09 Feb 2019

Mirror Test, Animals And Measurement Of Self-Awareness

Posted in Think, Act And Win By attemptnwin On February 9, 2019

Mirror test is an assessment designed to measure self-awareness in animals. The test was designed by Gordon Gallup Jr in 1970. The mirror test measures self-awareness by observing the ability of an animal to identify its own image in a mirror as a reflection of itself.

How is a mirror test carried out among animals?

The mirror test is carried out by exposing animals to a mirror and observing their reactions to the reflection to assess whether the responses are in a consistent manner. Responses of animals like fear or curiosity, adjusting their body to have a better view, poking a spot on its own body with a finger, using the image to explore the body, attempts to destroy the image, unusual behaviors etc are assessed to understand the self-awareness of the animal. Sometimes, a mark is created on the body of the animal and their reactions when the mark is seen in reflection image also assessed.

Which are the animals that have passed mirror test?

Chimpanzees, orangutans, bonobos, Asian elephants, bottlenose dolphins, pigeons and of course humans are the animals that have passed the mirror test. Kids between the age of 18 and 24 months normally pass the test. Till that time, kids normally fail the test. Passing the mirror test indicates that an animal can be an object of its own attention. Such animals are capable of interpreting own experiences to assess what others know, want and intend to do.

Whether gorillas pass mirror test?

A surprising exception in the winners list is gorillas. Among them only one specific gorilla, koko , only has passed the test. Eye contact is considered as an aggressive gesture by gorillas. They normally avoid looking other gorillas in their eyes to avoid confrontation. Scientists believe that special trait is making gorillas fail in the mirror test. Birds often attack their own images.

Do fish pass mirror test?

Scientists have now identified that fish too pass a standard mirror test. This is revealed by a group scientists through their paper published in 'PLOS Biology'. During the experiments, scientists subjected ten types of fish to various segments of the test. Gordon Gallup Jr who is still active in the experiments was not part of this study. During the experiments, the researchers observed that a reef-dwelling species called the cleaner wrasses expressing odd behaviors. They started swimming upside down by the mirror. Four fish were injected with a tag to create a visible brown mark under their throats. On seeing the mark on the mirror, three fish tried to remove the mark by scraping part of their bodies against rocks or the sandy bottom of the tank. This clearly established that fish have self-awareness making scientists conclude that the fish are capable of passing mirror test.