In`tro*spec"tion (?), n. [Cf. F. introspection.]
A view of the inside or interior; a looking inward; specifically, the act or process of self-examination, or inspection of one's own thoughts and feelings; the cognition which the mind has of its own acts and states; self-consciousness; reflection.
I was forced to make an introspection into my own mind.
Dryden.
© Webster 1913.