Part II, The Four Senses of Self, Chapter 4, The Sense of a Core Self, I, Self versus Other Summary and Analysis

By two to three months, infants begin to seem like distinct individuals and have a more wholly integrated mode of social interaction. But clinical developmental theory does not represent this apparent integrated sense of self. But recent infant research suggests that the infant is capable of having an integrated sense of self and others. In fact, its first aim in development is creating an interpersonal world that requires a sense of a core self and of others. Stern believes that infants have "fusion-like" experiences but these are dependent on an already existing sense of self, thus the sense of self's development is pushed far back in time...