Lecture 6 - The Self

self identity

• personality, what makes you you, what makes you different from somebody else, who am i?

inner life

• comes before self identity, you are the kind of thing that has a self, idea of having an inner life, something that is true of all people not just you, what makes you different from an object, common to other agents like animals or AI, what am i?

what is the dualist worldview on the self?

• Very young babies see the world as containing two different types of things, objects and agents as well as expectations respective to each of them

what is dualism in humans?

we have aspects of both objects and agents, we bring together the mind and body into one

physical body

when you say the word me or I you are most likely referring to your inner body

commonsense dualism (descartes)

the idea that the body is separate from the mind/soul, the real essence of being you is the inner self

• “Reflects on what it is to be me, the soul by which i am what i am is entirely distinct from the body”

materialism

Tells us that the mind is just a physical product of the brain

cultural religious intervention

the idea that dualism is learned through culture, religion and education, we are taught that this is the way to think about bodies and soul

where do the ideas of materialism and dualism come from?

cultural intervention, universal experiences or we are hard wired to think this way

universal experiences

the idea that we create ideas of dualism and materialism due to certain universal experiences that we all face like death and dreams

hard wired in us

these ideas are present from that either as an adaptation or an accident

what evidence do we have showing that dualism is hard wired in us?

children were shown a puppet show done with a mouse and an alligator and were told the mouse got eaten by the alligator then asked questions regarding if the mouse’s physical state and psychological state would be maintained

what were the results of the puppet study? (ideas of death in children)

both kids and adults were more likely to say that the psychological things would persist like the mouse will miss his mom and wanna go home after being eaten by the alligator but that physical things wouldn’t and even more sure of this compared to adults showing that they have a natural intuition of dualism

chris’ freaky friday study (children’s beliefs about the brain)

Chris ran into a wizard and it said that there would be a spell that turns his mind into the brain of the horse then asked questions about what would happen after the transformation

what were the results of the chris transformation study?

adults gave the correct answers 100% of the time (that thought questions would be what the horse thinks and physical things would be about chris), 7 yr olds showed similar performance to adults but 5 yr olds responded at random

what do the results of the chris transformation study show?

that 5yr olds are not too sure how the brain and mind connect to questions of desire, identity preference, and memory and when thinking about the mind the idea of inner essence comes more naturally to them, the idea that the mind and the self is physical is harder to learn (easy for them to get dualism but hard for them to understand materialism)

where is the self? (Starmans + Bloom experiment)

• told kids and adults that there is mary and a fly is buzzing around her and they have to say when the fly is closest to mary (places: eyes, mouth. Chest, stomach, feet)

• idea is that if they think of mary as a whole eyes and feet locations will be equally mentioned as the closest place but if they are dualists there will be a difference between the two locations

where is the self? (Starmans + Bloom experiment) results

both adults and kids said eye location was when the fly was closest

what is the issue with the first trial of the starmans + bloom where is the self experiment?

Adults might just be thinking of the self as closest to they eye location cause that is where the brain is but kids don’t have a good notion of this

where is the self? (starmans + bloom) experiment phase 2

• moved face, eyes, nose and mouth to the stomach of this alien character

where is the self? (starmans + bloom) experiment phase 2 results

found that adults and kids chose the eyes suggesting that the self is rooted in the eyes (shows that the physical location of the self is in the eyes, maybe because our sense of self seems to be located in the eyes because that is where we view the world)

what were the results of the where is the self experiment in blind people?

they said its located in the ears because that’s how they are able to view the world

what are children’s beliefs about the self?

they might have a dualist world view, they see the brain as a tool used by the self rather than equal to the self and both children and adults have an intuitive sense that the self is located in the head near the eyes

self awareness

Ability to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals, being able to reflect on consciousness

consciousness

being aware of the environment, including one’s own body

self awareness in 2- 4 months

 sense of ability to control objects (if you can think that I can make X happen then you are having to think about yourself, tenuous connection of thinking of yourself as an agent in the world))

self awareness in 1 year olds

they have joint attention

self awareness in 18-20 month olds

they can pass the mirror self recognition task

self awareness in 25 to 30 month olds

they can recognize a photo of themselves (requires understanding that i think of myself as an agent in the world)

self awareness in 2 to 3 year olds

they can assert their own opinions and goals

self awareness in 3 yr olds and up

they have self conscious emotions like  shame, pride, embarrassment (seem to require some concept of the self as an agent in the world, “I did well”)

mirror self recognition task

an experimenter puts blush of a mirror and makes the child look in the mirror and see if they look concerned that it appears as though they have a red spot of their face (do they touch their own face or do they try to look around the mirror thinking they are seeing another child)

mirror recognition task (7 - 12 months)

 focused on person in the mirror rather than back towards themselves

mirror recognition task (18 months)

she goes back and touches her own nose, determines that the child passed the test (they can pass the test at 18 to 20 months)

mirror recognition task in great apes

they act the same as the 7-12 month olds reacting to the mirror as if its another animal, first try to figure out how mirror works then when they realize it reflects their own actions and recognize they are looking at themselves and start exploring different parts of themselves

mirror recognition task in monkeys

never figure out that its them in the mirror/dont pass the task

mirror recognition task in elephants

a white mark was placed on them then they stood in front of a mirror and start to explore their faces in the mirror like the great apes did, looking at their tusks, starts poking at the mark on their face rather than in the mirror like the 18 month olds did with the rouge mark 

who can pass the mirror recognition test?

• 18 months and up in humans, great apes, elephants, dolphins, magpies

who cant pass the mirror recognition task?

•  humans less than 18 months or that have schizophrenia, autism, right hemisphere brain damage and mental disabilities, dogs, cats. Small apes, monkeys

what might make someone not be able to pass mirror self recognition task but still be self-aware?

• Possibility that you can be totally self aware but just not understand how a mirror works

• Also have to notice the mark, some species aren’t very visual so might not notice the mark so they have to be interested or dismayed by the fact that the mark is there

• Depends on typical human response so might not be applicable to all other animals

• Must attempt to remove the mark

what are indicators that they pass the mirror self recognition task but are not self aware?

• thinking of the animal in the mirror as another but being interested in their features, mouth, eyes, etc 

• Simple feedback

• General capacity for modelling

self regulation

Ability to monitor and control our own behavior, emotions or thoughts, altering them in accordance with demands of the situation, delaying gratification in favor of long term gains

marshmallow task

• either kid can wait and if he does he gets another one or eats it and he doesn’t get another one

• they are left in the room with the marshmallow then experimenter will come back and see if they ate it or no

what strategies did the kids do in the marshmallow task to avoid eating the marshmallow?

bouncing around in the chair, distracting themselves, licking it and pretending to eat it, motivating themselves by sense that the reward is really good, kids tried to turn away to not look at it

why were the kids strategies in the marshmallow task helpful for them?

better in the task when they think about distracting thoughts instead of thinking about the reward, thinking about abstract features rather than exciting ones

what is high performance in the marshmallow task indicative of in adulthood?

getting higher SAT scores, better coping with stress, less drug use, higher education levels, lower BMI, better close relationships 

what factors influence self regulation?

• environmental reliability

• self consciousness

• cultural practices/teaching expectations

self consciousness

having the kids do the marshmallow task with a mirror in front of them caused them to be more likely to wait for the second marshmallow

culture practices/teaching expectations

Asian children did better in self regulation task because they are more explicitly taught in these school settings compared to western educational systems

grit

Ability to persist and persevere in the search of long term goals, idea that if you work hard enough you’ll achieve your goal, associated with the growth mindset

marshmallow task testing self regulation for others

the standard task was compared to what a child would suggest someone else do given the same situation

marshmallow task testing self regulation for others results (3yr olds)

were better at telling the experimenter that they should wait for the 4 marshmallows once the experimenter comes back but they are not able to do that for themselves

marshmallow task testing self regulation for others results (4yr olds)

less likely to tell experimenter to wait, similar to what they think about for themselves

what might be the reasoning behind the marshmallow task testing self regulation for others results

maybe 4 yr olds are better at theory of mind and being able to think about what others want taking into account their thoughts and desires

mindset

Our beliefs about learning and intelligence and our own minds can have a huge impact on how we learn and what we achieve, investigates how children think about these issues, and what impact this has on their achievement 

fixed mindset

you’ve got a certain amount of intelligence and that’s that’s associated with less effort and likely want to quit after setbacks

growth mindset

 intelligence can be improved and realized through learning

effects of mindset study

first children are asked to solve an easy set of problems and they either get praised for ability, effort or no praise and just told they did well and got a high score. then experimenters measured the type of problems they wanted to solve next

performance goal (effects of mindset study)

problems they are pretty good at so they can show they are good at something

learning goal (effects of mindset study)

chose problems they’ll learn a lot from even if they dont look smart

effects of mindset study results

½ of the children in the no praise/control condition chose the performance goal, in the praise for effort condition kids chose the intelligence goal and in the praise for ability condition they chose the performance goal

effects of mindset study (task 2)

children are given hard problem sets and they get negative feedback then they go back to easy problems and researchers want to know how many they solved

effects of mindset study task 2 results

effort praise: increased in performance when going back to the easier task after the setback (growth mindset)

ability praise: decrease in performance when going back to the easier task after the setback (fixed mindset)

what did the old study of how children reason about identity over time show?

suggests that 6 yr olds are very superficial, lots of importance on name and outward appearance in self identity over time (someone wont be the same if name is different, or if they were a baby vs an adult)

new study (identity over time)

told kids that there is a dog named fender and he likes to take baths which is unique to him and either fender’s owner changed name to gibson so now his name is gibson (name change condition) or owner didnt like the way he looked so owner trimmed his fur and dyed his hair brown (appearance change condition)

new study (identity over time) results

Found that kids could do identity persistence through the name change but not through the appearance change

can children use spatiotemporal history to track individual identity (study 2 identity over time)

done in 4 yr olds, experimenter drew a picture and showed it to this doll name pooh then hid the picture and a new experimenter enters the room and brings a new pooh (appears the same and same name as the old one) and they ask the child if the new one knows what the 1st experimenter drew?

can children use spatiotemporal history to track individual identity (study 2 identity over time) results

• 80% of the 4 yr olds correctly said that the new pooh did not know what was on the picture

• shows they use spatiotemporal history to track individuals and know that identical individuals don’t share the same knowledge

do kids expect people to change over time? previous study results

• 6 to 7 yr olds think they will change physically but not psychologically 

• Other studies suggest that children think a lot of change is possible but only positive change 

do kids expect people to change over time? (experiment procedure)

• imagine someone who has negative traits like poor eyesight, clumsy,etc at age 5 and 10 yr olds, what will they be like at age 21?

what did adults expect would happen/changes overtime?

• thought that people will end up in the average container but a few things that would persist

what did 7 to 9 yr olds expect would happen/changes overtime?

majority thought they would end up average

what did 5 to 6 yr olds expect would happen/changes overtime?

really fixated to things getting insanely better, very optimistic about what changes would happen to people between 10 and 21,

environmental reliability

they are more likely to self regulate and wait to get the second marshmallow because of a previous experience where experimenter came back with the better crayon and kids who didn’t have that experience were more likely to fail the marshmallow task