Introspection

• Wundt's technique of introspection can be classed as scientific as it marked the separation of modern scientific psychology from its broader philosophical roots.
• Recorded introspections within a controlled lab environment and standardised procedures so that all participants received the same information and were tested in the same way.
• For this reason, Wundt's research can be considered a forerunner to the later scientific approaches in psychology that were to come.
• Wundt's technique of introspection may be classed as unscientific as it is criticised for being subjective.
• Wundt relied on participants self-reporting their 'private' mental processes, however, such data is subjective, and participants may not have wanted to reveal some of the thoughts they were having.
• They would also not have had exactly the same thoughts every time, so establishing general principles wouldn't have been possible.
• Therefore, Wundt's early efforts to study the mind were naive and wouldn't meet the criteria of scientific enquiry.