On reading someone elses mind: the phenomenon of taking the perspective of other people 2500-PL-F-02-03

Taking other people's perspective has been defined as the individual "tendency to spontaneously adopt psychological point of view of others" or as "the process of imagining the world from another’s vantage point or imagining oneself in another’s shoes". It implies that perspective taking is assumed to be a dispositional quality or a process which can be induced in everyone with certain conditions. Since Jean Piaget, who claimed cognitive decentering to be one of the most important achievements in cognitive development, psychologists examine processes underlying human propensity to reflect upon what other people may think, feel or want as well as the effects of such reflection. The course has been designed to explore the nature of perspective taking and its impact on an individual's cognitive and social functioning.

Type of course

elective courses

Mode

Classroom

Prerequisites (description)

The elective course in the field of cognitive psychology for the 3rd, 4th and 5th year students. The completion of the lectures on "Cognitive Psychology" and "Social Psychology" would be an advantage. The capability of reading in English is necessary to participate in the course.

Assessment criteria

Regular attendance and active participation in class activities as well as passing the test are required to complete the course.
Grading will involve individual presentation (50%) and the final test (50%).

Bibliography

Readings on particular topics
1.
- Piaget, J. (1966). Studia z psychologii dziecka. Warszawa: Państwowe Wydwnictwo Naukowe.
- Gehlbach, H., Brinkworth, M. E., Wang, M. (2012). The Social Perspective Taking Process: What motivates individuals to take anothers perspective. Teachers College Record, 114(1), 1-29.
- Gehlbach, H., Brinkworth, M. E. (2012). The Social Perspective Taking Process: Strategies and Sources of Evidence in Taking Another’s Perspective. Teachers College Record, 114(2), 1-29.
- Lin, S., Keysar, B., Epley, N. (2010). Reflexively mindblind: Using theory of mind to interpret behavior requires effortful attention. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(3), 551-556.
- Nickerson, R. S. (1999). How we know - and sometimes misjudge - what others know: Imputing one's own knowledge to others. Psychological Bulletin, 125(6), 737-759.
- Mitchell, J. P. (2009). Inferences about mental states. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 364(1521), 1309-1316.
- Eyal, T., Epley, N. (2010). How to seem telepathic: Enabling mind reading by matching construal. Psychological Science, 21(5), 700-705.
2.
- Epley, N., Keysar, B., Van Boven, L. Gilovich, T. (2004). Perspective taking as egocentric anchoring and adjustment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(3), 327-339.
- Ames, D. R. (2004). Inside the mind reader's toolkit: Projection and stereotyping in mental state inference. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(3), 340-353.
3.
- Epley, N., Morewedge, C.K., Keysar, B. (2004). Perspective taking in children and adults: Equivalent egocentrism but differential correction. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40(6), 760–768.
- Zhang, X., Fung, H. H., Stanley, J. T., Isaacowitz, D. M., Ho, M. Y. (2013). Perspective Taking in Older Age Revisited: A Motivational Perspective. Developmental Psychology, 49(10), 1848–1858.
4.
- Davis, M. H., Soderlund, T., Cole, J., Gadol, E., Kute, M., Myers, M., Weihibg, J. (2004). Cognitions associated with attempts to empathize: How do we imagine the perspective of another. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30(12), 1625-1635.
- Laurent, S. M., Myers, M. W. (2011). I know you’re me, but who am I? Perspective taking and seeing the other in the self. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47(6), 1316–1319.
5.
- Oswald, P. A. (2002). The interactive effects of affective demeanor, cognitive processes, and perspective-taking focus on helping behavior. The Journal of Social Psychology, 142(1), 120-132.
- Ku, G., Wang, C. S., Galinsky, A. D. (2010). Perception through a perspective-taking lens: Differential effects on judgment and behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(5), 792–798.
6.
- Realo, A., Allik,J., Nolvak, A., Valk, R. Ruus, T., Schmidt, M., Eilola, T. (2003). Mind-reading ability: Beliefs and performance. Journal of Research in Personality 37(5), 420–445.
- Ames, D. R., Kammrath, L. K. (2004). Mind-reading and metacognition: Narcissism, not actual competence predicts self-estimated ability. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 28(3), 187-209.
7.
- Epley, N., Caruso, E.M., Bazerman, M.H. (2006). When perspective taking increases taking: Reactive egoism in social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(5), 872-889.
- Skorinko, J. L., Sinclair, S. A. (2013). Perspective taking can increase stereotyping: The role of apparent stereotype confirmation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(1), 10–18.

Supplementary readings will be provided during the course, depending on the participants' interest in particular issues.

Additional information

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 2500-PL-F-02-03 in USOSweb