The human mind and consciousness present many challenges to researchers, and numerous studies allow them to discover different phenomena, especially in the field of self-awareness. The documentary “Human Consciousness” (2014) from BBC provides viewers with an insight into different experiments which scientists conduct to explore the aspects of the functioning of the human mind. The most notable experiment in the documentary was the mirror self-recognition test, and current research shows that it is highly influenced by sociocultural factors.
Despite the fact that the mirror self-recognition test is fairly simple and does not require many resources, it enables researchers to understand the capacity of people to recognize themselves. Essentially, the aim of the mirror self-recognition test is to measure the ability of a child to be aware of themselves. The experiment takes place in accordance with three main stages, which should be strictly followed. The first stage involves letting the child approach a large mirror and spend several minutes looking at their reflection. The next move involves the parent of the child placing a small mark on the child’s cheek close to the mouth where it can be visible. The third stage implies once again placing the child in front of the mirror and allowing them to see the reflection. The child passes the test if they touch the mark, which proves that they are self-aware and can link the image of the mark visible in the reflection to the actual one on their body. The film experiment showed that children start to demonstrate the signs of self-recognition only starting at the age of 18 months.
At the same time, as the current research suggests, sociocultural factors also play a major role in the ability of the child to pass the mirror self-recognition test. The study conducted by Cebioğlu & Broesch (2021) explored the cross-cultural aspect involved in the test. The purpose of the study was to establish whether children who were raised in different social and cultural had different passing rates for the mirror self-recognition test. Additionally, the research aimed at discovering whether confounding factors such as motivation had any effect on the ability of the child to pass the test. Specifically, the researchers recruited 57 infants ranging in their age from 18 to 22 months. The infants belonged to two different sociocultural environments, namely, rural Vanuatu, a small archipelago in the South Pacific, and urban Canada. In order to conduct the experiment, the researchers employed a classic form of the test and placed a mark on the face of each participant and then let them look in the mirror.
The results of the study were significant and clearly demonstrated that social and cultural factors had a considerable role in the ability of children to pass the test. Specifically, the experiment showed that 68% of the children from the Canadian urban environment passed the test. In the case of the Vanuatu children, only a total of 7% of children participating in the experiment passed the test. Essentially, the results enabled the researchers to understand that the sociocultural environment was predictive of the child’s capacity to demonstrate self-awareness. Moreover, the research also discovered that factors such as the motivation of children to show the mark did not affect the experiment. In other words, self-development was the only factor that affected the ability of the child to pass the test successfully.
The mirror self-recognition test demonstrated in the “Human Consciousness” documentary enables researchers to gain insight into human self-awareness. Experiments demonstrate that children younger than 18 months old tend to fail to pass the test. At the same time, the results of the research conducted by Cebioğlu & Broesch indicate that sociocultural factors also have great significance when analyzing children’s ability to recognize themselves.