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I know some pets and animals recognize the other cat or dog in the mirror, but do they ever refer to themselves in their heads as "me"? I've been wondering about this casually, and decided to see what you all thought about it.
I believe the research out there shows they do not have self recognition.
It actually can become quite a complex philosophical question - if animals do not recognise their own likeness, how do we know they have a sense of self?
Author Jeffrey Masson writes about this is one of his books - but which one I can't remember. I'm wanting to say it's in "The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats", but I do stand to be corrected.
I had a cat that would stare at herself in the mirror for hours and hours on end. I don't know if she noticed it was another cat or herself.
However, the cat always thought my web cam was funny. I'd set it up to talk to my friends and leave the screen up. Then she would come in and start being a camera hog just to watch herself. She finally got the idea the web cam was hers. That crazy cat would DEMAND I set it up for her when it wasn't in use.
I don't have any links right now. But I believe that, yes animals do have a certain amount of self-recognition. If they can recognize humans, then why not themselves or each other. Some species have a greater sense of self, like apes and chimpanzees, than do others.
I'll try to find it later, but in one of Dr. Goodall's later books she talks about this in layman's terms.
Some species have a greater sense of self, like apes and chimpanzees, than do others.
I'll try to find it later, but in one of Dr. Goodall's later books she talks about this in layman's terms.
The great apes are a different kettle of fish indeed. The OP referred to cats and dogs - and I believe the consensus is that cats and dogs do not recognise themselves in a mirror. While they might recognise (and indeed some do, but then some do not ) there is, suddenly, another canine or feline in the room, they do not look at the image and comprehend it is merely a reflection.
There's a difference between having "a sense of self" and understanding a reflection as that self. Apes can undoubtedly (dolphins can too I believe) - watch apes manipulate their faces in a mirror so they can see the interior of their mouths, etc. leaves one in no doubt. But cats and dogs cannot.
We had a cat that summed this up wonderfully for he didn't believe there should be another cat in the universe. Catching sight of his reflection, he'd go nuts trying to find the interloper - and it would drive him nuts that the evil creature in the mirror wasn't just in back of the standing floor mirror where he thought it should be.
I know some pets and animals recognize the other cat or dog in the mirror, but do they ever refer to themselves in their heads as "me"? I've been wondering about this casually, and decided to see what you all thought about it.
At first they dont', but they eventually figure it out.
Some people might think they dont' recognize themselves simply because they find themselves boring once they know it's them!
The only animals that can self recognize according to a book I just read with my son on intelligence are 'dolphins, chimps, and orangutans.'
Elephants do as well.
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