Gender development

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Broesch’s et al. (2010), Cultural Variations in Children’s Mirror Self-Recognition article entails research that involves studying the ability of children to emerge from self-concepts. This study hypothesized that children in the same age group would not differ significantly in self-orienting behaviours. In this study, children's ability to identify a mark on their face through an image in the mirror and try to remove it was considered the best test used. Children aged between 18 and 72 months from different regions were involved in the study; the other areas of interest were the western and non-western worlds. The ability of a child to identify a mark on their face in the mirror and try to remove it indicates that these children can locate their images in mirrors. According to the article, children's familiarity with mirrors does not contribute to their ability to identify marks on their faces. The same research, when conducted in non-human species like chimpanzees and others, showed that species familiar with reflection surfaces had greater chances of passing the text, unlike humans. 

The method used in this research involved comparing children from different regions, the first group of children was children from non-western rural communities, and another group of children was from western rural and urban areas. Children obtained for this study were from local communities and pre-schools; similar marks were made on their faces. Testing is done in different places, for the group of children from the non-western world, the testing is conducted in a pretty isolated room free from distraction. For children from the western world, the exercise is performed either in laboratories or in secluded, quiet rooms free from distraction. The test is run in the native language, or the predominant language familiar to the kid for all non-western location experiments was assisted by additional video recording.

The first experiment involved children from Kenya, which involved eighty-two children aged 18 to 72 months. All participants in this experiment were not suffering from any illness, and they were from the western region of the country bouldering Uganda; in this region, the main activity was farming. Unlike other experiments, the "post-it" note did not stick on the aces of the children. Instead, a small white piece of tape is used. According to the findings of the first experiment, only two children could notice the impact of the white tap in their images in the mirror; one attempted to remove the mark, and the other stared at it. Many children in this experiment freeze at their pictures in the mirror without any verbal attempt. Another experiment involved 133 children aged between 36 and 56 months from Canada, Fiji, the United States, Peru, Saint Lucia, and Grenada. A greater percentage of children participating in this behaviour showed advanced self-orienting behaviours. In this test, the United States had the most cases of children showing self-orienting behaviours. On the other hand, none of the Fijian participants showed self-orienting behaviours.

Findings in this research reveal that the high aspect of children freezing when they view themselves in the mirror remains unchanged over a wide age gap, and thus developmental delay is not the leading cause. Results in the first test raise concerns as the children did not even dare to touch or even greet their images, and there is a great likelihood that there could not understand their images. Due to these aspects, more test is needed to conclude self-orienting behaviours among Kenyan children. From the second test, it is evident that many participants passed the best by identifying their images and trying to remove marks on them. According to the article, the aspect of children in Kenya failing to recognize their images in the mirror is associated with the fact that they are raised mainly by their siblings. This parenting style differs from the American style. In America, the nuclear family is involved in parenting, and different parenting styles determine the developmental strategies of children.

In this research, the authors did not address the issue of gender and sex in a clear, meaningful way. All participants in this research are only grouped by age and different regions of origin, not by sex and gender. In my opinion, to incorporate the aspect of sex properly, all samples obtained for the study should consider sex. For every sample, the ratio of sex of the participants should be equal to get clear findings about each group. In this study, the gender aspect is not essential because the study involves observing the behaviour of children in different circumstances. More detailed findings could be obtained if the study involved observing self-oriented behaviours among other sex in other areas. Observing different sex of children in different environments could help reveal the sex which is more vulnerable to freezing and the one associated with easy self-recognition and attempts to remove the mark on the face. Regarding early development in children, males tend to outshine females in visual-spatial integration and mental rotation.

On the other hand, females outperform males in verbal tasks and identification of emotional expression in other people (ZERO TO THREE, 2015). Self-orienting behaviour involved in this exercise is whether children could identify their image in the mirror and the mark on their face. This exercise relies on visual integration of the image and interpretation by the brain, and naturally, males outshine females in these two aspects. Failure to consider this aspect during the research leads to monitoring all sex together, and this may produce biased findings. Most children from European Canadian groups used verbal recognition in the mirrors. Failure to group the children of different sex could make limited findings as females have advanced verbal skills, and they could be the most dominant sex in the group.

Findings in this article reveal intense cross-cultural contrast in the meaning of mirror self-recognition, raising concerns about using the mark test as the universal test for self-concept in childhood development. From the study, it is evident that various cultural aspects influence child development and cognitive process. Parental involvement in the child's daily life correlated with the ability to recognize the mirror. The power of children from the western world to easily recognize themselves in the mirror also raises many concerns as children from Africa to face difficulties in identifying their images in the mirror.

During the study of child development, some cultural factors must be considered; only relying on image identification must be more reliable. Different cultural factors have influenced the ability of the children to recognize themselves, some accelerating the ability while others slowing. This finding hypothesizes that children in the same age group would not differ significantly in self-orienting behaviours. The hypothesis relies on assumptions that culture does not impact self-orienting behaviour, which is invalid. A more formulated idea in this research is required, which will involve the concept of cultural diversity and different parenting styles among other groups to produce more reliable findings.

The implication of these findings could positively impact society by promoting development in children by creating awareness. Parents and guardians should be advised on the importance of closed parenting as it is associated with developing self-awareness and related skills in young children. Cultural difference has also been evident to play a vital role in child development, so cultural aspects related to better child development should be advocated for in all societies to enhance children's development. Research conducted in this article does not involve gender differences in self-mirror recognition, making it difficult to relate the findings with gender and development. Results in this article reveal that the age at which different children develop the ability to recognize their images in mirrors varies across cultures. In some communities, children develop the capacity for self-recognition earlier than others due to differences in cultural values and practise related to child rearing and socialization.

Previous research shows that gender differences impact early childhood development. Some male aspects, like visual-spatial integration and early mental development, could positively affect mirror-self-recognition abilities. However, this aspect must be addressed in more detailed research involving self-mirror reconciliation on the other sex to be proven. Gender roles are influenced by different cultural values (Worthy et al., 2020). It is also possible that cultural variation caused by gender roles plays a vital relationship in the development of self-recognition in mirrors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Broesch, T., Callaghan, T., Henrich, J., Murphy, C., & Rochat, P. (2011). Cultural            Variations in Children’s Mirror Self-Recognition. Journal of Cross-Cultural       Psychology, 42(6), 1018–1029.

             https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022110381114

Worthy, L. Lavigne, T & Romero, F. (2020). Culture and Psychology.

            https://open.maricopa.edu/culturepsychology/

ZERO TO THREE. (2015). Are there any differences in the brain development of boys and          girls?

https://www.zerotothree.org/resource/are-there-any-differences-in-the-development-of-boys-and-girls-brains/#:~:text=Sex%20differences%20in%20the%20brain,in%20female%20than%20male%20infants