Introspection is a act of self-awareness which involves thinking and analyzing your own thoughts and behaviors, being one of the defining characteristics of the human being. We are naturally curious about ourselves. We repeat our own experiences and actions in the hope of understanding who and how we are, but the term is also used to refer to an experimental technique that consists of analyzing one’s thoughts and feelings in a structured and rigorous way. Therefore, when we talk about introspection, we may be talking about the informal process of reflecting on oneself or the formal method used in experimental research in psychology many years ago. In this Psychology-Online article, we will talk about introspection in psychology: what it is and the types that can be distinguished.
Definition of introspection in psychology
The first meaning of introspection is the one most people are probably most familiar with. This is the process that involves examine informally our own feelings and thoughts internal. When we reflect on our thoughts, emotions, and memories and examine what they mean, we are introspecting.
The second meaning would be a research technique developed by Wilhelm Wundt, also known as experimental self-observation. This technique consisted of training people in the most systematic and objective way possible to analyze the content of their own thoughts.
Introspection has been the word most used to describe Wundt’s method throughout the history of psychology. The choice of that term has not helped much with what Wundt intended, which was to develop a rigidly controlled experimental procedure.
Wundt’s introspection method
Broadly speaking, Wundt’s method was as follows. First, a series of observers were trained with high demands and then presented with a set of controlled sensory events. Subsequently, they were asked to describe their mental experiences in relation to those presented events. Wundt considered that it was necessary for observers to maintain high levels of attention to the stimulus and control of the situation during the sessions. Furthermore, these observations were also repeated a certain number of times.
What was the purpose of these observations?
Wundt believed that there were two key components that make up the content of the human mind: sensations and feelings. To understand the mind, Wundt believed that researchers needed to do more than simply identify the structure or elements of the mind, but fundamental to going further was to observe the processes and activities that take place as people experience the world around them.
Wundt focused on making the introspection process as structured and precise as possible. In many cases, respondents were asked to respond simply with “yes” or “no.” In some cases, observers gave their answers by pressing a telegraph key. The goal was to make introspection as scientific as possible.
A student of Wundt also used this technique, but was accused of misrepresenting some of Wundt’s original ideas. Wundt understood conscious experience as a whole, while Titchener (student) focused on dividing mental experiences into individual components.
Types of introspection
Psychologists differentiate between two types of introspection:
- Self-reflection: It is the positive form of introspection through which we attribute meaning and importance to our thoughts and actions, accepting and learning from our mistakes and increasing self-awareness.
- Self-rumination: It is the negative form of introspection, where the person becomes obsessed with their defects, doubts themselves and their self-esteem is diminished.
It seems that certain personality traits favor the experimentation of the positive or negative form of introspection.
Criticisms of the introspection technique
Although Wundt’s experimental techniques promoted making psychology a more scientific discipline, the introspection method has a number of limitations.
The use of introspection as an experimental technique was highly criticized, especially in Titchener’s method. Schools such as functionalism and behaviorism considered that introspection It had no scientific reliability or objectivity.
Other criticisms are:
- Different observers often provide significantly different responses to the same stimuli.
- The technique cannot be used with children.
- It has major limitations: complex topics such as learning, personality, mental disorders and development are difficult or even impossible to study with this technique.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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