While the development of self‐recognition in a mirror by toddlers is well documented, less is known about how the presence of a mirror affects young children’s behaviour. Here, we explored how the presence of a mirror affected 2.5‐ to 3.5‐year‐olds’ behaviour in a gift‐delay task. Behaviour was assessed for a five‐minute test period during which children sat in front of a gift bag that was not to be touched until an experimenter returned. Transgressive behaviour by adults is reduced in the presence of a mirror, so we hypothesized that children faced with a mirror would be less likely to touch the gift than children tested without a mirror. We found that the mirror reduced transgressions in children starting from around 3 years of age. We conclude that the presence of a mirror facilitated self‐monitoring in 3‐year‐old children, such that deviations from a behavioural standard are noticed and corrected immediately.

中文翻译：

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镜子在礼物延迟任务中对幼儿过犯的影响。

虽然有充分的文献记载了幼儿在镜子中自我认知的发展，但对于镜子的存在如何影响幼儿的行为知之甚少。在这里，我们探讨了在礼物延迟任务中镜子的存在如何影响2.5到3.5岁的孩子的行为。在五分钟的测试期间内评估行为，在此期间，孩子们坐在礼物袋前，直到实验者回来之前，才可以触摸礼物袋。在镜子的存在下，成年人的过犯行为会减少，因此我们假设面对镜子的孩子比没有镜子的孩子接触礼物的可能性要小。我们发现镜子减少了从3岁左右开始的儿童的犯罪行为。我们的结论是，镜子的存在有助于3岁儿童的自我监控，