A writer for a TV show is developing a story about two cowboys, Jo and Ned. In the latest episode of the show, the two characters have an argument because Ned refused to ride his own horse. Ned did this because he knew his horse was sick, but he refused to share that information with Jo.

Robert Selman’s theory of Role-Taking indicates that children develop increasingly complex understanding of other people’s behaviours and thoughts. Using Selman’s theory, which age group does the TV show writer think will be watching the show?

Question

A writer for a TV show is developing a story about two cowboys, Jo and Ned. In the latest episode of the show, the two characters have an argument because Ned refused to ride his own horse. Ned did this because he knew his horse was sick, but he refused to share that information with Jo.

Robert Selman’s theory of Role-Taking indicates that children develop increasingly complex understanding of other people’s behaviours and thoughts. Using Selman’s theory, which age group does the TV show writer think will be watching the show?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Question restatement: A TV show writer uses Robert Selman’s theory of Role-Taking to predict which age group will understand that different people can have different perspectives based on information different people possess. Answer choices are:

A. Any age. The story is fiction, which means that theories of understanding human behaviour do not apply.
B. 8 years and older. People aged 8 or older should understand that different people can have different perspectives if they have different information.
C. 10 years and older. People aged 10 or older should be able to understand that if a person does not share information with another person, then they will never be able to share the same perspective of an event.
D. 10 years and older. Children younger than 10 have difficulty understanding that people can have different perspectives.

Evaluation of each option:

Option A: This choice says that any age can understand perspectives in a fictional story and dismisses theory altogether. In Selman’s framework, perspective-taking is a developmental skill that grows with age and experience, not something that applies equally at all ages. Claiming theories do not apply to fiction ignores the educational purpose of applying developmental psychology to media audiences. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

Option B: This aligns with Selman’s early levels of role-taking. By around age 8, many children can recognize that others may have different information and thus different viewpoints. It captures the idea that perspective-taking increases with age and informational context, which is central to Selman’s progression from basic to more complex understanding.

Option C: This statement asserts that only at age 10 and older would a person understand that lack of information permanently prevents shared perspectives. While older children may reason about information-sharing and perspective more adeptly, Selman’s model does not posit a hard cutoff at 10 years where perspective-taking becomes possible only with the absence of information. It also risks implying inevitability of divergence in all cases without information sharing, which is an oversimplification of the theory.

Option D: This option claims that children younger than 10 struggle with recognizing differing perspectives, which is broadly true in a general sense. However, Selman’s research shows that even younger children begin to show basic forms of role-taking, and the idea that no younger-than-10 child can understand differing perspectives is too strong and contradicts observed developmental evidence. It also ignores the gradations of sophistication in perspective-taking across ages and situations.

Synthesis: The question asks about the age group the theory would predict as capable of recognizing that different information leads to different perspectives. Option B accurately captures the developmental milestone described by Selman—beginning around age 8 and older. The other options either misstate the universality of capability (A), introduce a rigid cutoff not supported by the theory (C), or overgeneralize about younger children without acknowledging emerging abilities (D).

PSYC20008_2025_SM1 Developmental Psychology (PSYC20008_2025_SM1) End of Semester PRACTICE Exam MCQ - Requires Respondus LockDown Browser

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