$this is determined as an undefined variable

The debug bar determines $this as an undefined variable when used within a class\function call, but will happily accept &$this without any notices.

Example:

class test_class {
  function make_menu() {
    $page_title = __( 'Page title' );
    $menu_title = __( 'Menu title' );
    $capability = 'read';
    $menu_slog  = 'test-slug';
    $function   = array( $this, 'menu_function );

    add_menu_page( $page_title, $menu_title, $capability, $menu_slug, $function );
  }

  function menu_function() {
  }
}

The above will create a Notice that “this” isn’t defined, but replace $this with &$this and it will no longer produce this notification.

https://www.ads-software.com/extend/plugins/debug-bar/