Dear Tipsters,
Buddy Grah wonders about introspection in modern cognitive
psychology. Paul Smith has drawn attention to Nisbett and Wislon's
seminal work. I would like to add the following.
Classical introspection as practiced by Wundt and Titchener is not
used today. However, if introspection is more broadly concevied, it
has continued in one form or another since Watson officially
rejected it in 1913 (Boring, 1953; see also Bakan, 1954). Following
Nisbett and Wilson, the modern question is: "To what do we have
introspective access?" In particular, "Do we have any introspective
access to mental processes as distinct from content?" There is a
lively debate about this, based largely on criteria set up by Nisbett
and Wilson. For an excellent coverage of these matters, see Farthing
(1992, Chapters 3 and 7).
If introspection is verbal reporting of the contents of conscious
experience, we may be able to say that some of this
information is part of the causal process. For example, the
experience of vivid visual imagery has consequences for behavior.
References and Reading
Bakan, D. (1954). A reconsideration of the problem of introspection.
Psychological Bulletin, 51, 105-118.
Boring, E. (1953). A history of introspection. Psychological
Bulletin, 50, 169-189.
Burt, C. (1962). The concept of consciousness. British Journal of
Psychology, 53, 229-242.
Farthing, G. W. (1992). The psychology of consciousness.Englewood
Cliffs, JN: Prentice Hall.
Hebb, D. O. (1969). In the mind's eye. Psychology Today, 55-7, 67-8.
Radford, J. (1974). Reflections on introspection. American
Psychologist, 29, 245-250.
> Date: Wed,
04 Aug 1999 17:38:32 -0600 (CST)
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Introspection and cognitive psychology
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> I was looking through _History of Modern Psychology_ (Schultz and Schultz,
> 1996) and came across a comment which seems to suggest that the method of
> modern cognitive psychology is introspection. To quote:
>
> "The emergence of cognitive psychology with its renewed
> focus on conscious experiences brought about the return
> of...introspection." (p. 454)
>
> It seems to me that I have also run across the same assertion in the final
> writings of Skinner. It always strikes me as odd since I am aware of little
> or no research in mainstream cognitive psychology that relies upon classic
> introspection. Indeed, when I checked recent issues of _Cognitive Psychology_
> I couldn't find a single article that had relied upon introspection for its
> method. I (suspect the same would be true for other cognitive journals such
> as _Memory and Cognition_, but I didn't check). Even recent work on the
> "cognitive unconscious" seems not to rely on introspection. It makes me
> wonder where the statement is coming from. Could someone enlighten me?
>
> Thanks,
> Buddy Grah
> Dep't of Psychology
> Austin Peay St. Univ.
> Clarksville, TN 37044
>
___________________________________________________
Stuart J. McKelvie, Ph.D., Phone: (819)822-9600
Department of Psychology, Extension 2402
Bishop's University, Fax: (819)822-9661
Lennoxville, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Quebec J1M 1Z7,
Canada.
Bishop's University Psychology Department Web Page:
http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
___________________________________________________
