Self-Recognition and Embarrassment :: essays research papers

Self-Recognition and EmbarrassmentOur groups task was to measure self-recognition and embarrassment in children ages 1-3. We had 3 children to work with, Arika was 9 months, Charlotte was 17 months and Lydia was 28 months old. We preformed 3 tasks on these children. The first was the Overcompliment situation. Secondly, we did the Mirror situation and last we did the Request to dance situation. Our findings in these situations lead us to some conclusions around self-awareness and feeling embarrassed.The procedure we used was a fairly simple one, but it needed to be followed to get accurate results. The first task we did was the Overcompliment situation. With the hidden motion-picture show camera running, we played with the children for a few minutes so they could get as used to us as they would in that short period of time. thusly we proceeded to give them compliment after compliment, for example you are so pretty, good job, youre doing great. After doing this you should feel a i tty-bitty embarrassed yourself. This task is used to see how the child reacts to the barrage of compliments. If they keep playing as they were, make eye contact periodically, they most likely werent embarrassed. But if they keep their head down away from the experimenter or have a silly, self-conscious smile they probably are embarrassed. Our first Overcompliment experiment was with Charlotte. She showed no reaction to Kellie giving her numerous compliments she just played without even looking at her. This does not necessarily mean that Charlotte had no feelings about Kellies compliments in fact it probably means that she was more embarrassed than anything. When it was Lydias turn to go Mia and I watched her play for a few minutes, then began the onslaught of compliments. Lydia didnt even acknowledge the fact that we were speaking to her. I think she did realize that we were saying how good she was doing and because of that she played more aggressively. She never looked at either o f us, she never looked to her mother for comfort or to see why these people were saying these things to her, she just kept playing with her trains. Table 1 board in monthsReaction21-24 of all children20It was common, but not expected 15-18 of all children9-12No children reactedThe second task was the mirror situation. This experiment was first make by R. Amsterdam in 1972 on Chimpanzees.