Introspection as a method of studying the psyche was first substantiated by J. Locke. The technique is to observe your own psyche without using standards and tools. It implies in-depth study and cognition by the personality of one's own activity: thoughts, feelings, images, thought processes, etc.
The advantage of the method is that no one is able to know a person better than himself. The main disadvantages of introspection are subjectivity and bias.
Until the 19th century, the method of self-observation was the only method of psychological research. At that time psychologists relied on the following dogmas:
- conscious processes can not be known from without;
- the processes of consciousness can only be revealed to the subject himself.
Actually, the method of introspection and introspection was practiced by the philosopher J. Locke. He divided all the processes of knowledge into two types:
- Observation of objects of the external world.
- Reflection - internal analysis, synthesis and other processes aimed at processing information received from the outside world.
Possibilities and limitations of the method of introspection
The method of introspection is not ideal. Some obstacles may arise during the research:
- the method of mental self-control is not owned by all people, it needs to be purposefully trained, and the psyche of children is completely inaccessible to research in this way;
- functional uselessness of the method;
- contradictory results;
- subjectivity of the introspection method.
Reasons for restrictions:
- The impossibility of executing the process and simultaneously observing it, therefore it is necessary to observe the decaying course of the process.
- The complexity of revealing the cause-effect relationships of the conscious sphere, because you have to analyze and unconscious mechanisms: illumination, remembrance.
- Reflexion contributes to the paleness of the data of consciousness, their distortion or disappearance.
The method of analytical introspection was described by psychologists as the perception of things through structural elementary sensations. Adherents of this theory began to be called structurists. The author of this concept was the American psychologist Titchener. According to his thesis, most subjects and phenomena perceived by people are combinations of sensations. Thus, this method of investigation is a mental analysis that requires highly organized self-observation from a person.
Systematic introspection is a method of describing one's consciousness through dreary experiences, that is, sensations and images. This technique was described by a follower of the Würzburg School by the psychologist Külpe.
The method of introspection and the problem of introspection
Introspectionists offer to divide the minds of the main processes and self-observation behind these processes. The problem of introspection is that a person is able to observe only the processes open to him. In contrast to the method of introspection, introspection refers to the products of consciousness as separate phenomena, rather than regular connections. At present, the introspection method in psychology is applied together with the experimental method to test hypotheses and collect primary data. It is used only to obtain data, without further interpretation. Observation is conducted over the simplest mental processes: representation, sensation and associations. In the self-report there are no special techniques and purposes. Only the facts of introspection for further analysis are considered.