Self-consciousness

In the young child, the consciousness of self is a gradual and difficult achievement, although consciousness of a less personal order is no doubt present from birth. Until the child has a fairly definite conception of himself as an independent person he cannot conceptualize his relationship to the surrounding world, and hence lacks the subjective nucleus for the development of his own personality. Conditions responsible for the child's lack of self-consciousness include: deficiency in memory ability; ungraded and undifferentiated character of emotional responses; and deficiency in language.