Development of self-recognition in the infant.

Abstract

A hypothesized five-stage developmental sequence of self-recognition behaviors was tested in 48 infants between 6 and 24 months of age, and the self-recognition sequence was compared to the development of object permanence. The predicted self-recognition sequence consisted of five tasks that the infants performed in front of the mirror, with later-developing tasks requiring the coordination of a larger number of behaviors relating to the infant's mirror image than earlier-developing tasks. The development of object permanence was assessed with the Uzgiris-Hunt scale, and the object-permanence items were assigned to stages that structurally paralleled the five stages of self-recognition. The self-recognition tasks formed an almost perfect Guttman scale, with 46 out of 48 infants fitting the predicted developmental sequence precisely. This finding thus resolves most of the disagreements in previous research on the development of self-recognit ion: Previous studies examined different behaviors, which develop at distinct stages in the sequence. Object permanence and self-recognition showed a strong correlation, but there was no consistent relationship between the two skills across age groups.