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.
The Understanding of Introspection in Psychology
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
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).
The Understanding of Introspection in Philosophy
Prehistoric times
Prehistoric notions about the status of humanity may be guessed by the etymology of ancient words for man. Latin homo (PIE *kþonyon) means "of the earth, earthling," probably in opposition to "celestial" beings. Greek ἂνθροπος (mycenaean *anthrokwos) means "low-eyed," again probably contrasting with a divine perspective.
Ancient Orient From the 3rd millennium Old Kingdom of Egypt, belief in the eternal afterlife of the human Ka is documented. From the earliest times, man made out a claim of dominance of humanity alongside radical pessimism because of the frailty and brevity of human life (In the Hebrew Bible, for example, dominion of man is promised in Genesis 1:28, but the author of Ecclesiastes bewails the vanity of all human effort).
Classical antiquity Protagoras made the famous claim that "Man is the measure of all things; of what is, that it is; of what is not, that it is not". Socrates gave the (doubtlessly tongue-in-cheek) definition of humans as "featherless bipeds" (Plato, Politicus). More serious is Aristotle's description of man as the "communal animal" (ζώον πολιτκόν), i.e., emphasizing society-building as a central trait of human nature, and "animal with sapience" (ζώον λόγoν ἒχων, animal rationale), a term that also inspired the species' taxonomy, Homo sapiens.
Middle Ages The dominant world-view of medieval Europe, as directed by the Catholic Church, was that human existence is characterized by sin, and that its aim should be to prepare for divine judgement after death. The 13th century pope Innocent III wrote about the essential misery of earthly existence in his "On the misery of the human condition" – a view that was disputed by, for example, Gianozzo Manetti in his treatise "On human dignity."
Renaissance A famous quote of Shakespeare's Hamlet (II, ii, 115-117), expressing the contrast of human physical beauty, intellectual faculty, and ephemeral nature:
- What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculties! in form and moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension, how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?
Modern era The Enlightenment was driven by a renewed conviction, that, in the words of Immanuel Kant, "Man is distinguished above all animals by his self-consciousness, by which he is a 'rational animal'." In the 19th century, Karl Marx defined man as "labouring animal" (animal laborans) in conscious opposition to this tradition. In the early 20th century, Sigmund Freud dealt a serious blow to positivism by postulating that human behaviour is to a large part controlled by the unconscious mind.
Some feel that the modern culture of materialism leaves little room for reflection; the tendency to focus on worldly goods naturally denies the opportunity to ponder one's life and its place in the universe. The idea of philosophy being discarded as it runs counter to the pursuit of pleasure is a common theme in certain works of dystopian science fiction, such as Brave New World or Fahrenheit 451.
However, it could be argued that a culture of self obsession leads to more self-reflection, since, in the quest for the ideal life, individuals will constantly analyse their characters, faults and ambitions. This can be shown in the trend to seek psychotherapy as the panacea to one's emotional woes. The current popularity of the Humanities amongst the academic disciplines also shows an increased public interest in mankind and its place in the cosmos.
Spiritual movements that encourage the reflective arts of prayer and meditation as a practice are on the rise, both as branches of existing religions and as part of more eclectic movements like the New Age.
Psychology
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.
Comparison to other species
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.[citation needed]
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- 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.
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