Mirror Self-recognition
Some research aims to explore what individuals know about their own minds. One area of much attention has been mirror self-recognition (MSR). In this paradigm, developed by psychologist Gordon Gallup, subjects are surreptitiously marked and then given a mirror. “Passing” the MSR test involves touching the mark more frequently when there is a mirror available than when there is not. Gallop argued that passing MSR entails that the animal has a concept of self (Gallup 1970), though others dispute this claim. While it was once thought to be a rare behavior, limited to some of the great apes, today many species have been studied and at least some positive results have been reported for the following species:
Species | Study |
Chimpanzees | Lin et al. 1992; Swartz & Evans 1991 |
Gorillas | Shumaker & Swartz 2002 |
Orangutans | Swartz et al. 1999 |
Bottlenosed dolphins | Marino et al. 1994; Reiss & Marino 2001 |
Asian elephant | Plotnik et al. 2006 |
Magpies | Prior et al. 2008 |
Rhesus Monkeys | Rajala et al. 2010 |
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