G. Vicario

Experimental phenomenology

Paolo Bozzi’s Experimental Phenomenology October 9, 2018 G. Vicario

Experimental phenomenology is a method for psychological research that treats mental contents of direct experience as experimental variables, rather than physical stimuli or physiological processes. The approach is considered true experimentation, though it has two limits: some mental facts (habits, forgetting) fall outside the phenomenal scene, and it is impossible to distinguish which aspects of a mental fact are causes versus effects. Despite these limits, the method is regarded as the proper approach for psychological research.