The beginnings of self-awareness

A sense of self is about understanding other people as well as oneself and also understanding that not everyone sees things from the same perspective.

The first step in self-awareness is the realisation by the infant that they are a separate person from their surroundings. The beginnings of this self-awareness comes through the infants senses. This occurs during the first 2 or 3 months: for example when they cry - not only can the infant hear this but someone comes to them, when they touch something - it moves.

The concept of 'object permanence' - which is the understanding that things will continue to exist even if they can't be seen comes a bit later. In the original work in this area, Piaget said this occurred at about 8 months but more recent research by Baillargeon demonstrates it may occur as early as five months. This is closely linked to the understanding that people have a separate but permanent existence - which has been defined as people permanence. This is shown when infants recognise significant others and actively look for them. Infants of three months won't seem to mind when a parent goes out of sight into another room but a six month old will. By 9 months they will crawl after them - into the kitchen, the garden and the bathroom.