Scientific aspects of introspection:

Question 1

Scientific aspects of introspection:

Answer 1

One strength of Wundt’s work is that certain aspects of introspection are scientific. For example, introspection activities took place within controlled laboratory environments to minimise the impact of extraneous variables, e.g. distractions from other people, which would interfere with the personal experiences being measured. He also used standardised procedures so that all participants were tested in the same way to enable the method to be replicated. This focus on experimental control was a forerunner to later scientific approaches in psychology, such as behaviourism, that still exist today.

Question 2

Modern forms of introspection have been developed:

Answer 2

Introspection has not been entirely
abandoned by psychologists and has recently made a partial comeback. Csikszentmihalyi &
Hunter (2003) used introspective methods to measure ‘happiness’ since this is a personal mental state. They gave beepers to a group of teenagers that went off at random times throughout the day. This was to surprise the participants and prompt them to write down
their thoughts and feelings in the moment before the beep. They were able to ascertain from the internal experiences that were reported that teenagers were generally unhappy but were happiest when they were completing fulfilling tasks. This supports the view that introspection
does have place in research and can be used to measure unobservable thoughts and feelings.

Question 3

Non-scientific aspects of introspection

Answer 3

A limitation of Wundt’s introspection method is that participants are required to self-report their private mental processes. This data is subjective because participants choose what experiences to report, which may not be accurate and can
therefore decrease the validity of the findings. Additionally, different participants may report different experiences each time introspection is used. This means the findings lack reliability which makes it difficult to establish general laws of how people think based on research using introspection alone.