ABSTRACT
Within the representational systems there may be developed a representation of the individual himself or herself. This chapter considers the behavioural and psychological consequences of this self-representation and in particular of its entry into self-awareness as a self-image. Consciousness is qualitatively different from simple awareness in that it depends on different information processing strategies. Effective action in the world depends on representations which are both predictive and consistent. This is equally true of self-representation in consciousness and its counterpart in self-awareness, the self-image. The evidence for the existence of a self-image in humans comes from our own introspection and from sharing that introspection with others, by means of a common language. It is not clear how we would obtain acceptable evidence of a self-image in animals. The self-recognition studies with mirrors appear to show that an animal may become the object of its own attention and in this sense to display a self-image.
