Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Toward a Comparative Psychology of Self-Awareness: Species Limitations and Cognitive Consequences

  • Chapter
The Self: Interdisciplinary Approaches

Abstract

The first published report of mirror self-recognition in a nonhuman appeared in the literature several decades ago (Gallup, 1970). Subsequent to the original demonstration in chimpanzees, a large number of different species have been tested for their ability to correctly decipher mirrored information about themselves, but to date, positive results have only been obtained with humans, chimpanzees, and orangutans. Recent reviews of this literature can be found in Anderson (1984), Gallup (1987), and Povinelli (1987).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Anderson, J. R. (1984). Monkeys with mirrors: Some questions for primate psychology. International Journal of Primatology, 5, 81–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J. R. (1986). Mirror-mediated finding of hidden food by monkeys (Macaca tonkeana and Macaca fascicularis). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 100, 237–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J. R., & Bayart, F. (1985). Les effects du miroir sur le comportement de macaques: Habituation, evitement et facilitation sociale. Biology of Behaviour, 10, 159–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J. R., & Chamove, A. S. (1986). Infant stumptailed macaques reared with mirrors or peers: Social responsiveness, attachment, and adjustment. Primates, 27, 63–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J. R., & Roeder, J. (1989). Responses of capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) to different conditions of mirror-image stimulation. Primates, 30, 581–587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayart, F., & Anderson, J. R. (1985). Mirror-image reactions in a tool-using, adult male Macaca tonkeana. Behavioural Processes, 10, 219–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biringer, R., Anderson, J. R., & Strubel, D. (1988). Self-recognition in senile dementia. Experimental Aging Research, 14, 177–180.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Calhoun, S., & Thompson, R. L. (1988). Long-term retention of self-recognition by chimpanzees. American Journal of Primatology, 15, 361–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collinge, N. E. (1989). Mirror reactions in a zoo colony of Cebus monkeys. Zoo Biology, 8, 89–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eglash, A. R., & Snowdon, C. T. (1983). Mirror-image responses in pygmy marmosets (Cebuella pygmaea). American Journal of Primatology, 5, 211–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, M. W. (1982). Are most animals “mindless automatons”?: A reply to Gordon G. Gallup, Jr. American Journal of Primatology, 3, 341–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallup, G. G., Jr. (1968). Mirror-image stimulation. Psychological Bulletin, 70, 782–793.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gallup, G. G., Jr. (1970). Chimpanzees: Self-recognition. Science, 167, 86–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallup, G. G., Jr. (1975). Toward an operational definition of self-awareness. In R. H. Tuttle (Ed.), Socioecology and psychology of primates (pp. 365–397 ). The Hague, Netherlands, Mouton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallup, G. G., Jr. (1977). Absence of self-recognition in a monkey (Macaca fasicularis) following prolonged exposure to a mirror. Developmental Psychobiology, 10, 281–284.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gallup, G. G., Jr. (1982). Self-awareness and the emergence of mind in primates. American Journal of Primatology, 2, 237–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallup, G. G., Jr. (1983). Toward a comparative psychology of mind. In R. L. Mellgren (Ed.), Animal cognition and behavior (pp. 473–510 ). New York: North Holland.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gallup, G. G., Jr. (1985). Do minds exist in species other than our own? Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 9, 631–641.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gallup, G. G., Jr. (1987). Self-awareness. In G. Mitchell (Ed.), Comparative primate biology, Vol. 2. Part B: Behavior, cognition, and motivation (pp. 3–16 ). New York: Alan R. Liss.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallup, G. G., Jr. (1988). Toward a taxonomy of mind in primates. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 11, 255–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallup, G. G., Jr., McClure, M. K., Hill, S. D., & Bundy, R. A. (1971). Capacity for self-recognition in differentially reared chimpanzees. The Psychological Record, 21, 69–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallup, G. G., Jr., Wallnau, L. B., & Suarez, S. D. (1980). Failure to find self-recognition in mother-infant and infant-infant rhesus monkey pairs. Folia Primatologica, 33, 210–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffin, D. R. (1981). The question of animal awareness. Los Altos, CA: William Kaufman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Itakura, S. (1987). Mirror guided behavior in Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata fuscata). Primates, 28, 149–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ledbetter, D. H., & Basen, J. A. (1982). Failure to demonstrate self-recognition in gorillas. American Journal of Primatology, 2, 307–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lethmate, J., & Dücker, G. (1973). Untersuchungen zum Selbsterkennen im Spiegel bei Orang-utans and einigen anderen Affenarten. Zeitschrift fur Tierpsychologie, 33, 248–269.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self and society from the standpoint of a social behaviorist. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menzel, E. W., Jr., Savage-Rumbaugh, E. S., & Lawson, J. (1985). Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) spatial problem solving with the use of mirrors and televised equivalents of mirrors. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 99, 211–217.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morin, A., & DeBlois, S. (1989). Gallup’s mirrors: More than an operationalization of self-awareness in primates? Psychological Reports, 65, 287–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, S. T., & Gibson, K. R. (1976). Object manipulation, tool use and sensorimotor intelligence as feeding adaptations in cebus monkeys and great apes. Journal of Human Evolution, 6, 623–641.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, F. (1984). Self-recognition by Gorilla gorilla gorilla. Gorilla, 7, 2–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Platt, M. M., & Thompson, R. L. (1985). Mirror responses in a Japanese macaque troop (Arashiyama West). Primates, 26, 300–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Povinelli, D. J. (1987). Monkeys, apes, mirrors and minds: The evolution of self-awareness in primates. Human Evolution, 2, 493–509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Povinelli, D. J. (1989). Failure to find self-recognition in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in contrast to their use of mirror cues to discover hidden food. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 103, 122–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Povinelli, D. J., Nelson, K. E., & Boysen, S. T. (1990). Inferences about guessing and knowing by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 104, 203–210.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ristau, C. A. (1983). Symbols and indication in apes and other species? Comment on Savage-Rumbaugh et al. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 112, 498–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rollin, B. E. (1989). The unheeded cry. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suarez, S. D., & Gallup, G. G., Jr. (1981). Self-recognition in chimpanzees and orangutans, but not gorillas. Journal of Human Evolution, 10, 175–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suarez, S. D., & Gallup, G. G., Jr. (1986) Social responding to mirrors in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta): Effects of changing mirror location. American Journal of Primatology, 11, 239–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yunis, J. J., & Prakash, O. (1982). The origin of man: A chromosomal pictorial legacy. Science, 215, 1525–1530.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Visalberghi, E. (1988). Responsiveness to objects in two social groups of tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). American Journal of Primatology, 15, 349–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, C. G., & Fragaszy, D. M. (1985). Effects of manipulatable objects on the activity of captive capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Zoo Biology, 4, 317–327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, C. G., & Fragaszy, D. M. (1987). The manufacture and use of tools by capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 101, 159–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Gordon G. Gallup Jr.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Bronfman Science Center, Williams College, Williamstown, MA, 01267, USA

    Jaine Strauss  & George R. Goethals  & 

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1991 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Gallup, G.G. (1991). Toward a Comparative Psychology of Self-Awareness: Species Limitations and Cognitive Consequences. In: Strauss, J., Goethals, G.R. (eds) The Self: Interdisciplinary Approaches. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8264-5_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8264-5_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-8266-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-8264-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation