The Emergence of a Temporally Extended Self and Factors That Contribute to Its Development

The validity of the Delayed Self-Recognition (DSR) test was verified by comparing the performance of 57 children on the DSR test to their performance on a meta-representational task (modified false belief task) and to a task that was essentially the same as the DSR test but was specifi cally designed to rely on the capacity to entertain secondary representations (i.e., surprise body task). Longitudinal testing of the children showed that at the mental age (MA) of 2.5 years they failed the DSR test, despite training them to understand the intended functions of the medium used in the DSR test; whereas, with training, children at the MA of 3.0 and 3.5 years exhibited DSR. Children at the MA of 4 years exhibited DSR without any training. Finally, results suggest that children’s meta-representational ability was the only factor that contributed to the prediction of successful performance on the DSR test, and thus to the emergence of the temporally extended self (TES). Furthermore, prospective longitudinal data revealed that caregiver conversational style was the only factor that contributed to the prediction of level of training required to pass the DSR test. That is, children of low-elaborative caregivers required signifi cantly more training to pass the DSR test than children of high-elaborative caregivers, indicating that children who received more elaborative conversational input from their caregivers had a more advanced understanding of their TES.

ABSTRACT

I. DEVELOPMENT OF A TEMPORALLY EXTENDED SELF

II. METHOD

III. EXAMINING THE REPRESENTATIONAL DEMANDS OF THE DELAYED

SELF-RECOGNITION TASK

IV. DO 2.5-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN HAVE THE REPRESENTATIONAL ABILITY FOR DSR?

V. EXAMINING THE DEVELOPMENTAL TRANSITION OF THE SELF FROM ITS PRESENT STATE TO ITS TEMPORALLY EXTENDED STATE

VI. EFFECT OF MENTAL AGE ON DSR COMPETENCY

VII. THE CONTRIBUTION OF SOCIAL, COGNITIVE, AND LINGUISTIC FACTORS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TES

VIII. THE CONTRIBUTION OF SOCIAL, COGNITIVE, AND LINGUISTIC FACTORS TO FURTHER ADVANCES OF THE TES

THE EMERGENCE OF A TEMPORALLY EXTENDED SELF AND FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO ITS DEVELOPMENT: FROM THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL PERSPECTIVES

CONTENTS

IX. METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

APPENDIX

REFERENCES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CONTRIBUTORS

STATEMENT OF EDITORIAL POLICY

SUBJECT INDEX

Mary Lazaridis (DClinPsych, 1996, La Trobe University; BBSc. [Hons],GradDipPsych, BAppSc, MAPS) is a member of the Australian College of Clinical Psychologists. Her primary research interest, while studying for her DClinPsych, has been factors that contribute to the development of self in children. She works in private practice as a clinical psychologist and part of her work includes diagnosing and treating typically developing young children and children with developmental delays.