Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Introspection \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.

Source : WordNet®

introspection
     n : the contemplation of your own thoughts and desires and
         conduct [syn: {self-contemplation}, {self-examination}]