Week 11: The self and Social Understanding Flashcards
(24 cards)
What is self-recognition
The ability to recognise oneself in mirrors or photographs
When does self-recognition occur in infants?
18-24 months of age
What is the Rogue test?
A parent smears makeup on child’s face and places them in front of mirror
Children under 18 months don’t make a connection that it themselves, often goes behind mirror to find person or try to play with person in mirror
Older will try to get rid of dot
Categorical self
Constructed between 18-30 months
Classify themselves and others by age, sex/gender, physical characteristics, goodness/ badness
Develops with language
Remembered self
-Life story of autobiographical memories
-Developed from adult/ child conversations
-Memories can be activated or enhanced by caregivers
-Researcher Elaine Reese is invovled in this area
Enduring self
-A view of themselves that persists over time
Theory of mind
: “The understanding that people have mental states such as feelings, desires, beliefs, and intentions that underlie and help explain their behaviour”
Precursor to theory of mind
Joint attention (I.e. baby looks to where adult is looking, facilitates language development)
Social Referencing (I.e. visual cliff)
Gestures that act as precursors to theory of mind
protodeclarative gestures - baby points to something it wants the parent to pay attention to
Protoimperative – child pointing with purpose I.e. want the parent to get object for them, often accompanied by sounds
Desire theory of mind
The earliest theory of mind – the understanding that desires guide behaviour.
Typically present at about 2 years of age
Belief-desire theory of mind
A more advanced view in which it is understood that both beliefs and desires determine actions.
Typically present from about 4 years of age.
What classic experiment demonstrates desire theory of mind?
Repacholi & Gopnik
experimenter tastes two foods – broccoli and crackers in presence of toddler
Experiment express overt happiness in response to broccoli and disgust with crackers
Toddler then given two bowls (1 broccoli, 1 cracker) -> asked to give one to the experimenter
14 months old – gives the experimenter crackers despite apparent distaste
18 months old – gives the experimenter broccoli, they could remember what the experimenter likes, not just following their own views
This demonstrates early theory of mind — the understanding that other people can have preferences, beliefs, and desires that differ from one’s own.
False belief task
A task used to assess the understanding that people can hold incorrect beliefs and be influenced by them.
example: child being tested sits at table. Sally places a marble in a basket and then leaves. Anne comes in and the child being tested watches Anne transfer Sally’s marble to the box. The child is asked where Sally will look for the marble.
-> if under 4 they are likely to say that Sally will look in the box (even though Sally wasn’t present when Anne moved it). If over four they will recognise that Sally will hold a false belief that the marble is still in box even though they themselves know otherwise.
Does the false belief task transfer well to different cultural contexts?
Yes, it does - the findings are very stable across all cultures that have been studied.
Second-order false belief task
-Jason has a letter from a friend. Lisa wants to read the letter, but jason doesn’t want her to. Jason puts the letter under his pillow
-Jason leaves the room to help his mother
-While jason is gone, lisa takes the letter and reads it. Jason returns and watches lisa, but lisa doesn’t see Jason. Then Lisa puts the letter in Jason’s desk.
Where does Lisa think that Jason will look for the letter? Correct answer = Lisa thinks Jason will look under the pillow because she doesn’t know that Jason saw her move it.
This shows understanding of Lisa’s false belief about Jason’s belief — the core of second-order theory of mind.
The ability is required to pass second-order false-belief tasks and is usually present from about the age of 7
What ‘skill’ is needed to pass second order false belief tasks?
Recursive thought: A form of perspective taking that requires the ability to view a situation from at least two perspectives. That is, to reason simultaneously about what two or more people are thinking. This ability is required to pass second-order false-belief tasks and is usually present from about the age of 7
Factors that Contribute to the Development of Theory of Mind Skills
Language and verbal reasoning
Make-believe play
Social interaction: Having older siblings -> children grasp theory of earlier if they have older siblings compared to those without siblings -> participate in family talk about emotions, feelings. Children with older children have more opportunities for make believe play
Security of attachment: Parents securely attached are more attuned and responsive to their child’s needs which results in parent ‘mind-mindfulness’. This means they are better at commenting on babies mental state and feelings-> more talking you do about mental states the better the development of mental states
Self-Concept
The set of attributes, abilities, attitudes, and values that an individual believes defines who he or she is.
-children same age tend to say similar things about their self concept
What is typical about the way that children in early childhood (3-7 years ) describe themselves?
-Observable characteristics and physical appearance
-Everyday behaviours and interests
-Possessions and concrete things/ people
-Accomplishments e.g. I know my ABCs
What is typical about the way that children in mid childhood (8-11 years ) describe themselves?
-Their group membership e.g. I go to this school
-Personality traits e..g. truthful, short-tempered
-Their competence e.g. academically, physically, socially
-Social comparisons eg.. judgments of their own appearance and abilities etc. in relation to others
-Psychological factors
Self-esteem
The judgements we make about our own worth and the feelings associated with those judgements (Berk, 2013, p. 461).
What aspects do preschools distinguish about their self esteem?
Only 2 broad aspects of self-esteem: their competence and their personal and social adequacy.
What aspects do mid-primary school children distinguish about their self esteem?
5 aspects of self worth are differentiated:
-scholastic competence
-Social acceptance
-Behavioural conduct
-Athletic competence
-Physical appearance
-> often all present in descriptions of self
Why do some children develop higher self-esteem than others?
-Genes/heredity
-Gender-stereotyped expectations e.g. Girls feel less confident then boys about physical appearance, physical appearance, academic
Girls more confident in terms of their close friendships
-Experiences and feedback
-Physical appearance
-Parenting
Unrealistically high self-esteem can be linked to parents that praise excessively. Low esteem linked to parents being very critical.
-Perceived competence
