Selman's levels of perspective taking

• social cognition

  Mental processes that underlie human social interactions eg., decision making.
• perspective-taking

  The ability to appreciate a social situation from someone else's POV. (also called social perspective taking.)
• Sleman vs Piaget

  Selman: perspective-taking is domain-specific, it develops separately from physical perspective-taking.

  Piaget: cognitive development is domain-general e.g., the 3MT and perspective-taking develop together.
• Selman (1971)

  -investigated when perspective-taking happens, asked ppts to take the role of different people.

  -60 ppts: 30 boys; 30 girls; 20 aged 4; 20 aged 5; 20 aged 6.

  -gave ppts a scenario: Holly promised her dad she wouldn't climb up trees but a friend's kitten is stuck in a tree and she is the only one who can climb high enough to get it. Then asked them questions about how others would feel e.g., if she didn't save the cat. Tested individually. Asked different questions e.g., 'should Holly be punished if she climbs the tree?'

  -found that the level of perspective-taking was distinct based on age, correlated with age, clear developmental sequence.
• 5 stages proposed by Selman

  -stage 0: egocentric

  -stage 1: social-informational

  -stage 2: self-reflective

  -stage 3: mutual

  -stage 4: social and conventional system
• stage 0: egocentric

  -ages: 3-6

  -children recognise that others have different thoughts & feeling than them but do not know why they feel this way

  -response to scenario: Holly will save the cat and her father will feel the same way as her
• stage 1: social-informational

  -ages: 6-8

  -understand different perspectives & that different perspectives come from different information. Can only focus on one POV but can tell the difference from their POV and others

  -response to scenario: Holly's dad might be annoyed as he doesn't know why she has climbed the tree
• stage 2: self-reflective

  -ages: 8-10

  -can step into someone else's shoes, can see things from other POVs & recognise others can see theirs. Can only take one POV at a time.

  -response to scenario: Holly knows her father will understand
• stage 3: mutual

  -ages: 10-12

  -can step outside 2 person situations & see from a third parties POV, can see 2 POVs at the same time

  -response to scenario: when asked if Holly should be punished, they said no as Holly thought it was important, also see the father's POV
• stage 4: social and conventional system

  -ages: 12+

  -understand third party perspective-taking can be influenced by systems of larger societal value, know social conventions are needed to maintain order

  -response to scenario: don't think Holly should be punished as she treated the cat in a humane way
• perspective-taking in children

  -becomes more sophisticated as they get older

  -as children mature, they take more into account

  -develop the ability to analyse the POV of several others by ages 10-12

  -develop understanding that cultural & social values can shape POV

  -realise different people react differently
• mnemonic to remember the stages

  -everyone (egocentric)

  -should (social-informational)

  -see (self-reflective)

  -more (mutual)

  shows (social & conventional system)
• social development isn't just perspective-taking, there are 3 more factors

  -interpersonal understanding: take different roles then this shows that they understand social situations.

  -interpersonal negotiation strategies: develop skills in how to respond to others, can assert position & manage conflicts.

  -awareness of personal meaning of relationship: reflect on social behaviours in the context of life history & range of relationships. Interactions impact social development.
• AO3

  -research support - theory: Selman (1971): found a significant positive correlation between age & ability to take different perspectives. Longitudinal studies show perspective-taking develops with age. D: mostly correlational so cannot determine a cause & effect relationship which decreases the validity.

  -research support - stages: Buijezn & Valkenburg (2008): older people are more pro-social, more perspective-taking. Stages of development are important. D: Gasser & Keller (2009) bullies (anti-social behaviour) develop perspective-taking without problems. Decreases validity as this shows perspective-taking can still be developed without healthy social development.

  -practical application: helps identify atypical development. Research found people with ADHD & autism have problems perspective-taking. D: economic implications - have to train people to help. Takes money out the economy.