. how taking the role of another person allows a child to see situations from the other perspective
Selman believed that development through these stages depended on both maturity and experience
what occurs in stage 0 egocentric
Stage 0 (3-6) - egocentric a child in this stage cannot reliably distinguish between their own emotions and those of others
They generally identify emotional states in others but do not understand what social behaviour might caused them
what occurs in stage 1 - social informational
stage 1 (6-8) - social informational -
a child can now tell the difference between their own point and that of others, but they can usually focus only on one of these perspectives
what occurs in stage 2 - self-reflective
stage 2 (8-10) self refelctive
at this stage, a 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 the same time
what occurs in stage 3 - mutual
stage 3 (12- 12) mutaul
children are now able to look at a situation from their own and another’s the point of view at the same time
what occurs in stage 4 - social and conventional system
(12 years +)
young people become able to see that sometimes understanding others; viewpoint is not enough to reach an agreement
This is why social conventions are needed to keep order
what are the later developments to Selman’s theory
Selman has recognised that the above descriptions of cognitive reasoning do not fully explain social development
There are also three aspects to social development: (Schutz et al 2003):
- interpersonal understanding
- interpersonal negotiation strategies
- awareness of personal meaning of relationships
what is interpersonal understanding
this is what Selman measured in his earlier perspective-taking research
If we can take different roles then we can understand social situations
what are interpersonal negotiation strategies
as well as understanding what others think in social situations, we aslo have to develop skills in how to respond to them
We therefore develop social skills such as asserting potion and managing conflict
what is awareness of is personal meaning of relationships
as well as understanding social situations and how to manage them, social development also requires the ability to reflect on social behaviour in the context of different relationships
Thus a violent gang member may have an advanced social understanding and good social skills, but chooses a simple approach to conflict (violence) because of their role in the gang
