Introspecting in the spirit of William James: comment on Fox, Ericsson, and Best (2011).
Psychological bulletin March 1, 2011 Jonathan W Schooler
On the centennial of William James's death, the author considers how James might have responded to Fox, Ericsson, and Best's (2011) defense of think-aloud protocols for capturing the stream of consciousness. James would likely view the procedure as scientifically rigorous introspection but would caution that it captures substantive verbal thoughts while missing inchoate cognitions. The author also notes that the conclusion that verbal protocols are nonreactive does not speak to their validity and conflicts with findings that verbalization impairs performance on some tasks. James would be pleased that introspection is finally receiving scientific grounding.