What is the Assumption of Concordance when it comes to introspective verbal reports?
The assumption that what is verbally reported or otherwise indicated, is also conscious. This has rarely been varified.
What are circumstances under which Introspective Verbal Reports are the most reliable?
- Shortly after the event
What are main points of criticism against introspection?
- They can be made inaccurate by a host of cognitive or attentional biases
- The act of introspection changes the phenomenal experience
- Forgetting can occur
- Reconstruction Errors
- Verbal Description Difficulties
- Intentional Censorship by the reporter
- Lack of independent validation
What are the types of introspection?
- Analytical / Classical
- Descriptive / Phenomenological
- Interpretive
Relate Titchener’s Structuralism to Analytical introspective reports?
In both, one tries to explain the whole in terms of its elementary parts / basic elements
Which group of psychologists is against analytical introspective reports as well as Titchener’s Structuralism?
Gestalt Psychologists
What is a logical flaw of Analytical introspective reports?
Different reporters gave different observations in the same situations, which according to analytical IVRs wouldn’t be possible, since the same basic stimuli should give rise to the same elemental sensations.
When interested in phenomenal accounts, what kinds of IVRs are appropriate?
Analytical, Descriptive
What is the basis of Descriptive IVRs?
The simple description of one’s inner life in language, without analyzing it -> What do I perceive/feel?
What is a major limitation of phenomenological IVRs?
Forgetting
Which questions does one ask oneself in interpretive IVRs?
Why do I feel this way? Why did I do this?
Why do some people doubt the interpretive IVRs?
They argue, one cannot find the cause of one’s cognition just by thinking about it.
What are reconstruction errors?
- When people report more than they actually recall
- When the report is more organized than what is actually recalled
Which term explains the phenomenon that introspection might change the experience one tries to report?
Introspective Uncertainty Principle
What are some things one can do to make up for the lack of independent validation in IVRs?
- Comparing with other reports made by the same person or other people under the same conditions ~ increasing N
- Evaluating the verbal reports using other behavioral and physiological measures
- Using psychological theories to evaluate the reports
What are some methods of obtaining introspective reports, that can be done in one session?
- Thinking out loud
- Retrospective Reports
- (Group) Questionnaires
What are some methods of obtaining introspective reports over time?
- Thought Sampling
- Event Recording
- Diaries
What is a major advantage and disadvantage of questionnaires?
+: Cost-efficient and practical in determining means
-: Items determine responses to some degree
Why is introspection always retrospective?
As we describe something, we are merely describing the phenomenal memory of the perception.
Introspective Reports are limited by three factors associated with memory processes. What are these?
- Incomplete Storage
- Incomplete Retrieval
- Distortions in reconstruction of experiences
What is the basic logical idea behind trying to find the NCC of Visual Awareness?
One must produce the physiological underpinnings of sight without the conscious awareness of it.
There are many ways to make a human see something without being aware of it. Name some.
Degraded Visual Stimulation Masking Crowding Bistable Figures Binocular Rivalry Motion-induced blindness Inattentional Blindness Change Blindness Attentional Blink
What happens in degraded visual stimulation?
Presenting a stimulus for an amount of time that is too short for the individual to become aware of the cue
What happens in masking?
Presenting a second masking stimulus rapidly after presenting the target
