Key points

Egocentrism, as studied by Piaget, involves a failure to understand that others may see the world differently.

Egocentrism is a cognitive domain, fundamentally different from the egotism personality trait (selfishness).

Although adolescents acquire good perspective-taking skills, some people continue to be egocentric.

My first papers in psychology addressed the growth of perspective-taking in children and adolescents. Having a particular interest in incompetence (the title of this blog), my main focus has generally been on the absence of perspective-taking, or what the Swiss “genetic epistemologist” Jean Piaget (who originated this line of research) termed “egocentrism.” My interest in egocentrism was further enhanced by my later studies of adults with neurodevelopmental d

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