why don’t animals understand the concept of mirrors? If they do, how long does it take them?
In: Biology
This is kind of a weird question. Personally, as an animal cognition researcher myself, I think the test is flawed. It requires that the animal show interest in their reflection in order to pass. I find it much more likely that many animals tested completely understand mirrors/reflections and just don’t care.
Look at the difference between puppies and kittens trying to play with the puppy/kitten in the mirror, vs adults who hardly give it a second glance. The only animals who pass the mirror test are those that use the mirror as tools, and not surprisingly, the animals who pass are known tool users.
To answer the question more directly assuming you haven’t yet read up on the mirror test: some do, and it depends on the organism.
Researchers will place a marker on the organism, then allow it access to a reflective surface – a mirror or sometimes a body of water. From there, they observe if the organism reaches for the marker on their body. They run controls to make sure the animal is not just feeling a part of their body where they were touched by a researcher.
As other people have mentioned, some disagree with this methodology, but in my line of research, self evaluation relative to competitors can be advantageous when it comes to mate searching. Depending on the behaviors associated with mating, visual self assessment may be favored or auditory assessment (awareness of ones own sounds) may be what an organism is tuned into.
Edit: here’s a video showing the [mark](https://youtu.be/0_qie0HRTdQ) test as the final stage of an experiment on this subject and does a good job of explaining the concept.
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