Tutorial 2 Flashcards
What is the definition of egocentrism?
a) the incomplete differentiation of the self and the world, including other people and
b) the tendency to perceive, understand and interpret the world in terms of the self
What are two examples of egocentrism?
- Jean Piaget’s three mountain’s task
2. what can the toy see?
What is centration?
tendency to focus on one aspect of a situation or way of thinking to the exclusion of all others
egocentrism is a form of centration
In what forms can egocentrism take?
- communication
- spatial perspective taking
- social relationships and roles
- moral reasoning
- (theory of mind)
- adolescent egocentrism
- ethnocentrism
What are the findings of Piaget’s Three Mountains Task?
That four year olds chose a picture that matched their own view, six year olds showed some awareness of alternate perspectives. Only seven and eight year olds consistently chose the correct picture.
Thus, four year olds cannot not take on someone else’s perspective.
What is the sensorimotor stage?
the infant gradually becomes able to differentiate between “me” and “not me” and appreciate that objects have an existence independent of them - “object permanence”
What is the pre-logical stage in reference to egocentrism?
child’s thinking is magical and self-absorbed. It is characterised by an inability to separate one’s own perspective from that of another.
What is one of Piaget’s examples of egocentration in conversation?
“collective monologue” - children make remarks in conversations that are unrelated to the response from the partner. They are ignorant of their partner’s role and perspective in conversation.
Discuss egocentrism and spatial perspective taking
children as young as four cannot move around mentally in space - limited perspective on what they can see themselves
Discuss egocentrism and moral reasoning
broken cups story - young children do not take into consideration intention, only look at the physical result of the action. Right & wrong function as material consequences of the act.
What are the methodological limitations of this story-telling approach e.g. broken cups?
makes considerable demands on the child’s receptive language skills
Discuss social referencing
- demonstrate at 8-12 months
- check with parents scary things
- point to objects of interest
- shows some understanding that others experience different emotions to oneself
- imitate what adults do with objects
What is theory of mind?
- a coherent understanding of other people as mental beings
- an understanding that other people have thoughts, feelings, mental states and that these mental states guide their behaviour
What are false-beliefs?
a child understands false beliefs when they can understand when they can understand that another person may have a belief about the world that the child knows to be untrue
What is the name of the false-belief task in a laboratory setting? What does it test?
“Unexpected Transfer Task”: Example where will Maxi look for his chocolate? Red or green cupboard? They know that Maxi ought to be believe (falsely) that this is where the chocolate is located.
