The development of social cognition: Selman's levels of perspective-taking
Selman described five stages children pass through as they learn to understand other people's thoughts and feelings. Younger children can only see their own viewpoint; older children can consider multiple perspectives at once.
Real World
Mediators in family court disputes are trained to help parties reach Level 4 mutual perspective-taking — the inability of divorcing parents to move beyond Level 1 (self-focused) thinking is a recognised barrier to settlement.
Exam Focus
Learn the five level names and their approximate ages — 'describe' questions require specific level labels, not just 'children get better over time'.
Evaluation Scaffold
A four-step framework for high-quality evaluation. Use this for 'assess', 'evaluate', and 'to what extent' questions.
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