Mirror self-recognition

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa Schilhab
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Psychology ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Mark Test ◽  
Self Recognition

Mirror self-recognition (MSR) refers to the empirical investigation of self-awareness, also known as the ‘mirror and mark test’ introduced by psychologist Gordon G. Gallup (1970). The ability to direct behaviour to previously unseen parts of the body such as the inside of the mouth or to groom the eye by the aid of mirrors has been interpreted as the recognition of the self and evidence of a self-concept. Unknowingly, a similar approach was developed independently with children (Amsterdam 1972). The successful passing of the mirror and mark test has been widely used as a benchmark for distinguishing conscious and non-conscious species within fields with a general interest in evolutionary perspectives on consciousness and cognition such as comparative psychology and cognitive ethology, although controversies about the methodology and theoretical framework persist. These disputes question our intuitions about consciousness and accentuate the epistemic difficulty of obtaining evidence on mental states in others.

scholarly journals Mirror self-recognition in gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla): a review and evaluation of mark test replications and variants

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay E. Murray ◽  
James R. Anderson ◽  
Gordon G. Gallup
Keyword(s):  
Gorilla Gorilla ◽  
The Self ◽  
Olfactory Cues ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla ◽  
Mark Test ◽  
Self Recognition ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Over Time

AbstractMirror self-recognition (MSR), widely regarded as an indicator of self-awareness, has not been demonstrated consistently in gorillas. We aimed to examine this issue by setting out a method to evaluate gorilla self-recognition studies that is objective, quantifiable, and easy to replicate. Using Suarez and Gallup’s (J Hum Evol 10:175–183, 1981) study as a reference point, we drew up a list of 15 methodological criteria and assigned scores to all published studies of gorilla MSR for both methodology and outcomes. Key features of studies finding both mark-directed and spontaneous self-directed responses included visually inaccessible marks, controls for tactile and olfactory cues, subjects who were at least 5 years old, and clearly distinguishing between responses in front of versus away from the mirror. Additional important criteria include videotaping the tests, having more than one subject, subjects with adequate social rearing, reporting post-marking observations with mirror absent, and giving mirror exposure in a social versus individual setting. Our prediction that MSR studies would obtain progressively higher scores as procedures and behavioural coding practices improved over time was supported for methods, but not for outcomes. These findings illustrate that methodological rigour does not guarantee stronger evidence of self-recognition in gorillas; methodological differences alone do not explain the inconsistent evidence for MSR in gorillas. By implication, it might be suggested that, in general, gorillas do not show compelling evidence of MSR. We advocate that future MSR studies incorporate the same criteria to optimize the quality of attempts to clarify the self-recognition abilities of gorillas as well as other species.

Gallup's Mirrors: More Than an Operationalization of Self-Awareness in Primates?

1989 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 287-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Morin ◽  
Sandra DeBlois
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Social Origin ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Self Recognition ◽  
The Social

This speculative article comments on Gallup's work on self-recognition and self-awareness in primates. It exposes Gallup's position on the social origin of the self-concept and proposes the existence of “self-representational” processes capable of reproducing internally the social phenomena implicated in the acquisition of self-information. On that basis, the possibility is raised that allowing primates to see themselves in a mirror might provide them with such a process, with which introspection, and consequently, the formation of a more sophisticated self-concept, would be possible.

Features of self-awareness of adolescents with socialized behavior disorder

2020 ◽  
pp. 50-55
Author(s):  
Anna Afonina ◽  
Aleksandr Kazyulin ◽  
Boris Volodin ◽  
Dmitry Petrov
Keyword(s):  
Behavior Disorder ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Affective Component

This study presents the results of studying the features of self-consciousness of adolescents with socialized behavior disorder, such as self-attitude (affective component of the image of the Self), self-concept, self-esteem and the level of claims.

scholarly journals Self-concept dialectical transformation: A study in a women's prison

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-314
Author(s):  
Lysia Rachel Moreira BASÍLIO ◽  
Antonio ROAZZI ◽  
Alexsandro Medeiros do NASCIMENTO ◽  
José Arturo Costa ESCOBAR
Keyword(s):  
Life Transitions ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Cognitive Schemas ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
The Feminine ◽  
Triggering Factor ◽  
Women's Prison ◽  
The Individual

Abstract The present study investigated incarceration as a possible triggering factor of self-concept transformations. Self-concept consists of a set of multiple dimensions organized hierarchically functioning as cognitive schemas. It is a structural complex product of reflective activity, and it is susceptible to changes as the individual encounters new situations, life transitions, and social roles. To investigate the transformations in the self-concept structure, 150 incarcerated women responded to the Feminine Inventory of the Self-Concept's Gender Schemas, Self-Concept Clarity Scale and Situational Self-Awareness Scale. The results showed dynamic and multidimensional organization of self-concept in the women investigated, including various categories of the self. The elements analyzed indicate that prison, an undesirable life event in adulthood, is a driver of transformations in the dynamics of self-concept.

scholarly journals Cleaner wrasse pass the mark test. What are the implications for consciousness and self-awareness testing in animals?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masanori Kohda ◽  
Takashi Hotta ◽  
Tomohiro Takeyama ◽  
Satoshi Awata ◽  
Hirokazu Tanaka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Mirror Image ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Labroides Dimidiatus ◽  
Mark Test ◽  
Self Recognition ◽  
Behavioural Patterns ◽  
Major Taxon ◽  
Frequent Observation

AbstractThe ability to perceive and recognise a reflected mirror image as self (mirror self-recognition, MSR) is considered a hallmark of cognition across species. Although MSR has been reported in mammals and birds, it is not known to occur in any other major taxon. A factor potentially limiting the ability to test for MSR is that the established assay for MSR, the mark test, shows an interpretation bias towards animals with the dexterity (or limbs) required to touch a mark. Here, we show that the cleaner wrasse fish, Labroides dimidiatus, passes through all phases of the mark test: (i) social reactions towards the reflection, (ii) repeated idiosyncratic behaviours towards the mirror (contingency testing), and (iii) frequent observation of their reflection. When subsequently provided with a coloured tag, individuals attempt to remove the mark in the presence of a mirror but show no response towards transparent marks, or to coloured marks in the absence of a mirror. This remarkable finding presents a challenge to our interpretation of the mark test – do we accept that these behavioural responses in the mark test, which are taken as evidence of self-recognition in other species, mean that fish are self-aware? Or do we conclude that these behavioural patterns have a basis in a cognitive process other than self-recognition? If the former, what does this mean for our understanding of animal intelligence? If the latter, what does this mean for our application and interpretation of the mark test as a metric for animal cognitive abilities?

scholarly journals Knowledge of the self facing the experience of illness by cancer and palliative care

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. e021211
Author(s):  
Francielly Zilli ◽  
Stefanie Griebeler Oliveira ◽  
Franciele Roberta Cordeiro ◽  
Juliana Graciela Vestena Zillmer
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Recognition ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Experience Of Illness ◽  
Therapeutic Activities ◽  
The Way

Introduction: The illness of an oncological disease provides experiences capable of modifying the body and the subjects' ways of life. Objective: To analyze how the knowledge of the self occurs facing the experience of illness by cancer and palliative care. Methods: This is a qualitative case study research based on post-critical theories, specifically in Foucault Studies. The participants were six patients who were experiencing cancer and palliative care, linked to a home hospitalization service. The data were collected from March to June 2018, based on open interviews, participant observation, and speech instigation through the use of occupational therapist therapeutic activities. The analysis occurred based on problematizations. Results: From the statements, different ways of getting sick were identified, from diagnosis to their approach to death, causing changes in the body, way of living, and in the perception of oneself from a life-threatening disease. Conclusion: Finally, we concluded that different ways of experiencing cancer and palliative care provided different modes of subjectivation. The lack of self-recognition was confronted by bodily changes and consequently by limitations, so the way this experience was lived reflected in the way they thought about the end of life.

scholarly journals Self-perceptions of twice-exceptional students: The influence of labels and educational placement on the self-concept of post-secondary G/LD students

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Lummiss
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Social Identity Theory ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Educational Placement ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Self Perceptions

Research highlights the importance of positive self-concept for children and the influence of self-concept on long-term success (Elbaum, 2002; Fong & Yuen, 2009; Rudasill, Capper, Foust, Callahan, Albaugh, 2009), yet studies have rarely focused on the self-perceptions of self-concept of students identified as gifted and with a learning disability (G/LD). Adopting a qualitative case study approach, this study explored how eight post-secondary G/LD students perceived the development of self-concept over time, and how labelling and educational placement influenced those self-perceptions. Data collection included a demographic questionnaire, a Body Biography, and a semi-structured interview that focused on the Body Biography and participants’ self-perceptions of educational placement, labels, social identity, group membership, and self-concept. Guided by the Marsh/Shavelson model of self-concept (1985) and the Social Identity Theory (1986), findings revealed that participants often perceived the gifted and LD components of the G/LD identification as separate entities; that a gifted in-group membership was more often perceived when discussing individual strengths, while an LD in-group membership was perceived when reflecting upon their weaknesses. The findings from this study support the notion that each G/LD student is unique and that identification methods and placement options continue to be a concern with respect to the development of self-concept for G/LD students.

scholarly journals Lifelogging: Digital technologies of the self as the practices of contemporary biopolitics

Sociologija ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-549
Author(s):  
Dusan Ristic ◽  
Dusan Marinkovic
Keyword(s):  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Theoretical Concept ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Self ◽  
Social Phenomenon ◽  
The West ◽  
Technologies Of The Self ◽  
Power And Resistance ◽  
The Relationship

In the paper we apply a theoretical concept of technologies of the self developed by Michel Foucault to the field of lifelogging practices. Lifelogging is a global social phenomenon, a part of contemporary experience of everyday, especially in the developed societies of the West. Our hypothesis is that, despite different ways of quantifying self, lifelogging practices have some characteristics in common: they all belong to the field of biopolitics. This is demonstrated on the levels of the body, identity and subjectivity, since they are influenced and changed by lifelogging. At the same time, lifelogging practices blur the relationship between coercion and consent, power and resistance. The theoretical framework for addressing lifelogging is the concept of biopolitics, also developed by, since it refers to the mechanisms, techniques and technologies, as well as the forms of rationality that regulate life and its various manifestations. In conclusion, we claim that it is still not possible to explain lifelogging exclusively in the terms of biopower, since it has a potential for the ?counter-conduct? and resistance. This also makes lifelogging practices open for development of new forms of subjectivity.

scholarly journals Emerging Self-Representation Presents a Challenge for Perspective Tracking in Infancy

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuela Yeung ◽  
Dimitrios Askitis ◽  
Velisar Manea ◽  
Victoria Southgate
Keyword(s):  
Pupil Dilation ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Conflict Processing ◽  
Young Infants ◽  
Self Recognition

The capacity to track another’s perspective is present from early in life, with young infants ostensibly able to predict others’ behaviour even when the self and other perspective are at odds. Yet, infants’ abilities are difficult to reconcile with the well-documented challenge that older children face when they need to ignore their own perspective. Here we provide evidence that it is the emergence of self-representation, from around 18 months, that likely creates a perspective conflict between self and other. Using mirror self-recognition as a measure of self-awareness and pupil dilation to index conflict processing, our results show that mirror recognisers perceive greater conflict than non-recognisers when viewing a scenario in which the self and other have divergent perspectives, specifically when the conflict between self and other is salient. These results suggest that infants’ perspective tracking abilities may benefit from an initial absence of self-representation.

Self-awareness and personal adaptive potential in normal and impaired development

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tat'yana Kuz'mina
Keyword(s):  
Mental Retardation ◽  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Quantitative Assessment ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Scientific Activity ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Mild Mental Retardation ◽  
Adaptive Potential

The monograph presents the generalized results of the author's scientific activity related to the diagnosis and phenomenological description of the state of self-consciousness and the Self-concept of persons with developmental disorders, in particular with mild mental retardation. The variants of self-awareness diagnostics and a comprehensive assessment of the personal adaptive potential of subjects of different ages with intellectual disabilities are presented and methodologically justified. The presented methods allow us to form an individual adaptive profile based on a quantitative assessment of qualitative indicators of adaptability/maladaptivity. The content aspects of the formation of the antisocial potential of a person with mild mental retardation, in particular, the problems of suggestibility, indoctrination and the participation of persons with intellectual disabilities in criminal communities, are separately identified. It will be useful for students, postgraduates, researchers and practitioners in the field of pedagogy, psychology, law.

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