Inner Speech

Question 1

Inner speech

Answer 1

Activity of talking to oneself in silence. Around 1/4 of people’s conscious waking life consists of inner speech.

Question 2

Private speech

Answer 2

Speech-for-self emitted outloud by children in social
situations; adults too engage in private speech (when
alone).

Question 3

Self-talk

Answer 3

Talking to oneself either silently or out loud.

Question 4

Describe the progression of inner speech

Answer 4

Social speech -> private speech -> inner speech; private speech can reemerge in adulthood, but takes place when a person is alone.

Question 5

Can inner speech develop prior to social speech?

Answer 5

No it can’t.

Question 6

Can you be conscious without being self-aware?

Answer 6

Yes (eg. babies are conscious but might not necessarily be self aware and know they are hungry).

Question 7

What inner speech is VS what inner speech is not

Answer 7

Question 8

Is thinking inner speech?

Answer 8

Thinking is more than just inner speech.

Question 9

What is the cognitive function of inner speech?

Answer 9

• Verbal self guidance (i.e., self-regulation/control)
• Blocking inner speech produces self-control deficits.

Question 10

What does verbal self-guidance include?

Answer 10

• Setting/remembering goals
• Planning
• Reasoning
• Problem-solving
• Decision-making
• Self-motivating speech

Question 11

What are the addiction functions, besides the cognitive functions, of inner speech?

Answer 11

• Mnemonic function
• Language function
• Task-switching performance
• Rehearsing person-to-person communicative encounters
• Emotional expression
• Learning to differentiate one’s own voice from those of others through private speech use.
• Theory-of-Mind

Question 12

What does dysfunctional self-talk look like?

Answer 12

• May lead to (or maintain) psychological disorders.
• Inner speech use correlates with rumination.
• Asymmetry between positive and negative self-verbalizations.
• Auditory verbal hallucinations experienced by schizophrenic patients - non-monitored inner speech.
• Lack of self-regulatory inner speech in hyperactive children.

Question 13

What are the self-reflective functions of inner speech?

Answer 13

• Verbal labelling of self-characteristics allows one to become fully aware of them and to gradually incorporate them into self-concept.
• One becomes aware of mental states when one generates higher-order thoughts about them; one becomes self-aware when one engages in self-talk (higher-order thought) about one’s current mental states and personal characteristics.

Question 14

Does inner speech lead to self-reflection, or vice versa?

Answer 14

Question 15

Describe how there will be self-awareness deficits following inner speech loss?

Answer 15

• General self-awareness deficit.
• Confused sense of individuality.
• Problems retrieving autobiographical memories.
• Lack of self-conscious emotions.

Question 16

Describe the role of inner speech in the awareness of mind-wandering

Answer 16

• Typically people are unaware of experiencing mind-wandering episodes.
• Inner speech facilitates awareness of mind-wandering (meta-awareness of mind-wandering episodes - specific case of self-reflection).

Question 17

When do people report substantial inner speech use?

Answer 17

• Reports of substantial inner speech use during autobiographical recall and
  prospection in thought sampling studies.
• Reports of substantial inner speech use about self in thought listing studies.

Question 18

What are the problems with the existing inner speech measures (i.e., thought sampling and questionnaires)?

Answer 18

• Uniquely capture frequency and neglect content.
• Classify self-reported thoughts in overly simplistic categories predetermined by researchers.

Question 19

What is the most frequently self-reported inner speech topic?

Answer 19

Inner speech about negative emotions.

Question 20

How and why is inner speech involved in self-reflection?

Answer 20

• Reproduction by inner speech of social mechanisms leading to self-reflection.
• Self-awareness as problem solving process.
• Self-distancing.
• Verbal labelling.

Question 21

How could we make robots self-aware?

Answer 21

Implement inner speech as it serves self-reflective functions, and will make the robot self-aware.