Numerous developmental studies have found Western children show signs of self-concept from 18 to 24 months of age which is significantly earlier than children from non-Western cultures (Broesch, Callaghan, Henrich, Murphy & Rochat, 2011). The most common method used to asses a child’s recognition of self-concept, the objectified and identified sense of the embodied self, is the mirror self-recognition (MSR) test. The basis of the MSR test is surreptitiously marking a subject’s forehead then allowing them to view themselves in a mirror. If the child directly interacts with the marking, they pass the test, as opposed to not reacting or interacting with the mark by touching the mirror. This self-oriented behaviour suggests that the child comprehends that the embodied self is the referent of the reflection in the mirror.
Another noticeable difference between cultures is that non-Western children exhibit much higher behavioural inhibition than Western children (Chen et al.,1998). Behavioural inhibited children often display high anxiety and are likely to refuse to engage in play behaviour with unfamiliar peers and adults. This cultural inhibition could also play a significant role in a child’s ability to pass the MSR test.
By looking at the relation between self-recognition to personal pronoun use and pretend play, Lewis & Ramsay’s (2004) study was able to provide a positive correlation between the two to capture the developmental trajectory of mirror self-recognition. This study involved the use of the MSR test, a personal pronoun questionnaire and pretend play assessment on a child at 15, 18, 21, and 24 months of age. The independent variable of the study was the age of the participant and as this was a longitudinal study each participant was assessed at each age bracket. The dependant variable was the subsequent result on the MSR test and personal pronoun questionnaire, as well as, their level of pretend play. The study found that self-recognition was related to personal pronoun use and pretend play as children showing self-recognition used more personal pronouns and showed more pretend play than children not show showing self-recognition. The study also found that as age increased all of the assessed areas also increased.
Broesch et al.’s (2011) study focused on determining whether development delay is caused by cultural variations or if such differences exist throughout development. Unlike Lewis & Ramsay, the study involved the use of the MSR test on both Western (i.e. USA and Canada) and non-Western (i.e. Kenya) children. The independent variable of the study was the culture of the child and the dependant variable was their subsequent results on the MSR test. The findings of the study were consistent with previous studies; the majority of Western children pass the MSR test at 24-months-old. Additionally, the study found the majority non-Western children did not pass the MSR test, even at ages older than 24-months-old. Broesch et al. speculated that these results were not evidence for a lack of self-recognition or self-concept but rather occurred due to Kenyan children’s overwhelming inhibition.
These studies clearly show children from Western cultures are less behaviourally inhibited than their non-Western counterparts and that Western children are able to pass the MSR test much earlier than non-Western children. However, the direct link between behavioural inhibition and the ability to pass the traditional test for self-concept, the MSR test, has yet to be fully investigated. This means an alternate explanation for the results is that non-western children are not developmentally incapable because they fail to display self-oriented behaviour but rather because they are unsure if it is socially acceptable to do so without an adult’s permission.
Consequently, the aim of the study was to investigate if non-Western children will pass the mirror self-recognition test at a similar age to Western children if given permission [to touch the sticker] by an adult. The study was be longitudinal, we tested Western (American) and non-Western (Kenyan) infants at 15, 18, 21, and 24 months of age. The group performed a standard MSR test, however the child was encouraged with verbal prompting to “get it” when placed in front of mirror. The independent variable in this study was the culture of the child and the dependant variable was the results on the MSR test.
We predicted that Children from Kenya would pass the MSR test at a similar age to American children with the verbally altered test. We predicted that removing behavioural inhibition by adding verbal promotes would show that non-Western children develop self-recognition at the same time as Western children.
References:
Broesch, T., Callaghan, T., Henrich, J., Murphy, C., & Rochat, P. (2011). Cultural variations in children’s mirror self-recognition. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 42(6),1019-1029. DOI: 10.1177/0022022110381114
Chen, X., Hastings, P.D., Rubin, K.H., Chen, H., Cen, G., & Stewart, S.L. (1998). Child rearing attitudes and behavioral inhibition in Chinese & Canadian toddlers: A cross-cultural study. Developmental Psychology, 34(4), 677-686.
Lewis, M., & Ramsay, D. (2004). Development of self-recognition, personal pronoun use, and pretend play during the 2nd year. Child Development, 75, 1821-1831. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00819.x