Just interested in what area of thought or investigation these two obervations of DS might fall under... cognitive neuroscience? developmental psych? any specific bits of research or theory? Not because I think this stuff is massively remarkable, but I am interested in how this fits into normal brain development and I have no background to guide where to look.
DS (21 months) has never obviously had a phase of not recognizing himself in the mirror. He has used it as a tool to point, wave and smile at me from behind, from before 6 months old (6 months is the first photo we have of it and I remember taking it thinking "he'll stop doing that, I should get a photo before this phase is over"), and has used it as a tool in ball games, watching his/ the ball's reflection rather than the ball itself, since at least 13 months of age (he was doing it last Christmas). If I held him up to the mirror and said "can you point to the baby's nose" he would always point to his own nose, not the reflection's.
A few days ago (aged 21 months) I asked him what colour his eyes are. He thought for a bit, then said "No see [name]'s eyes." Then thought a bit more and said "Get Mummy phone. See [name]'s eyes".
This is a reasonably abstract bit of thought for a toddler. They probably all have this degree of abstract thought but you only get to see it in the talkers.
Can anyone suggest books or primary research literature that would deal with this kind of thing? (i am a scientist, so can read primary literature, but I have no background in anything to do with humans or brains).