Brainspeak: Chatting with Ourselves
Scientists are now studying the verbal communication we use with ourselves when thinking. According to Charles Fernyhough, a professor of psychology at Durham University in England, writing in the August 2017 “Scientific American,” researchers have divided this self-speak into two types: private speech, when what we say to ourselves is audible; and inner speech, for silent thought processes.* Both can be monologs or dialogs resembling conversations between opposing points of view. Sometimes private speech and inner speech are condensed—like verbal shorthand.
Do we always think in words? Do we observe non-verbally or think in actions? Temple Grandin, professor of animal science at Colorado State University and consultant to the livestock industry on animal psychology and humane practices, wrote of her thought processes in her book: “Thinking in Pictures: Other Reports from My Life with Autism.” She struggled with communication and overcame mental challenges in translating her picture-thinking into words. Perhaps Dr. Grandin is on one extreme end of the spectrum of how humans think.
After reading Dr. Fernyhough’s article, I became more mindful of how I think. In pictures? In words? Both or neither? While picking blueberries, a seemingly mindless task, I caught myself counting—up to about 26, then beginning again. A theory is that this type of organized thinking goes back to childhood when we learned speech from others and used dialog with ourselves in order to arrange our own actions. This idea was advanced in the 1930s by Russian psychologist, Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky.*
Occasionally my inner speech spills over into private (aloud) speech when I’m alarmed or taken by surprise and when I feel strong opinions about the televised daily news. I have noticed myself saying something like “beautiful” out loud when I see a gorgeous rose in bloom or a stunning skyscape.
I do not believe I think in words when receiving verbal instructions, for instance, during yoga class. Why repeat the instructor’s words to myself? I “just do it.” When following written directions, such as a recipe, do I repeat these words to myself? Probably, as that is how I read.
An outgrowth of Vygotsky’s theory contends that thinking is a mental dialog in which we internalize styles of conversations we have with others. Apparently, Plato believed this before Vygotsky.* I haven’t yet discovered whether my inner speech is a dialog or whether it’s just a series of comments or instructions to myself. Perhaps in decision-making, where pros and cons come into play, my thinking takes the shape of a dialog. I will study this further.
In his article, Fernyhough allows that thinking styles may be adapted to different functions which “quite possibly have different neural underpinnings.”*
How does thinking in words/dialog affect creativity? Reading and writing? Fernyhough says, “The moment you open a book, your inner speech is hijacked in all kinds of interesting ways.”* Do you hear different voices in your head when you read the dialog of fictional characters? Or an authoritative voice, maybe a humorous one, in a book of nonfiction? Do you ever find you are thinking and reacting, even speaking, as a strong fictional character after you laid the book aside? As an adolescent, I would float out of a movie theater, feeling like one of the characters I’d admired on the screen. The persona must have got into my head! There is a name for this: “experiential crossing,” as defined by Marco Bernini of Durham University.*
And what about writing? Is the voice you write in the same one you think or speak in? When creating fictional characters, how does a writer differentiate each voice so as to not be a carbon copy of the way the writer speaks and thinks? I’m sure effective writers have favorite methods that work. One possibility is to listen carefully to others’ speech patterns, terms habitually used, and body language as they speak. A friend who writes memoirs for people tapes their replies to a questionnaire and uses their words verbatim in the memoirs. Transcribing the speech of others could be a way to incorporate new voices in writing.
Thinking, speaking, reading, writing—it’s what we do! But you might find it interesting to observe your own inner “chats.” As Fernyhough says, “the voices of inner speech have much to tell us.”*
* All references to Charles Fernyhough, “Talking to Ourselves,” “Scientific American” magazine, pages 76-79, August 2017.
Do we always think in words? Do we observe non-verbally or think in actions? Temple Grandin, professor of animal science at Colorado State University and consultant to the livestock industry on animal psychology and humane practices, wrote of her thought processes in her book: “Thinking in Pictures: Other Reports from My Life with Autism.” She struggled with communication and overcame mental challenges in translating her picture-thinking into words. Perhaps Dr. Grandin is on one extreme end of the spectrum of how humans think.
After reading Dr. Fernyhough’s article, I became more mindful of how I think. In pictures? In words? Both or neither? While picking blueberries, a seemingly mindless task, I caught myself counting—up to about 26, then beginning again. A theory is that this type of organized thinking goes back to childhood when we learned speech from others and used dialog with ourselves in order to arrange our own actions. This idea was advanced in the 1930s by Russian psychologist, Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky.*
Occasionally my inner speech spills over into private (aloud) speech when I’m alarmed or taken by surprise and when I feel strong opinions about the televised daily news. I have noticed myself saying something like “beautiful” out loud when I see a gorgeous rose in bloom or a stunning skyscape.
I do not believe I think in words when receiving verbal instructions, for instance, during yoga class. Why repeat the instructor’s words to myself? I “just do it.” When following written directions, such as a recipe, do I repeat these words to myself? Probably, as that is how I read.
An outgrowth of Vygotsky’s theory contends that thinking is a mental dialog in which we internalize styles of conversations we have with others. Apparently, Plato believed this before Vygotsky.* I haven’t yet discovered whether my inner speech is a dialog or whether it’s just a series of comments or instructions to myself. Perhaps in decision-making, where pros and cons come into play, my thinking takes the shape of a dialog. I will study this further.
In his article, Fernyhough allows that thinking styles may be adapted to different functions which “quite possibly have different neural underpinnings.”*
How does thinking in words/dialog affect creativity? Reading and writing? Fernyhough says, “The moment you open a book, your inner speech is hijacked in all kinds of interesting ways.”* Do you hear different voices in your head when you read the dialog of fictional characters? Or an authoritative voice, maybe a humorous one, in a book of nonfiction? Do you ever find you are thinking and reacting, even speaking, as a strong fictional character after you laid the book aside? As an adolescent, I would float out of a movie theater, feeling like one of the characters I’d admired on the screen. The persona must have got into my head! There is a name for this: “experiential crossing,” as defined by Marco Bernini of Durham University.*
And what about writing? Is the voice you write in the same one you think or speak in? When creating fictional characters, how does a writer differentiate each voice so as to not be a carbon copy of the way the writer speaks and thinks? I’m sure effective writers have favorite methods that work. One possibility is to listen carefully to others’ speech patterns, terms habitually used, and body language as they speak. A friend who writes memoirs for people tapes their replies to a questionnaire and uses their words verbatim in the memoirs. Transcribing the speech of others could be a way to incorporate new voices in writing.
Thinking, speaking, reading, writing—it’s what we do! But you might find it interesting to observe your own inner “chats.” As Fernyhough says, “the voices of inner speech have much to tell us.”*
* All references to Charles Fernyhough, “Talking to Ourselves,” “Scientific American” magazine, pages 76-79, August 2017.
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Thanks for your thoughtful comment on thinking. Interesting how you "become" characters as you read. I assume your own fictional characters become real to you as you write, as well, and that's how you make their voices unique.
Thanks Jean -- enjoyed this