Development of the Self Flashcards
what does cognitive neuroscience suggest about body representations?
body representations are multisensory perceptions involving the integration of a range of different sensory inputs.
these are crucial for perceiving the self and the environment
what is touch?
the first, and most bodily sense
when can responses to touch be seen?
before 7w gestation
understanding the development of tactile perception is crucial to understanding the development of the bodily self
how does gallagher (2005) use evidence to suggest there are innate body representations
evidence of phantom limbs in congenital aplasia. however, we should look earlier in development, as this is rare and controversial
meltzoff (1977) and neonatal imitation
infants have ‘active intermodal mapping’
- uses multisensory maps to match tactile facial configurations to their own movement
issues with using neonatal imitation as evidence of innate body representations
replications of neonatal imitation for gestures other than tongue protrusion are not reliable, as even tongue protrusion occurs under a range of circumstances, e.g., arousal.
what does newborns’ ability for hand-mouth coordinaton suggest?
there is an “innate” bodily self, however this does not consider their prenatal environment.
evidence of newborns responding differently to self-touch vs. touch by others at 1m is very weak.
when are somatotopic cortical responses present?
at 30w gestation, but it is unclear whether this adds to understanding of body representations or just somatosensory responses to touch
where is clear evidence that infants have body representations at birth?
young infants are sensitive to multisensory visual-tactile correspondences and audio-tactile colocations by 4m
when does tactile enhancement of visual limb processing develop?
between 4-8m (rigato, 2014)
what did bremner (2008) find about developing body representations?
infants cannot demonstrate the ability to locate touch in external space until 6m.
they continue to develop the ability to localise touch on the body by coordinating eye movements,
and track their limbs across changes in posture by 10m vs 6.5m
what does the rubber hand illusion show?
shows how body representations are fine-tuned during childhood, as children demonstrated a stronger RHI than adults between 4-9y (Botvinick and Cohen, 1998).
why did infants display a stronger RHI than adults?
is because they rely more heavily than adults on the visual sense of the body
when did adults show a greater RHI drift?
during synchronous stroking vs asynchronous stroking
when can early origins of the interpersonal self be seen?
in periodicity in infant-parent protoconversations, and possibly also early imitation.
however, there are doubts whether this reflects self-awareness
what does the mirror rouge test measure?
self-recognition and self-awareness
makes clear there is more to self-awareness than perceiving one’s own body
findings of the mirror rouge test
before18m, they will touch the rouge in the mirror rather than on their face (Amsterdam, 1972).
this supports both constructionist and maturational accounts of the developing self.
what kinds of self-awareness did neisser (1995) find?
- ecological self (innate)
- interpersonal self (innate)
- conceptual self (from 2y)
- temporally extended self (from 4y)
- private self (unclear origin)
ecological self (innate)
individual situated in their environment
interpersonal self (innate)
individual situated in social interaction
conceptual self (from 2y)
awareness of permanent characteristics
temporally extended self (from 4y)
episodic life story
private self (unclear origin)
valuing private conscious experience
what does imitation demonstrate?
the ability for babies to connect with each other via the ‘like-me’ hypothesis, which provides them with access to others’ perspectives on the world.
evidence of imitation
neonatal imitation of facial features (Meltzoff 1977)
alongside rational imitation in 14m infants (Gergely, 2002), which is a pedagogical adaptation implying interpersonal awareness
how can the temporally extended self be measured?
via the sticker test (Povinelli, 1996) as an extension of the mirror test
findings of the sticker test
before 5y, children will only locate the sticker when the video is in real time.
consists of the ability to represent one’s own changing state, emergence of self-awareness and memory
what is metarepresentation a key part of?
of self-awareness, and these abilities are available early in infancy
neural evidence of meta-representation and self-awareness at 18m…
error-related negativity (Goupil, 2016)
and fronto-temporoparietal connectivity in the default mode network (Bulgarelli, 2019), which is associated with success on the mirror rouge test – maturational view
what is self-concept?
the capacity to symbolically represent past attributes, values, feelings, and goals
what is self-esteem?
affective and evaluative appraisal of the self
baumeister and the developmental origins of self-esteem
developmental origins of self-esteem to be attributed to parenting styles
what did milevsky (2007) find about positive self-esteem?
positive self-esteem was associated with authoritative maternal parenting
what does behavioural genetics and other studies indicate about self-esteem?
may be influenced by empathy and prosocial behaviour, particular for female adolescents (Liable, 2004).
believed attachment influences self-esteem via shared genetic factors and non-shared environmental factors
what does social psychology emphasise?
rooted in looking glass self/symbolic interactionism
emphasised the role of the outside social world in forming the self.
what does cognitive and experimental psychology emphasise?
has tended to consider the means by which the internal construction of the self can affect behaviour and perceptions of our social environment
