What Contribution Has Selman`s Research Made To The Field Of Psychology And The Understanding Of Human Behaviour?

Selman proposed that children develop social perspective in sequential stages. His research regarding this has contributed to the field of psychology through introducing an objective method of assessing social perspective taking. Selman used scenarios such as the one in which a girl named Holly climbed a tree against her father`s wishes, ; as a way of testing his hypothesis that children’s cognitive abilities develop in a sequential order. His method was approved of by other psychologists and therefore became a paradigm in psychology in allowing for the research growth regarding this subject area. This way, studies investing social perspective taking are more valid as they use a consistent measure. Moreover, Selman’s research has had contribution in education. Nowadays, children below the age of 6 are generally not made to participate in group sports as this would require them to surpass their egocentric stage which they have not yet capable of. This therefore highlights the real life application and contribution by Selman, and has allowed education to be more suited for the capability of children in their developmental stages.