What is the psychological importance of the "mirror test" to see if animals recognize "myself in the mirror"?

Although humans use mirrors to prepare grooming everyday, many animals can not recognize themselves as "myself" even if they look at the figure reflected in the mirror. Such a mirror test to examine "the ability to recognize the image reflected in the mirror" as it is done from long ago, investigating this capability is to investigate this capability, in the field of psychology, "heart" It is regarded as an important research to understand whether or not it exists.

What Do Animals See in a Mirror? - Issue 47: Consciousness - Nautilus
http://nautil.us/issue/47/consciousness/what-do-animals-see-in-a-mirror-rp

Professor Gordon G. Gallup conducted a mirror test using chimpanzees at the University of Tulane in 1969. The research used for the young African young chimpanzee, putting two chimpanzees in a cage with a mirror installed and observing the reaction for 8 hours every day for 10 days. Initially the chimpanzee took a social, sexual and aggressive gesture like other chimpanzees against her figure reflected in the mirror. However, with the passage of time chimpanzees understand that "it is myself reflected in the mirror", seeing in their mouths, closely investigating genitalia, removing mucus accumulated in eyes We took actions such as.

Professor Gallup was convinced in the mirror test that "Chimpanzees recognize the image reflected in the mirror themselves." Meanwhile, Professor Gallup decided "to convince other researchers" and decided to move the mirror test to Phase 2. In Phase 2 we chimpanzees were sleeping with anesthesia, painted a red paint on the eyebrows and the opposite earlobe as a place that we could not see with our eyes and not smell. When seeing the mirror in this state, it is expected that human beings will take the action of "recognizing an abnormality in their face and touching the place". And since chimpanzee took similar actions, we succeeded in scientifically proveing ​​that there is a "self concept" in non-human animals.

You can see from the following movie that you are actually performing a mirror test on cats, dogs, monkeys, dolphins and dolphins.

Are animals self aware? On Vimeo


Professor Gallup continued his research on mirror tests using other animals, but monkey said he did not take the same action as chimpanzee. From the results of monkeys with high learning ability as well as chimpanzees, it was found that the high level of learning ability is not related to self-recognition ability, but the high level of intellectual ability is the key. Miller tests became the first evidence to show that chimpanzees, which are kindly close to humans, have self-perception ability and consciousness (mind).


However, even before Professor Gallup,Charles DarwinIt is known that attention was paid to similar problems. In the mirror test Darwin went to orangutan, it was said that orangutan could not make the understanding of the mirror concept. In addition, Darwin also touches that he could not understand the mirror for several years after his children were born.

In 1889, a German researcher, Wilhelm Player, established the relationship between mirror self recognition and consciousness (mind) for the first time. In the study of the 1960s, Jack Rakan, a psychoanalyst of France, invented the concept of "mirror stage" that mirrors contribute to the formation of self in childhood. Developmental psychologists in 1972 proved to be a method similar to Professor Gallup's mirror test, that humans recognize themselves in the mirror 18 to 24 months after birth.

Meanwhile, Professor Gallup moved to another university and was interested in a mirror test on animals other than primates. In the 1990's Professor Gallup helped the experiment of Bottlenose dolphins carried out by the student student Lori Marino at the time Ph.D. Bottlenose dolphins were able to recognize themselves in the mirror as well as chimpanzees, and the band dolphins remembered how to enjoy sex with "mirroring themselves in the mirror". Marino called this "dolphin porn video."


Later, we found that elephants and whales also recognize themselves in the mirror, but Professor Gallup suggests that the high level of self-awareness has a high level of consciousness (mind), human beings Some animals have concluded that they have the ability to imagine thoughts and experiences of others considering their own thoughts and experiences. This ability is "Theory of mindIt is called.

It is understood that children develop the theory of the mind at almost the same time and recognize themselves in the mirror at the same time. Professor Gallup says, "To imagine others' thinking, you first need to recognize yourself, patients with schizophrenia may not be able to recognize themselves in the mirror, but at the same time they A problem arises. " In the next step, Professor Gallup tries to tackle the theoretical proof of "the possibility of high self-perception ability accompanying consciousness of death".