lilen gomez
Professor in Philosophy
By the forms of Latin introspectio, introspectionisregarding introspicĕre, which is interpreted as ‘look/observe inside’. Introspection, in general lines, consists of the observation by an individual of her internal world, contemplating her mental processes, her emotions, motivations, desires, behaviors, etc.
The practice of introspection implies an attention or focus of consciousness on the content of our mind and its processes, unlike the consciousness that we have in a diffuse way about them when we do not stop to observe them. Thus, introspection allows people to know more about themselves, by analyzing their feelings and ideas.
The reflective capacity, based on the awareness of our own states, gives us a greater capacity for agency over what happens to us, since it serves a deeper understanding of that. As a consequence, directing our gaze towards oneself —both on our present and on our history— allows a greater degree of freedom, since it implies a greater decision on the orientation of our behaviors, being able to correct errors and direct them towards more satisfactory states.
Introspection in Psychology
Introspection is considered a foundational method of Psychology as an autonomous discipline, which has been established as an autonomous science when it separated from philosophy in the 19th century. At present, it is preserved as one of the privileged methods by the specific current of Cognitive Psychology, although it had been partially abandoned for a long period.
Among its antecedents, it is worth mentioning experimental introspection, developed by the German philosopher Wilhem Wundt (1832-1920), whose ideas were recovered by his disciple Edward B. Titchener (1867-1927) at the beginning of the 20th century. The purpose of experimental introspection was the scientific and objective approach to mental processes. To do this, the subjects studied were subjected to controlled stimulation, in order to record the expression of the psyche in response to the stimuli presented. Among the experiments performed, for example, the subject was trained to distinguish between stimuli from their cognitions about them, and then the response time to small stimulative changes (namely, changes in brightness, lightness, etc.) was measured. color, contrast, size of visual stimuli, etc.).
On the other hand, systematic or phenomenological introspection, whose main referent was the philosopher Franz Brentano (1838-1917), aims to access complex cognitive processes through non-experimental ways. Brentano postulates under the introspective method an empirical study through the phenomenological analysis of the internal experience, which allows specifying the psychic phenomena as an object of observation. For the philosopher, the object of introspection is not the content of the mind, but mental activity, namely, memory, perception, and thought.
introspection today
The introspective method went through a long crisis, from different criticisms that led to its rejection. Among them, it was pointed out that it would be a fallible method, since the mind could not be the subject and object of reflection at the same time. On the other hand, it was suggested that introspection could modify the experience depending on the states in which the mind was presented at the time of carrying it out, for example, anger. In general, it can be said that the criticisms of the introspective method pointed to its lack of “objectivity”.
Currently, introspection, in the context of Cognitive Psychology, describes the verbal report (called protocol) carried out by an individual of cognitive processes while experiencing them. Verbal protocols consist of chronologically ordered descriptions of the activities that the subject develops while carrying out a task, for example, solving a problem. Thus, they serve to characterize thoughts on the basis of recorded data. A widespread technique for the production of verbal protocols is to think “out loud”, that is, for the individual to describe their thoughts aloud, either while carrying out a certain task, or, at the end of their execution, to describe all of them. the thoughts you remember having while performing the task.
Following
References
Mora, C. (2007). Introspection: past and present. Psychology Magazine-School of Psychology, Central University of Venezuela, 26(2), 59-73.
González Chauvet, G., & Capetillo Hernández, J. (2017). On the influence of Brentano on Freudian thought. A contribution to the intellectual history of the father of psychoanalysis. Historia y grafía, (48), 141-183.