Incidence and functions of self-reported private speech in young adults: A self-verbalization questionnaire.

Abstract

AbstractA self-report questionnaire assessing the use of self-directed was administered 1,132 undergraduateuniversity students. In general, self-verbalization scoreswere high. Exploratory factor analysis produced a four-factor solution that was readily interpretable in terms ofVygotskian theory. Consistent with the view that privatespeech serves as a cognitive tool system, the highest scoreswere reported for questionnaire items loading highly on afactor consisting of cognitive, mnemonic, and attentionaluses of self-verbalization. The scales appear have goodinternal consistency, high test-retest reliability, and goodcontent and criterion validity.ResumeOn a demande a 1132 etudiants au niveau dubaccalaureat de remplir un questionnaire et d'auto-evaluer par le fait meme 1'usage qu'ils font de 1'auto-verbalisation. Dans 1'ensemble, les scores etaient eleves.A resulte d'une analyse factorielle exploratoire uneformule de quatre facteurs que Ton a pu interpreterfacilement d'apres la theorie de Vygotskian. Partant d upoint de vue voulant que 1'autoverbalisation serve desysteme cognitif, les scores les plus eleves sont attribuesaux questions qui insistaient beaucoup sur 1'usage de1'autoverbalisation a des fins cognitives, mnemoniques etattentionnelles. Les echelles devaluation semblentcomporter un bon indice de coherence interne, un coef-ficient de test-retest eleve, et une validite de contenu et decriteres satisfaisante.Private speech is overtly vocalized directed tothe speaker himself or herself. The extensive empiricalliterature on private in children (e.g., Berk, 1992)has been motivated by an ontogenetic hypothesis pro-posed by L.S. Vygotsky (1934/1987,1978). According tothis view, children use overt self-verbalization exten-sively between the ages of three and eight years, afterwhich it is transformed into inner or covertverbal thinking. Vygotsky (1934/1987) argued that theuse of private is limited a particular transi-tional stage (p. 71) in the development of verbal thinkingand that overt self-directed does not occur beyondthe early school years. Recent work (Duncan, 1998)supports the position that adults also use private speechfor the same purposes Vygotsky identified in youngchildren, including analysis of task situations, co-ordina-tion of actions during transitions within tasks, planningand organization, evaluation of or commentary onoutcomes of actions, and emotional discharge(Vygotsky, 1934/1987, p. 70).Private in adults has received little attentionfrom researchers. Kronk (1994) documented privatespeech by 98% of a sample of older adolescents workingon paper-and-pencil tasks. Siegrist (1995) constructed aself-report questionnaire measuring both overt andcovert self-verbalization in undergraduates, specifically,talking to oneself about oneself (p. 259). The presentreport is the first employ the self-report approach tostudy the cognitive and self-regulatory functions ofprivate speech, described by Vygotsky (1934/1987,1978),in young adults.METHODParticipantsThe sample was drawn from introductory psychologyclasses at the University of Waterloo during three consec-utive terms, N = 1,132 (509 males and 623 females), withM age = 20.06 years (SD = 3.29; range = 17 47 years).Materials and ProceduresThe Self-Verbalization Questionnaire (SVQ) is a self-reportinstrument on self-directed speech, comprising 27 itemswith 7-point Likert scales (see Appendix A). Guided byVygotsky's (1934/1987,1978) functional analysis, itemswere chosen capture a range of activities and situa-tions. Copies of the SVQ were included in bookletsdistributed students. One two months following theinitial administration, 46 participants completed the SVQ