FRHD 2280 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Social Cognition, Egocentrism, Grey Matter

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Family Relations and Human Development
• Course: FRHD 2280
• Professor: Henry Thille

Document Summary

In the u. s. adolescents under 18 are prohibited from making decisions about medical care. Legal contracts under 18 drinking age, driving, dropping out of school etc. Social cognition is the term used to describe the way we think about other people, social relationships, and social institutions. Two aspects of social cognition: perspective taking the ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others. Selman"s research around the age 10 or 12 this starts: adolescent egocentrism having di culties distinguishing your own thinking about yourself from the thoughts of others. Elkind"s research heightened sense of their own identity due to the way that their brains are developing and what areas are more active vs. the other regions of the brain. Is the ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others. Selman"s theory of perspective taking is based on a stage approach that children and adolescents go through.