Introspection

Introspection is an inward focusing on mental experiences, such as sensations or feelings. It is a conscious mental and purposive process relaying on thinking, reasoning, and examination of one's own thoughts and feelings.

Epistemology of Introspection

If we wish to know what is going on in someone else's mind, we must observe their behavior; on the basis of what we onserve, we may sometimes reasonably draw a conclusion about the person's mental state. Thus, for example, on seeing someone smile, we infer that they are happy; on seeing someone scowl, we infer that they are upset. But this is not, at least typically, the way in which we come to know our own mental states. We do not need to examine our own behavior in order to know how we feel, what we believe, what we want and so on. Our understanding of these things is more direct than our understanding of the mental states of others, it seems. The term used to describe this special mode of access which we seem to have to our own mental states is introspection.

The Understanding of Introspection in Philosophy

Augustine

A view which takes its inspiration from Descartesholds that introspection provides us with infallible and complete access to our states of mind. On this view, introspection provides us with foundation for our knowledge of the physical world. On this view we come to know the physical world by first coming to cognize and recognize certain features of our mind, namely, the sensations which physical objects excite in us, and then drawing conclusions about the likely source of these mental states. Our knowledge of the physical world is thus indirect; it is grounded in the direct knowledge we have of our own minds. The view that introspection provides an infallinble and complete picture of the mind, however, is no longer widely accepted.

Introspection has also been called upon to support various metaphysical conclusions. Descartes argued for dualism on the basis of introspective evidence, and certain contemporary philosophers have argued in much the same spirit.

Hume noted that introspection does not reveal the presence of an enduring self, but only a series of fleeting perceptions; some have concluded, therefore, that there is no enduring self.

Philosophers concerned with self improvement, whether epist or moral, have frequently called upon int. Int. has been thought to aid in forming beliefs on the basis of adequate evidence, and it has been used as a tool of self-security by those concerned to understand and refine their motivations and characters.

The Understanding of Introspection in Psychology

Intrispection is a method od inquiry in psychology in which subjects attempt to examine the contents and processes of their consciousness.

Introspection was used in the study of a range of psychological processes, including memory, learning, thinking, problem solving, dream analysis, and perception.

The method of introspection was not a simple reflection on experience. Subjects were rigorously trained in the process of examining, describing, and reporting immediate sensory experience in response to systematic questioning.

Edward B. Titchener defined the conditions for optimum introspective observation: subjected should be unbiased and should prevent other associations from influencing the report of the immediate experience. In addition, subjects should be alert, free from distractions, healthy, fresh and free from fatigue, and interested in the experience under study.

Introspection was the principal method of the structuralist school led by WW in Germany and Tit in America, which defined psychology as the study of conscious experience. Structuralists sought to break down experience into its component parts or elementary sensations. Sensation was considered primary, with perceptual processes being viewed as secondary organized activities. A subjective understanding of consciousness and the contents of mind was the goal of structural psychology.

This method was opposed by

Introspection was used by German physiologist and psychologist Wilhelm Wundt in the experimental psychology laboratory he had founded in Leipzig in 1879. Wundt believed that by using introspection in his experiments he would gather information into how the subjects' minds were working, thus he wanted to examine the mind into its basic elements. Wundt did not invent this way of looking into an individual's mind through their experiences; rather, it can date to Socrates. Wundt's distinctive contribution was to take this method into the experimental arena and thus into the newly formed field of psychology. Wilhelm Wundt was interested in studying people’s mental experiences. He used a method called introspection, or careful self-examination and reporting of one’s conscious experience – what one is perceiving, feeling, thinking, or sensing at each particular moment in time. For example, he would expose people to a visual or auditory stimulus, a light or a sound, and ask them to report their conscious reactions to the stimulus (what it sounded like, how long it lasted, how it felt).

Cognitive approach

Cognitive psychology accepts the use of the scientific method, but rejects introspection as a valid method of investigation. Herbert Simon and Allen Newell identified the Talk aloud protocol and/or Think aloud protocol protocol, in which investigators view a subject engaged in introspection, and who speaks his thoughts aloud, thus allowing study of his introspection.

Think aloud protocol is a method used to gather data in usability testing in product design and development, in psychology and a range of social sciences. The think-aloud method was developed by Clayton Lewis while he was at IBM, and is explained in C. Lewis and J. Rieman, "Task-Centered User Interface Design: A Practical Introduction."

Think aloud (also spelled think-aloud) protocols involve participants thinking aloud as they are performing a set of specified tasks. Users are asked to say whatever they are looking at, thinking, doing, and feeling, as they go about their task. This enables observers to see first-hand the process of task completion (rather than only its final product). Observers at such a test are asked to objectively take notes of everything that users say, without attempting to interpret their actions and words. Test sessions are often audio and video taped so that developers can go back and refer to what participants did, and how they reacted. The purpose of this method is to make explicit what is implicitly present in subjects, who are able to perform a specific task.

A related but slightly different data-gathering method is the talk-aloud protocol. This involves participants only describing their action but not giving explanations. This method is thought to be more objective in that participants merely report how they go about completing a task rather than interpreting or justifying their actions (see the standard works by Ericsson & Simon).

Introspection can be considered a valid tool for the development of scientific hypotheses and theoretical models, in particular, in cognitive sciences and engineering. In practice, functional (goal-oriented) computational modeling and computer simulation design of meta-reasoning and metacognition are closely connected with the introspective experiences of researchers and engineers. Introspection was once an acceptable means of gaining insight into psychological phenomena. More recently, Phil Roberts, Jr. has argued that difficulties encountered with the use of introspection have less to do with the study of human minds than with the study of human beings:

Unlike oxygen, honey bees and Mustang convertibles, in humans there is a considerable amount of individualization, no doubt arising from nature's increased reliance on individual imagination and judgment ("reasoning"). But since this is an order problem rather than a privacy problem the solution is, not to banish introspection, but rather to differentiate (stratify) between the more evolved individualized features and the more mechanical, isomorphic processes lower in the evolutionary scheme of things. Once accomplished, the individualization can then be dealt with by applying corresponding amounts of abstraction and generalization to those features where individualization appears to be most rampant (Rehabilitating Introspection).[1]

Self-reflection approach

Introspection may be used synonymously with self-reflection and used in a similar way. Introspection is like the activity described by Plato when he asked, "...why should we not calmly and patiently review our own thoughts, and thoroughly examine and see what these appearances in us really are?" (Theaetetus, 155)

Human self-reflection is the capacity of humans to exercise introspection and the willingness to learn more about our fundamental nature, purpose and essence. The earliest historical records demonstrate the great interest which humanity has had in itself. Human self-reflection invariably leads to inquiry into the human condition and the essence of humankind as a whole. Human self-reflection is related to the philosophy of consciousness, the topic of awareness, consciousness in general and the philosophy of mind.

Introspection can also be called contemplation on one's self, as opposed to extrospection, the observation of things external to one's self. Humans often consider themselves to be the dominant species on Earth and the most advanced in intelligence and ability to manage their environment. This belief in Western culture is derived in part from the Biblical creation story in which Adam is blessed to rule over and have dominion over the Earth and all of its creatures (Genesis 1:26).

Comparison to other species

Theories in psychology, like the construction of the ego as suggested in the mirror stage by Jacques Lacan reminds us about the possibility that self-consciouness and self-reflection may be at least in part a human construction. Various attempts have been made to identify a single behavioral characteristic that distinguishes humans from all other animals. Some anthropologists think that readily observable characteristics (tool-making and language) are based on less easily observable mental processes that might be unique among humans: the ability to think symbolically, in the abstract or logically, although several species have demonstrated some abilities in these areas. Nor is it clear at what point exactly in human evolution these traits became prevalent. They may not be restricted to the species Homo sapiens, as the extinct species of the Homo genus (e.g. Homo neanderthalensis, Homo erectus) are believed to also have been adept tool makers and may also have had linguistic skills.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Comte, A. 1930. Introduction to Positive Philosophy, trans. and ed. F. Ferre, Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 1988.
• Descartes, R. 1641. Meditations on First Philosophy, in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, trans. J. Cottingham, R. Stoothoff and D. Murdoch, Cambridge University Press, 3 vols, 1985.
• Farthing, G. W. 1992. The Psychology of Consciousness, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
• Lehrer, K. 1991. Metamind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• Ericsson, K., & Simon, H. (May 1980). Verbal reports as data. Psychological Review 87 (3): 215–251.
• Ericsson, K., & Simon, H. (1987). "Verbal reports on thinking", in In C. Faerch & G. Kasper (eds.): Introspection in Second Language Research. Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters, 24–54. 
• Ericsson, K., & Simon, H. (1993). Protocol Analysis: Verbal Reports as Data, 2nd ed., Boston: MIT Press. 

• Schultz, D. P. & Schultz, S. E. (2004). A history of modern psychology (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

External links

• About.com article on Introspection

• Task-Centered User Interface Design: A Practical Introduction, by Clayton Lewis and John Rieman.

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Introspection  ^history
• Human_self-reflection  ^history
• Think_aloud_protocol  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Introspection"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.