selman

• 📖 key study into perspective-taking

  Holly's dilemma

  • different social scenarios
  • consider what a character should do and how others might feel
  • younger children couldn't understand but older children could
• what is social cognition? 🧩

  mental processes involved in understanding and interacting with others
• 🌱 selman's developmental model of perspective-taking

  children mature cognitive so they become increasingly able to understand other people's thoughts, feelings and intentions
• define perspective-taking 👀

  ability to consider another person's mental state
• 🔄 selman's 5 levels of perspective-taking

  1. egocentric role taking
  2. social-informational role taking
  3. self-reflective role taking
  4. mutual role taking
  5. societal role taking
• 1️⃣ egocentric role taking

  3 to 6 years

  • child can't distinguish their own perspective from others
  • assumes everyone thinks and feels like them
• 2️⃣ social-informational role taking

  6 to 8 years

  • child begins to realise people can have different perspectives
  • believes this is due to different information
• 3️⃣ self-reflective role taking

  8 to 10 years

  • understand others can reflect on them
  • can see how they are perceived by others
• 4️⃣ mutual role taking

  10 to 12 years

  • considers how two people see each other
  • can see from a 3rd person view
• 5️⃣ societal role taking

  12+ years

  • viewpoints are influenced by broader social values and norms
  • uses generalised others to evaluate behaviour
• 🔑 key assumptions of selman's theory

  • role taking
  • perspective taking
  • dilemma tasks
• 🎯 applications of selman's theory

  • understanding social impairments
  • practical use in educational psychology to foster social skills
  • informs conflict resolution strategies
• ✅ strength of selman - application

  practical applications

  • develop social skill interventions for children with autism
  • leads to better peer relationships and emotional understanding
  • real-world social development
• ❌ limitation of selman - bias

  culturally biased

  • stages are based on western concepts of individualism and personal interpretation
  • collectivist cultures develop social understanding through group harmony
  • reduces generalisability
• ❌ limitation of selman - overemphasis

  overemphasised cognitive development

  • emotional intelligence, parenting style and environment also influences
  • focuses on internal cognitive processes
  • reductionist