”Mirror stage” refers to the point in time when infants and toddlers start recognizing their reflections in the mirror. Research has shown that, although babies are fascinated with images of themselves and others in mirrors from a very early stage, they do not begin to recognize that the images in the mirror are reflections of their own bodies until the age of about 15 to 18 months. In psychology, there has been a debate about the mirror stage’s importance in identity formation.
In 1936, psychologist Jacques Lacan proposed that the mirror stage was part of an infant’s development from 6 to 18 months. By the early 1950s, Lacan’s concept of the mirror stage had changed slightly; he no longer considered the mirror stage as a moment in the life of the infant, but as representing a permanent structure of identity. Lacan felt that understanding and processing one’s reflection was a key part in the development of identity.
In 1953, Lacan wrote, “The mirror stage is a phenomenon to which I assign [two values]. In the first place, it has historical value as it marks a decisive turning point in the mental development of the child.” In the second place, he claimed, it represents an essential connection between the person and his or her concept of identity. Lacan’s concept of the mirror stage was strongly inspired by earlier work by psychologist Henri Wallon. Wallon noted that by the age of about six months, human infants and chimpanzees both seem to recognize their reflection in a mirror. While chimpanzees rapidly lose interest in the discovery, human infants typically become very interested and devote much time and effort to exploring the connections between their bodies and their images.
Many other psychologists disagreed with the notion that recognizing and processing one’s reflection in the mirror was a key component in identity development. In 1988, Raymond Tallis wrote a paper claiming that the theory was inaccurate because it would mean that people who were blind from birth would lack selfhood and be unable to contribute to society. In 1996, Dylan Evans claimed that while Lacan’s theory that mirrors were key to forming identity was important, it had become so abstract by the 1950s that it was untestable.