Self-knowledge is a term in psychology, describing the information needed for an individual to answer the questions "Who am I?" and "What am I like?". Self-knowledge requires both self-awareness and self-consciousness (aware of the fact that one is self-aware). While young infants and chimpanzees display some of the traits of self-awareness, agency, and contingency; they are not considered to be self-conscious. At some greater level of cognition, however, a self-conscious component emerges in addition to an increased self-awareness component, and then it becomes possible to ask "What am I like?", and to answer with self-knowledge, though self-knowledge has limits, as introspection has been said to be limited and complex, such as the consciousness of being conscious of oneself. Self-knowledge is a component of the self or, more accurately, the self-concept. It is the knowledge of oneself and one's properties and the desire to seek such knowledge that guide the development of the self-concept, even if that concept is flawed. Self-knowledge informs us of our mental representations of ourselves, which contain attributes that we uniquely pair with ourselves, and theories on whether these attributes are stable or dynamic, to the best that we can evaluate ourselves. The self-concept is thought to have three primary aspects:
The cognitive self The affective self The executive self The affective and executive selves are also known as the felt and active selves respectively, as they refer to the emotional and behavioral components of the self-concept. Self-knowledge is linked to the cognitive self in that its motives guide our search to gain greater clarity and assurance that our own self-concept is an accurate representation of our true self; for this reason the cognitive self is also referred to as the known self. The cognitive self is made up of everything we know (or think we know) about ourselves. This implies physiological properties such as hair color, race, and height etc.; and psychological properties like beliefs, values, and dislikes to name but a few. Self knowledge just simply means introspecting your behaviour and actions from a third persons view to the various situations faced in life and then trying to identify the causes of these issues in life.
Relationship with memory Self-knowledge and its structure affect how events we experience are encoded, how they are selectively retrieved/recalled, and what conclusions we draw from how we interpret the memory. The analytical interpretation of our own memory can also be called meta memory, and is an important factor of meta cognition. The connection between our memory and our self-knowledge has been recognized for many years by leading minds in both philosophy and psychology, yet the precise specification of the relation remains a point of controversy.
Specialized memory Studies have shown there is a memory advantage for information encoded with reference to the self. Somatic markers, that is memories connected to an emotional charge, can be helpful or dysfunctional - there is a correlation but not causation, and therefore cannot be relied on. Patients with Alzheimer's who have difficulty recognizing their own family have not shown evidence of self-knowledge.
The division of memory Self-theories have traditionally failed to distinguish between different sources that inform self-knowledge, these are episodic memory and semantic memory. Both episodic and semantic memory are facets of declarative memory, which contains memory of facts. Declarative memory is the explicit counterpart to procedural memory, which is implicit in that it applies to skills we have learnt; they are not facts that can be stated.
Episodic memory
Episodic memory is the autobiographical memory that individuals possess which contains events, emotions, and knowledge associated with a given context.
Semantic memory
Semantic memory does not refer to concept-based knowledge stored about a specific experience like episodic memory. Instead it includes the memory of meanings, understandings, general knowledge about the world, and factual information etc. This makes semantic knowledge independent of context and personal information. Semantic memory enables an individual to know information, including information about their selves, without having to consciously recall the experiences that taught them such knowledge.
Semantic self as the source People are able to maintain a sense of self that is supported by semantic knowledge of personal facts in the absence of direct access to the memories that describe the episodes on which the knowledge is based.
Individuals have been shown to maintain a sense of self despite catastrophic impairments in episodic recollection. For example, subject W.J., who suffered dense retrograde amnesia leaving her unable to recall any events that occurred prior to the development of amnesia. However, her memory for general facts about her life during the period of amnesia remained intact. This suggests that a separate type of knowledge contributes to the self-concept, as W.J.'s knowledge could not have come from her episodic memory. A similar dissociation occurred in K.C. who suffered a total loss of episodic memory, but still knew a variety of facts about himself. Evidence also exists that shows how patients with severe amnesia can have accurate and detailed semantic knowledge of what they are like as a person, for example which particular personality traits and characteristics they possess. This evidence for the dissociation between episodic and semantic self-knowledge has made several things clear:
Episodic memory is not the only drawing point for self-knowledge, contrary to long-held beliefs. Self-knowledge must therefore be expanded to include the semantic component of memory. Self-knowledge about the traits one possesses can be accessed without the need for episodic retrieval. This is shown through study of individuals with neurological impairments that make it impossible to recollect trait-related experiences, yet who can still make reliable and accurate trait-ratings of themselves, and even revise these judgements based on new experiences they cannot even recall.
Motives that guide our search People have goals that lead them to seek, notice, and interpret information about themselves. These goals begin the quest for self-knowledge. There are three primary motives that lead us in the search for self-knowledge:
Self-enhancement Accuracy Consistency
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