self-awareness

n. self-focused attention or knowledge. There has been a continuing controversy over whether nonhuman animals have self-awareness. Evidence of this in animals most often is determined by whether an individual can use a mirror to groom an otherwise unseen spot on its own forehead. A few chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans have passed this test. See self-focus.

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Psychology term of the day

January 13th 2025

discontinuity hypothesis

in Gestalt psychology, the viewpoint that emphasizes the role of sudden insight and perceptual reorganization in successful discrimination learning and problem solving. According to this view, a correct answer is only recognized when its relation to the issue as a whole is discovered. Also called discontinuity theory. Compare continuity hypothesis. See also aha experience; all-or-none learning; eureka task.