Selman's Theory: The development of social cognition Flashcards

1
Q

What is Social Cognition?

A
  • the mental processes we make use of when engaged in a social interaction
  • investigates how the social context affects the way we think and how our thoughts effect our social behaviour
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2
Q

What is Perspective-Taking?

A
  • involves being able to view a situation or emotions from another persons viewpoint
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3
Q

Perspective-Taking Research

A
  • Selman was influenced by Piaget
  • Selman looked at the changes that occurred with age

Procedure:
- 30 boys and 30 girls (20 4yrs, 20 5yrs, and 20 6yrs)
- all were given a task designed to measure perspective-taking ability
- involved asking them how they felt in scenarios (Holly who promised her father to not climb up trees but then her friends kitten got stuck up a tree) - the task was to then say how Holly, her friend and her father would feel if she did or didn’t climb the tree

Findings:
- a number of distinct levels of perspective-taking were identified
- Selman found that the level correlated with age suggested a clear developmental sequence

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4
Q

Stage 0 (3-6 years)
Egocentric

A
  • children cannot reliably distinguish between their emotions and others emotions
  • can identify emotional states in others but don’t understand what social behaviour it may have caused
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5
Q

Stage 1 (6-8 years)
Social-Informational

A
  • children can tell the difference between their own point of view and others but can only focus on 1 at a time
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6
Q

Stage 2 (8-10 years)
Self-Reflective

A
  • children can put themselves in the position of others and fully appreciate others’ perspectives but can only take on 1 point at a time
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7
Q

Stage 3 (10-12 years)
Social + Conventional System

A
  • sometimes understanding others viewpoints is not enough to allow people to reach agreement
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7
Q

What did Selman believe?

A
  • Selman believed that development through these stages are based on maturity and experience
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7
Q

Schultz 3 Aspects to Social Development

A
  1. Interpersonal Understanding - if we can take different roles, we can understand social situations
  2. Interpersonal Negotiation Strategies - develop skills on how to respond to social situations - asserting your position and managing conflict
  3. Awareness of Personal Meaning of Relationships - the ability to reflect on social behaviour in context of different relationships
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