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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Psychol.

Sec. Consciousness Research

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1561420

This article is part of the Research Topic Animal Consciousness: Exploring Theoretical, Methodological and Ethical Issues View all 9 articles

A multidimensional approach to the self in non-human animals through the Pattern Theory of Self

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Lazio, Italy
  • 2 Department of Philosophy, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, United States
  • 3 International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    In the last decades, research on animal consciousness has advanced significantly, fueled by interdisciplinary contributions. However, a critical dimension of animal experience remains underexplored: the self. While traditionally linked to human studies, research focused on the self in animals has often been framed dichotomously, distinguishing low-level, bodily, and affective aspects from high-level, cognitive, and conceptual dimensions. Emerging evidence suggests a broader spectrum of self-related features across species, yet current theoretical approaches often reduce the self to a derivative aspect of consciousness or prioritize narrow high-level dimensions, such as self-recognition or metacognition. To address this gap, we propose an integrated framework grounded in the Pattern Theory of Self (PTS). PTS conceptualizes the self as a dynamic, multidimensional construct arising from a matrix of dimensions, ranging from bodily and affective to intersubjective and normative aspects. We propose adopting this multidimensional perspective for the study of the self in animals, by emphasizing the graded nature of the self within each dimension and the non-hierarchical organization across dimensions. In this sense, PTS may accommodate both inter-and intra-species variability, enabling researchers to investigate the self across diverse organisms without relying on anthropocentric biases. We propose that, by integrating this framework with insights from comparative psychology, neuroscience, and ethology, the application of PTS to animals can show how the self emerges in varying degrees and forms, shaped by ecological niches and adaptive demands.

    Keywords: self, non-human animals, Pattern theory of self, multidimensional framework, nonhierarchical approach, gradedness

    Received: 15 Jan 2025; Accepted: 26 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Laurenzi, Raffone, Gallagher and Chiarella. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Salvatore Gaetano Chiarella, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste, Italy

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