introspection
= looking into one’s own mind and observing its contents and reporting what we discover
- introspective thoughts = thoughts about ongoing perceptual experiences
- observing your conscious experience
- -> (1) observing your thoughts, (2) observing your feelings, (3) interpretive introspections
- only studies the conscious mind –> REFLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS
introspection
- what it isn’t
- not equivalent to merely to having conscious experiences (primary consciousness): most primary conscious events are so fleeting that they are immediately forgotten
- not a sensory process: does not have any unique sensory qualities
- not a brain scanner: subjective conscious experience and objective neurophysiological observations are two different perspectives on the brain
- not simply the making of inferences about our mental states based on our overt behaviour - not direct inner observation: direct inner observation of ongoing thinking is impossible
a) active self-observation (reflective consciousness)
b) passive inner observation (primary consciousness)
introspection
- what it is
1) thought process: act of reflective consciousness, because it involves thinking about one’s primary conscious experiences
(2) introspection is retrospection: data of introspection come from memory
- selective and limited by gaps and distortions of attention and memory
- matter of verbal thinking
what it is
- introspection = retrospection
= attempts to describe past perceptions (retrieved from memory)
- retrospection = observing our remembered past conscious experiences
- explains how we can describe our stream of consciousness without destroying it through the process of observing it
- either immediately past experiences retrieved from STM, or more distant past experiences retrieved from LTM (episodic)
- acknowledges that we can never give a perfectly detailed and accurate description of our conscious experiences
limitations of introspection
- data availability
- incomplete storage: selective processes determine which experiences are stored in STM or LTM
- incomplete retrieval of stored information from memory
- distortions when we try to reconstruct our experiences
- inherently restricted by limitations of (1) memory storage, (2) retrieval processes
- main difficulty involves obtaining accurate data about our conscious experiences from memory and the problem of distinguishing accurate memories from plausible but possibly erroneous reconstructions
- -> problems can be reduced when introspective reports follow the primary experience very quickly
primary consciousness
= the initial “raw” experience
types of introspection
1. analytic
= classical = attempting to describe one’s conscious experiences in terms of their elementary constituents
- -> structuralism
- conscious experience = elements of sensory experience + simple feelings
- complex percept + ideas = molecules of experience
- avoid stimulus error of ascribing meaning to their experience (confusing complex percept molecule with sensory elements)
- Disadvantages: (1) have to be rigorously trained; (2) theoretical foundation has been discredited; (3) unreliable; (4) sterile, led to no practical applications; (5) behaviourism promised more
types of introspection
2. descriptive/phenomenological
= description of one’s conscious experience in natural language terms
- “WHAT did I perceive/think/feel”
- concerns meaningful events, objects, people, thoughts about them
- describes conscious experiences in everyday language + involves categorising experiences without providing analysis or interpretation of causes
- reflective consciousness
limitations of phenomenological introspection
- forgetting
= conscious experiences may be forgotten within a matter of seconds or minutes
- incomplete verbal reports if, (1) never attended to the event (not stored in STM), (2) information is in STM and potentially available but for some reason you do not report it, (3) information was in STM but was not transferred to LTM, (4) information is in LTM but cannot be retrieved into STM for verbal reporting
- implications for research
1. verbal reports will be most accurate if they are collected within few seconds of original experience (information still in STM); retention in STM is more likely if there is minimal interference
2. increase likelihood the experience is transferred to LTM (beforehand knowledge that experience is important and report will be requested/unique and inherently interesting experiences that might be spontaneously stored)
3. low STM information processing demands
forgetting
- multi-store model of memory
= you can report conscious contents under one of two conditions: (1) contents are still available in STM, (2) they have been transferred to LTM and can be retrieved from LTM into STM
- only the contents of STM/working memory can be verbally reported
- STM contents are transferred to LTM depending on (1) salience and (2) amount and type of rehearsal while they’re in STM
limitations of phenomenological introspection
- reconstruction errors
= reconstruction of the original event (factual recall + filling in gaps with plausible details)
- either STM or LTM contents (likely to be greater in LTM recall)
- types of reconstruction:
a) people report more than they accurately recall by filling in memory gaps with plausible fabrications
b) memory report may be more orderly than what was really recalled
limitations of phenomenological introspection
- verbal description difficulties
= some conscious experiences cannot be adequately described in words (ineffable)
- metaphorical descriptions can mean different things to different people
- partially overcome by training subjects to use special vocabularies
limitations of phenomenological introspection
- distortion through observation
= the process of observation may alter the thing that is being observed
= introspective uncertainty principle
- introspecting thoughts while solving difficult problem: try to attend and store in memory more details than usual, causing the progress to go slower
- retrospective reports = used to minimise distortion through observation, since if research subjects know beforehand, they may try to inhibit embarrassing thoughts (pink elephant situation) –> forgetting problem
limitations of phenomenological introspection
- censorship
= be reluctant to reveal embarrassing thoughts; give false reports or claim they do not recall anything
- ask for reports on the general nature of the conscious experience without asking for details (classify thoughts into categories)
limitations of phenomenological introspection
- experimental demands
= IVRs are overt behaviours and may be influenced by factors that affect other overt behaviours
- demand characteristics = situational cues from which subjects try to figure out what the experimenter expects them to do
limitations of phenomenological introspection
- lack of independent verification
= no way to independently check on the accuracy of the subjects’ reports (a fundamental principle of scientific research)
- judge the accuracy by considering:
a) consistency with other reports (by same person or other people) made under similar conditions
b) consistency with behavioural evidence (facial expressions, eye movements or physiological measures)
c) consistency with specific theories about mental processes under consideration
limitations of phenomenological introspection
- substitution of inferences
= make plausible inferences, using whatever information is available (when people do not have direct introspective access to the stimuli or mental processes that caused their feelings or behaviour)
- inferences are heavily influenced by people’s a priori theories about the causes of human actions
types of introspection
3. interpretive
= intended to discover the causes of our thoughts, feelings, and actions
- “WHY do I feel this way, why did I do that?”
- discover the antecedents of our thoughts, feelings, and actions (relevant prior events and thoughts
- difference between descriptive and interpretive:
- -> clear in cases of perceptual or quasi-perceptual (mental image) experiences
- -> not clear in cases of mental states (attitudes, motives, hopes, desires, intentions) –> reports could be inferences instead of simply descriptive
- distinction between two can be made clear based on people’s intention during introspection
introspective verbal report (IVRs)
= giving a verbal description of your conscious experience
- type of verbal behaviour (≠ ordinary verbal responses)
- reports on the subject’s conscious experience, including (1) thoughts related to task, (2) thoughts unrelated to task
- behavioural data –> all behaviours are influenced by a variety of causal factors
- numerous factors may prevent verbal reports from accurately describing conscious experience
- highly controversial data:
(1) some psychologists believe that consciousness plays no role in causing people to behave the way they do and is therefore unimportant
(2) introspective reports are inaccurate and unreliable (errors in recall & reporting)
ordinary verbal responses
= responses to the primary cognitive task of an experiment (e.g. task requiring perception, decision-making)
- could be simple behavioural outputs of mental processes
- could be replaced by simple mechanical responses (pushing button)
- researchers are mainly interested in how accurately subjects process information, rather than in their conscious experience of the information
methods of obtaining introspective reports
- thinking out loud
= continuous verbal report on conscious contents while they are in a particular situation
- research on thought processes that occur during problem-solving
+ advantages: a lot of detailed information about stream of consciousness, relatively little loss due to forgetting; can improve problem-solving performance (attending to relevant information that might have been overlooked)
- disadvantages: introspection process and verbal reporting may alter the flow of conscious experience
–> e.g. (1) thought processes may be slowed if people have to use words to describe non-verbal experiences (visual mental images), (2) thought processes may be altered if people have to attend to information to which they would not normally attend
methods of obtaining introspective reports
- thought sampling
= subjects are instructed to report what they are thinking at the moment of a designated signal (e.g. brief tone)
+ advantages: less distortion of the normal progression of thoughts (directly from STM)
- disadvantages: no detailed information about stream of consciousness
- classify thought into pre-arranged categories: include brief verbal narrative descriptions, responses to brief questionnaires, or non-verbal responses (pushing a button)
methods of obtaining introspective reports
- retrospective reports
= collect data about thoughts that occurred on a specified previous occasion in reference to a specified previous event
- verbal narratives or responses to prepared questionnaires
+ advantages: no interference with ongoing thought processes during main task, especially if subjects do not know in advance that they will be asked to make report
- disadvantages: forgetting (greater the more time before report); reconstruction errors and substituting inferences for observations
methods of obtaining introspective reports
- event recording
= need to know frequency of particular type of thought, do not need to know the full range of contents
- tracing changes in the frequency of a particular type of thought
+ advantage: reports made from STM rather than LTM
- disadvantage: knowing one is supposed to report a certain type of thought may initially affect the frequency of such thoughts (decreases after adaptation period)
