Playing with a Purpose

Most babies are constantly wiggling around, pulling on their toes or tapping their fingers. But these playful movements serve a purpose, allowing them to develop self-recognition.

For a long time, scientists believed recognizing oneself in the mirror in early childhood was a built-in function of human brains that doesn’t rely on sensory or motor experience. However, a team of researchers, including Jeffrey Lockman, a professor of human development and family sciences at The University of Texas at Austin, discovered that this kind of self-awareness is developed through experiences of touch.

Researchers placed small vibrating discs on the foreheads and cheeks of some of the toddlers around 14 months old, prompting them to touch the disc. Next, they turned the children to face a mirror and watched as they reached up to touch the discs.

Children who touched their face more recognized themselves in the mirror around two months earlier.

Then, to test for self-recognition, the children performed the “mirror-mark test,” in which a small mark of paint or makeup was placed on each child’s face. If the child looked in the mirror and touched the mark on their own face or said words like their name or “me,” they demonstrated self-recognition.

Unlike a control group, the children who got the vibrating discs and touched their faces more recognized themselves in the mirror around two months earlier, on average, than children typically do. The research may improve interventions for children with motor development delays.

“Interventions for infants who have issues related to motor skills are typically focused on reaching for objects in the external world and manipulating them,” Lockman said. “These findings suggest that reaching to the body may be equally important and that exploring the body is the gateway to self-knowledge.”