Selman - Perspective taking

• What is Perspective taking

  Perspective taking is the ability to understand a situation from another person's viewpoint.
• Research into PT

  To investigate the dev of PT, Selman asked children 4-6 how they felt in scenarios involving dilemmas. One scenario involved a child called Holly (who promised her father not to climb trees), preparing to climb a tree to save a kitten. Based on the child's response to why ppl in the scenarios behave the way they do, they were categorised to a particular stage of PT. Found to correlate with age
• Selman's stages of PT

  • Stage 0 (3-6) - Socially egocentric
  • Stage 1 (6-8) - Social information role taking
  • Stage 2 (8-10) - Self reflective role taking
  • Stage 3 (10-12) - Mutual role taking
  • Stage 4 (12-15+) - Societal role taking
• Stage 0

  • (3-6) Socially egocentric
  • Can't distinguish between the perspective of themselves and that of others.
  • Able to identify mental states in others but unaware of the social causes behind these mental emotions
  • Ability to PT is governed by their own perspective
• Stage 1

  • (6-8) Social information role taking
  • Ability to tell the difference between their own perspectives and that of others - differentiation
  • Understand that the reason behind ppl having diff perspectives is the diffs in social exps
  • They can only focus on one perspective at a time, typically that of their own
• Stage 2

  • (8-10) - Self reflective role taking
  • Child can put themselves in the position of another person and fully appreciate their perspective
  • Can only focus on one external perspective at a time
  • Child can now reflect on how they are perceived by another person
• Stage 3

  • (10-12) - Mutual role taking
  • Child can look beyond a 2 person situation and imagine how them and the other person looks from a 3rd persons perspective
  • Child can consider two perspectives at the same time - integration
• Stage 4

  • (12-15+) - Societal role taking
  • Understand that perspectives are affected by social norms and beliefs
  • Understand that ppl make decisions based on social conventions
• Selman - Evals

  • S - supporting evidence for the argument that PT happens in stages (Selman - Gurucharri and Selman)
  • S - Practical applications in the form of training and diagnosis
  • W - overly focused on the role of bio maturity on the dev of PT, thus ignoring other factors (Fitzgerald and White)
  • W - doesn't account for role of culture in PT dev (Shali Wu et al)
• S - supporting evidence for the argument that PT happens in stages. Selman gave PT tasks to 60 kids 4-6. Found a positive correlation between age + ability to take diff perspectives e.g. the Holly scenario. None of the kids had regressed, supporting the notion that the stages identified by Selman are progressive age-related developmental sequence. A further analysis conducted on the same Ps few yrs later by Gurucharri and Selman confirmed that dev happens in a developmental sequence w/o skipping stages. S bc shows he was correct in his assertion that PT develops in a fixed linear order. /V
• S - Practical apps - training and diagnosis. Selman shown that PT tasks can be used to develop PT in kids who may lack it. Kids who act as bullies may not be able to see from perspectives of others - punishment may not change beh. Better to use natural ways of fostering PT e.g. role play, to encourage them to transition to next stages of PT, thus developing a better social cog + \ bullying. As Selman attached ages to each stage of PT...
• (S - practical application in the form of training and diagnosis)... As Selman attached ages to each stage of PT, this acts as a tool to help diagnose kids with deficits in PT e.g. kids being unable to tell diff between their and the perspective of others and might have disorders such as autism and thus need support. Therefore not purely theoretical and has helped improve the lives of skl kids and those with disorders. /V
• W - overly focused on the role of bio maturity on the dev of PT, thus ignoring other factors. Whilst PT is a cog ability there is more to kid's social dev than their cog abilities that come with aging. Selman's theory doesn't take into account other factors that impact a child's PT dev. Fitzgerald and White - dev of PT skills related to parenting style. More growth in PT when parents encouraged kids to take the perspective of a victim in instances when they caused them harm...
• (W - overly focused on the role of bio maturity on the dev of PT, thus ignoring other factors - Fitzgerald and White)... Shows bio maturation isn't sole factor facilitating PT dev. Factors like parental style mediate the dev of PT possibility accelerating PT dev. As Selman doesn't account for this - incomplete \V
• W - doesn't account for role of culture in PT dev. Shali Wu et al - young adult Chinese Ps did sig better at PT tasks (communication game) than matched Americans. Americans often failed to take perspectives of fellow Americans - rarely happened among Chinese Ps. Those from China typically have "interdependent selves" - identity involves others. Americans typically have "independent selves" - identity doesn't involve others. Those with "interdependent selves" were better at PT. W bc shows bio maturation isn't the only influence on PT dev, rather culture mediates PT dev. ∴ incomplete \V