Abstract
The use of introspection is unavoidable even in psychological research on animals. Difficulties may arise from the absence of reliable introspective data; it is suggested that this could be the case for the so-called “reward system”. In other circumstances confusion comes from using introspection without being aware of it: speaking and thinking have for many years been considered as the same operation, but the reason for this belief is not clearly documented and it may be suspected of being only introspection. Amongst other evidence, a careful and conscious use of introspection demonstrated by auto-analyses of former aphasic patients strongly suggests that language and thought are quite distinct entities.
Highlights
The aim ofthis paper is to show that, since some introspection is inevitable, even in scientific psychological research, it is better to be aware of it and use it critically than to be under its influence without realizing it
It is out of the question to reconsider the condemnation of the introspective methods applied to cognitive psychology as they were used in the early years ofthis century, in particular by the School of Wiirzburg
I am not here to criticize the use of this evidence; I merely wish to point out that only through introspection can we understand the rat's reaction: we know that in similar circumstances we would suffer. This use of introspection is confirmed by common sense and universal consensus
Summary
The aim ofthis paper is to show that, since some introspection is inevitable, even in scientific psychological research, it is better to be aware of it and use it critically than to be under its influence without realizing it. A far more dangerous example of introspection, and the one which has had the greater influence on the evolution of philosophy and the neurosciences, deals with internal language and its relation to thought.
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