TODDLERS ACQUISITION OF SELF OTHER KNOWLEDGE - ECOLOGICAL AND INTERPERSONAL ASPECTS OF SELF AND OTHER/

The complexity of toddlers' self-development was examined in the conte xt of knowing others. Two studies were designed to test whether toddle rs' self-knowledge was different from their knowledge of others (e.g., mother and inanimate object) or whether toddlers' knowledge of person s (e.g., self and mother) was different from their knowledge of object s. Knowledge of self, mother, and inanimate object was observed in dev elopmentally sequenced tasks assessing agency and featural knowledge. When the inanimate object was perceptually different from humans, 12-m onth-old toddlers responded differently to all 3 versions. When the in animate object was perceptually similar to humans, 24-month-olds disti nguished self from other and did not distinguish between the 2 version s of ''other:'' mother and inanimate object. We concluded that 12-mont h-old infants were more sensitive to perceptual features of objects th an were older toddlers. Data were interpreted according to Neisser's d istinction between the ecological self and the interpersonal self.