Self-recognition

An exploration of self-recognition of captive chimpanzees with the use of a mirror and video footage


monitor-study-cindy-first-look-at-monitor-2009-01-29 Can you imagine what it would be like if you had never seen a mirror before? What would it be like to see yourself for the very first time? In some chimpanzee groups, researchers have provided mirrors to the chimpanzees to find out if they have a sense of self.

First reactions are often social in nature (showing aggressive and playful behaviours), but eventually they start to test the relationship between what they are doing and what they are seeing. They might move their hand only to find out that the chimpanzee across from them is doing the exact same thing. These are the first signs where they’re realising that their own movements are what is making the reflection happen. Then they might explore parts of their body that they’ve never seen before, like their mouth and their eyes… these are things they’ve never seen before and the reason they’re able to do this is because they have a sense of self (a valuable tool to have in the world of chimpanzee politics).

Self-recognition is not limited to the use of mirrors. Hirata (2007) used television monitors in addition to mirrors in a self-recognition task. With the chimpanzee participants successfully exhibiting self-exploratory behaviours, when viewing close-up and distant images of themselves on a live video feed, it is suggested that self-recognition is not a function of the test apparatus.

The horizontally flipped image of a video monitor, showing the chimpanzee as others see him/her, rather than the reflection in a mirror, did not reveal any significant differences in chimpanzee reaction. Videos of conspecifics and allospecifics have been used in studies with great apes before (Eddy, et al., 1996; Menzel et al., 1985; Poss & Rochat, 2003; Savage-Rumbaugh, 1984; Shumaker & Swartz, 2004; Westergaard & Hyatt, 1994), but has only recently been used as a tool for the presentation of live self-images to quantitatively examine self-recognition in chimpanzees (Hirata, 2007).

The purpose of the study was to:

  • Provide the chimpanzees with experience with the properties of video
  • Provide additional research involving the relatively new method of using live self-images on a monitor instead of a mirror
  • Add the element of a delayed video feed to the study (unfortunately this group was not interested enough in the activity to warrant the continuation of the study to include a delayed feed)


References:

  • Eddy, T.J., Gallup, G.G., & Povinelli, D.J. (1996). Age differences in the ability of chimpanzees to distinguish mirror-images of self from video images of others. Journal of Comparative Psychology 110(1), p. 38-44.

  • Hirata, S. (2007). A note on the responses of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) to live self-images on television monitors. Behavioural Processes 75, p. 85-90.

  • Menzel, E.W., 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(2), p. 211- 217.

  • Poss, S.R. & Rochat, P. (2003). Referential understanding of videos in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), and children (Homo sapiens). Journal of Comparative Psychology 117(4), p. 420-428.

  • Savage-Rumbaugh, E.S. (1984). Ape Language: From Conditioned Response to Symbol. New York: Columbia University Press.

  • Shumaker, R.W. and Swartz, K.B. (2004). Cognition: Mirror Self-Recognition. In Mark Bekoff ed, Encyclopedia of Animal Behaviour. Westport: Greenwood Press.

  • Westergaard, G.C. and Hyatt, C.W. (1994). The responses of bonobos (Pan paniscus) to their mirror images: Evidence of self-recognition. Human Evolution, 9(4), 273-279.