When you see a mirror, you see yourself. This seemingly basic ability demonstrates whether an animal being possesses self-awareness. Humans, great apes, dolphins, elephants, and magpies are also said to pass Gordon Galoup’s famous "mirror test."
It’s still debatable whether our pets like dogs, cats, or rabbits have that same ability. But from what countless pet owners have seen, gazing at yourself is quite a trend in the house animal kingdom. Bored Panda compiled a list of the most adorable little pets looking at their reflections, as if they were telling them: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the furriest of them all?” We may not know the reason for such behavior, but at least we know the motif.
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When we look into a mirror, we recognize that the image we’re looking at is our own. Psychologists see it as a special mental act which requires sophisticated aspects of our consciousness. Interestingly, the ability to be self-aware of one's reflection is not something we’re born with. It’s only between the age of 18 and 24 months that babies begin to understand what it is that they’re seeing in the mirror.
The mirror self-recognition test has been applied to animals since its inception in the 1970s and has been considered to be the gold standard indicating whether a living being is self-aware or not. While very few animals and primates have showed signs of self-awareness and passed mirror tests, our beloved dogs have failed it.
According to The Cut, “They do not seem to know, or perhaps they don’t really care, what is going on with the mirror’s scentless, two-dimensional representation of a dog.”
Looking In The Mirror
Owl Sees Himself In The Mirror
Kill Them. Kill Them All.
However, many scientists feel skeptical about whether the mirror test is the right indication of animal consciousness. For example, the primatologist Frans de Waal argues that self-awareness should be understood as a broader concept. “I cannot imagine that a cat or a dog—even though they don’t recognize themselves in the mirror—I find it hard to imagine that they have no awareness of themselves,” he said.
And while in human developmental psychology, the mirror represents a significant threshold in our sense of self, animal minds don’t necessarily work like the human mind. Not every animal is attuned to social intelligence so deeply like us, and not every animal perceives the world in its visual dimension. Dogs, for example, could have failed the mirror test because their primary instrument of perception is smell.
Looking In The Mirror
"I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, And Gosh Darnit, People Like Me"
My Cat Thinks My Makeup Mirror Is Mesmerizing
Baby Otter Looking At The Mirror
My Rabbit Does This Every Day. Not Sure What He's Thinking About…
Roscoe Gets It
Daily Ritual To Connect With The Mirror Cat
Then She Licked The Mirror Because It Seemed Like There Was A Nice Dog In It :)
Looking In The Mirror
The Mortifying Ordeal Of Being Known
If you see the reflection of the dog from your angle, that mean the dog is looking at you though the mirror as well.
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Sad Mirror Cat
Looking In The Mirror
I Sees You
My Dog Has Discovered Her First Mirror. She Keeps Rolling Her Ball To The "Other Dog" And Whining Because She Wants To Play
Standing Cat Looking In Mirror
My Chinchilla Saw Himself For The First Time In The Mirror Today
Your chinchilla looks very sweet. That may be the calmest I've ever seen a chinchilla.
Identity Crisis
"I Don't Even Know Who I Am Anymore"
He Already Knows How Pretty He Is
He Kept Looking Into The Mirror For Quite A While, Seems Really Depressed About The New Look After Shaving.
My cat used to do this when we would get him his summer cut. He’d keep looking in the mirror as if he couldn’t quite believe we had done this to him again. He really was more comfortable in the summer in 100+-degree temps without all the floof.
Happens After Ever Bath She Gets. She Goes To The Sink, Stands Up, Paws Down, And Looks At Herself In The Mirror.
Put This Mirror On The Bedside Table And Renly Couldn’t Handle It
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This Is Toki, My Pet Cockatiel, Singing To Himself In The Mirror C:
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Same Energy
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Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall...
This Fb Marketplace Photo Looks Like An Art Piece To Me
We've Been Feeding A Stray For A Few Weeks - Helped Himself To A Tour Of The House And Ended Up Getting Mesmerized By The Mirror
What's That Handsome Cat Doing In The Mirror?
Every Morning When I'm Getting Ready For Work My Cat Protects Me From This Scary Mirror Cat.
We Don’t Deserve Dogs. This Is Dakota. She Faced Her Greatest Fear- The Dog Who Lives In Our Mirrors - To Sit With Me In The Bathroom When I Was Sad
Looking In The Mirror
Longfellow Meeting Himself In The Mirror For The First Time.
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My Doodle, Using A Mirror To Spy On Me While I Sleep. The Second I Show Signs Of Life, She Runs Over To Me So We Can Go For A Walk Or To Get Pets. She Thinks She's Fooling Me. She Understands How Mirrors Work, But She Doesn't Understand That I, Too, Understand How Mirrors Work.
He Likes To Stare At His Human Through Mirrors
It Looks Like It Nailed A Job Interview
Looking In The Mirror
Looking In The Mirror
Someone Discovered Mirror Today
Mirror Mirror On The Wall, Who's The Handsomest Bun Of All?
My Dog Looking Into A Vanity Mirror.......he Was Honing In On My Grand Daughters New Toy. Look At Me!
Looking In The Mirror
My Sister's Dog When She Was A Puppy, Fascinated With Mirrors. Meet Millie!
She Was Confused By The New Mirror. (Apologies For Potato Quality)
LOL the potato in the caption made me laugh! Someone's hungry lol! The photo looks fine to me though! Funny cat 😄
This Is My Favorite Pic Of My Dog
My Dog Does This Too. This Is Her Looking At Me Through A Mirror. Face With Tears Of Joy
Mirror Mirror Who Is Cutest White Cloud?
This Is Winnie. She Is 11 Weeks Old, Has Mastered “Sit” And Doesn’t Understand Why She Can’t Play With Her Mirror Sister. She Is A Mini Bernese Mountain Dog, And A V Good Girl.
Looking In The Mirror
My Kitty Looking At His Reflection In The Mirror.
Usually My Cat Ignores The Mirror, Walked In The Bathroom And Caught Her Looking At Her Reflection
I Forgot To Turn My Magnifying Mirror Off Last Night Before I Left The House. Came Home To This Little Situation. Meet Roscoe.
When You Get Up From A Nap And Look In The Mirror
This Is Belle’s Reaction After A Friend Brought Her Big Dog Over. She Sat In The Dark Looking At Herself In The Mirror Until I Picked Her Up And Took Her To My Room.
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Our Cat Frodo Sits On The Sink Every Morning And Watches Us Through The Mirror. It's Unnerving But Cute
My Cat Checks Himself Out In The Mirror Everyday
Surprise Guest!
My grandparents had that exact mirror! Is that common? I’ve never seen another one like it before now.
Every Single Day, Tito Sits Here And Stares At Himself In The Mirror For At Least 3 Solid Minutes. We Call It His Daily Affirmation Time. "I'm Handsome, People Like Me. I'm A Good Jumper, I Keep My White Fur Exceptionally White, And I'm A Great Conversationalist."
He's Lived Here Since The Day He Was Born In April 2011. Today Is The Day He Suddenly Notices The Bathroom Mirror And Decides To Be Terrified.
The Cat Wouldn't Stop Looking Into My New Mirror
Whenever I Go To The Bathroom, He Stares At Me Through The Mirror Like This...
Doin A Protecc From The Heckin Floof In The Mirror. She Growls At Herself At Least Once A Day
First Time Looking In The Mirror
She Discovered Herself In The Mirror And Thought It Was An Intruder Cat That Needed To Be Growled At And Batted Around Slightly
Magic Mirror On The Wall Who Is The Fairest One Of All
Every Morning My French Bulldog, Chubbs, Stares At Himself In The Mirror To Get His Day Started.
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My Cat Often Sits In Front Of The Mirror And Stares Herself Down.
Winston Likes To Look At Himself In The Mirror. He’s Practicing His Blue Steel.
My Cat Admiring Himself In The Mirror
My Cat Loves To Look At Himself In The Mirror
Looking In The Mirror
My Goofy 3 Legged Dog Bug Realizing He Can Make Eye Contact With Me Through The Mirror.
What a lovely coat, his face looks cute too! Reminds me of me and my sister's Tibetan spaniels, hers was like a teddy bear 🙂
Chloe 'Mirin Herself In The Mirror
The Face He Makes In The Mirror.
Looking In The Mirror
Im Not Sure If My Dog Understands How Mirrors Work, But He Sits And Stares At Me Like This For Hours On End
I had a foster kitten, and one night heard her hissing and spitting and growling out of nowhere! She was only 7/8 weeks old and the most docile little hand reared ball of fluff. I turned the light on and she'd caught sight of herself in the mirror and was not impressed with this "intruder"!
Our kitten Lola, was exactly the same, she kept trying to attack the predator (herself, of course) that kept attacking her
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A mirror is one of the most important devices to use in order to gauge the intelligence of a subject's "Self-Awareness". A creature with "Self-Awareness" is at the upper scale of an animal's intelligence.
Most animals are unable to recognize themselves in a mirror. Many primates, certain magpie species, and I think dolphins can. I remember watching a clip in philosphy class about Koko the gorilla; she was holding her kitty friend in front of a mirror and was trying to get the cat to look at its reflection. It looked everywhere except at the mirror
Load More Replies... I had a foster kitten, and one night heard her hissing and spitting and growling out of nowhere! She was only 7/8 weeks old and the most docile little hand reared ball of fluff. I turned the light on and she'd caught sight of herself in the mirror and was not impressed with this "intruder"!
Our kitten Lola, was exactly the same, she kept trying to attack the predator (herself, of course) that kept attacking her
Load More Replies... A mirror is one of the most important devices to use in order to gauge the intelligence of a subject's "Self-Awareness". A creature with "Self-Awareness" is at the upper scale of an animal's intelligence.
Most animals are unable to recognize themselves in a mirror. Many primates, certain magpie species, and I think dolphins can. I remember watching a clip in philosphy class about Koko the gorilla; she was holding her kitty friend in front of a mirror and was trying to get the cat to look at its reflection. It looked everywhere except at the mirror
Load More Replies...