Self-Awareness and the Mirror Test

What is self-awareness?

Self-awareness is the ability to recognize our personality, our strengths and weaknesses, and our likes and dislikes. Developing self-awareness can help us to recognize when we are stressed or under pressure. It's a prerequisite for effective communication and important for developing empathy for others.

However, a simpler definition would be that self-awareness is one's ability to reconcile him or herself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals; self-awareness is the capacity for introspection.

How can one's self-awareness be tested and who is self-aware?

To measure and test self-awareness, we have a test called the mirror test. This test was developed by Gordon Gallup Jr. in 1970, partly based on observations made by Charles Darwin. While visiting a zoo, Darwin held a mirror to an orangutan and recorded the animal's reactions to its reflection, which included making a series of facial expressions. Darwin, however, did not resolutely conclude that the orangutan is self-aware. He thought the animal may just be making expressions at what it perceived to be another animal, or possibly been playing a game with a new toy.
What is the mirror test?

The mirror test is a test to determine whether an animal can recognize its own reflection in an mirror as an image of itself.

Gallup accomplished a way to determine whether an animal can recognize its own reflection or not by surreptitiously marking the animal with two odorless dye spots. The test spot is on a part of the animal that is visible in front of a mirror and the other control spot is in an accessible but hidden part of the animal's body. Scientists then observe whether the animal reacts in a manner consistent with being aware that the test dye is located on its own body while ignoring the control dye not visible in front of the mirror. The animals who pass the mirror test as being self-aware will exhibit behavior including turning and adjusting its body in order to get a better view of the marking in the mirror, or poking at the marking on its own body with a limb while observing it from the mirror.

So who is self-aware?

Are humans self-aware? Yes. However, young children and people who have been blind from birth but have their sight restored, initially react as if their reflection in the mirror was another person and not their own reflection. Children tend to fail the mirror test until they are about 18 months old. Psychoanalysts call the first 18 months "mirror stage".

Which animals have passed the mirror test?

All great apes: bonobos, chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas. Bottlenose dolphins, orcas, elephants and European magpies.

First Kill - A Documentary About the Psychology of War

First Kill is a Dutch documentary film made in 2001. It's about the psychology of war. It tries to show the emotional effects of war on soldiers.

The documentary film is composed of in-depth interviews with several Vietnam veterans. These interviews provide insight into the feelings evoked by violence. Feelings like fear, hate, seduction and pleasure.

It also features an interview with Michael Herr, a former war correspondent who wrote Dispatches - one of the most popular and vaunted books about the experiences of the combat soldier in the Vietnam War. Michael Herr is also known as the scenario writer of Full Metal Jaceket.

If you are interested in watching this movie then you can do it for fee on YouTube.


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Great and Free Online Psychology Tests

Want to find out more about yourself? Good. I have put together a list of great online psychology tests that you can take for free.

1. The Stroop Test - A fun cognitive test that uses colored words to measure how quick is your reaction time.

2. BBC's Pressure Test - Can you compete under pressure? Get your under pressure performance analysed by Michael Johnson. Also, by taking this test you can help to investigate the psychology of pressure.

3. Are You a Perfectionist? - Another good test from BBC that is designed to measure how much of a perfectionist you are.

4. Jung Typology Test - This test is designed to reveal your personality type using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Although, I must say here that some researchers have interpreted the reliability of the MBTI test as being low.

5. Depression Screening Test - Now a more serious one. This is a test to check whether you show signs of clinical depression or not. I hope you don't.

6. Irritating Sounds - This test can only be described as extremely irritating. You'll hear sounds of snoring, crying babies and nails on the chalkboard. Take the test if you wanna find out which one of these unbearable sounds aggrivates you the most.

7. Personal Biases - Are you prejudiced against other people? This test will give you the answer.

8. Internet Addiction Test - Are you, your close friend or family member addicted to the Internet? Take this test to find out.

9. Alcoholism Test - Do you have a drinking problem? Take this test to determine whether or not you are an alcoholic.

10. Eating Attitudes Test - An in-depth quiz for helping to determine whether you have symptoms commonly associated with eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia.

11. Emotional Intelligence Test - Your EQ (emotional intelligence) is just as important as your IQ. Take this EQ test to measure your ability to identify, assess and control your emotions.

12. Personality Type Test - A simple test to know your personality type.



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