ABSTRACT
Introspection provides data like any other method, from which inferences are made. Furthermore, introspection cannot be used with animal subjects and presents problems in developmental and abnormal psychology. One of the most obvious areas for the use of introspection, and one in which systematic sources of error have been extensively investigated, is psychophysics. The study of perception also illustrates one of the advantages of introspection. Sixty-five per cent of subjects awakened from EEG stage 3 reported that they had not been asleep! Introspection is an obvious method for studying the content of experience. A particularly interesting case of the application of introspection to the study of thinking is that of Newell and Simon, who used protocols both as an initial starting point from which to develop a theory and a final validation. Pilkington and Glasgow argue that the use of introspection may be more difficult than other methods but that it is not substantially different in kind.
