Metacognition and Consciousness Flashcards
Who was the first to study mirror self recognition and what species was this in?
Gallup (1970) was the first to document chimpanzees’ responses towards their reflection in a mirror
Describe the findings of Gallup (1970)
- At first: they showed social responses, as if towards conspecifics (e.g. threat, greeting)
- Later: they showed self-directed responses (e.g. grooming visually inaccessible parts of body; picking bits of food from teeth)
What is used to test mirror self-recognition
The mark dest
Describe the mark test
Anaesthetize or distract animal, apply small spot of odorless dye to eyebrow/ear/etc
Compare animal’s likelihood of touching the mark when mirror is present vs when mirror is absent
What was found in the mark test
Chimpanzees made more markdirected responses with mirrors than without mirrors
Subjects without prior experience with mirrors made no mark-directed responses
What happened when Gallup tested various species of macaque with the mark test
Did not pass the test
Which 7 species have seemed to pass the mark test
Chimps
bonobos
ourangutans
gorillas
dolphins
elephants
magpies
What can the distribution of mirror self recognition suggest
Cases of convergent evolution
Describe how the distribution of mirror self recognition can suggest convergent evolution
- great apes and dolphins last shared a common ancestor 65-70 million years ago –if MSR was present in this common ancestor then all/most of its descendants should possess the trait (i.e. many more mammals than we have evidence for)
- Likely emerged several times independently in species with advanced social cognitive skills, but possibly through different neural pathways
What are two complications of the mark test
Does mirror self-recognition imply self-awareness? Not everyone agrees…
some failures are not total failures…
Give an example of how people dont agree on mirror self-recognition implying self awareness
These behaviors are best described as mirrorguided body inspection (a kind of visual-kinesthetic matching): Animals learn to associate their own movements with what they see in the mirror
Indicative of self-perceptionbut not necessarily self-conception
Give an example of how some failures are not total failures
Capuchin monkeys react differently to mirror image than to an actual stranger -> maintain eye contact rather than look away
What is metacognition
- Monitoring one’s own cognitive states
- Knowing what you know; knowing when you’re uncertain
How can we study metacognition in non-human animals?
- Cannot be studied through verbal self-reporting, as in humans
- Needs special experimental paradigms that allow animals to report their own perceived mental states (e.g. uncertainty)
What is the function of metacognition?
Supports information-seeking behaviors: animals should adaptively seek information about the environment when they do not have it
