self-awareness
Let an agent handle self-awareness by type, development, measurement and research evidence, carefully separating human, animal and machine claims.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent handle self-awareness by type, development, measurement and research evidence, carefully separating human, animal and machine claims.
The capacity to recognise oneself as an individual distinct from others and the environment, and to reflect on one own thoughts, feelings and behaviour; studied in psychology, philosophy and animal cognition.
What it is for: Understanding self-reflection, development and well-being.
It can be study it in psychology and philosophy; observe it in development; test aspects in animals, such as mirror tests; practise reflection for well-being.
Distinguishing features
Recognition of self as distinct
Reflective and bodily aspects
Develops in early childhood
Hard to measure directly
What it looks like
Not visible; inferred from behaviour, reports and tests.
How it is recognised
Mirror self-recognition tests
Private and public self-consciousness in psychology
Claims about machine self-awareness are contested
Related models
is a kind of - category
is related to - broader concept
is studied by - fields
is tested by - method
In practice
Families and kinds
bodily self-awareness
reflective self-awareness
objective and subjective self-awareness
social self-consciousness
Standards and regulation
Research ethics for human and animal studies
Failure modes and hazards
Overinterpreting mirror tests
Claiming machine self-awareness without evidence
Confusing self-consciousness with embarrassment
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Concept Which self-awareness.
Definitions differ.
Kind
Bodily, reflective.
Kind
Kind.
- Which aspect of self-awareness is meant? definition
- In which discipline? definition
Theory
Models.
Theory
Theories.
- Which theory describes it? provenance
- Where do theories disagree? boundary
Evidence Measurement.
Measurement is indirect.
Tests
Mirror and questionnaires.
Tests
Measures.
- How is it measured, and how valid is the measure? provenance
- What are its limits? boundary
Animals
Comparative.
Animals
Animal evidence.
- Which animals pass which tests? provenance
- How should results be interpreted? boundary
Development Growth.
Self-awareness develops.
Children
Milestones.
Children
Development.
- When does self-recognition typically emerge? measurement
- According to which studies? provenance
Adults
Reflection.
Adults
Reflection.
- How can reflective self-awareness be developed? action
- What evidence supports practices? provenance
Machines Claims.
Machine claims are contested.
Claims
AI systems.
Claims
Machine claims.
- Is a claim of machine self-awareness supported by evidence? boundary
- What would count as evidence? definition
Language
Careful wording.
Language
Careful wording.
- Is the language avoiding overclaiming? boundary
- Are views attributed? boundary
What the second pass must settle
- Should kinds be separate entries?
- How should animal evidence be recorded?
- How should machine claims be marked?