Abstract
Relations between children’s imaginary companion status and their engagement in private speech during free play were investigated in a socially diverse sample of 5-year-olds (N=148). Controlling for socioeconomic status, receptive verbal ability, total number of utterances, and duration of observation, there was a main effect of imaginary companion status on type of private speech. Children who had imaginary companions were more likely to engage in covert private speech compared with their peers who did not have imaginary companions. These results suggest that the private speech of children with imaginary companions is more internalized than that of their peers who do not have imaginary companions and that social engagement with imaginary beings may fulfill a similar role to social engagement with real-life partners in the developmental progression of private speech.
Highlights
Modern research on the developmental progression of children’s private speech (e.g., Berk & Garvin, 1984; Diaz & Berk, 1992; Winsler & Naglieri, 2003) supports Vygotsky’s (1934/1987) contention that this form of self-talk is gradually internalized during early childhood and transformed into inner speech or verbalized thought
Controlling for socioeconomic status (SES), children’s receptive verbal ability and total number of utterances, and the duration of the play session, there was a main effect of imaginary companion status on private speech
Imaginary companion group children were more likely than their peers who did not have imaginary companions to engage in covert private speech
Summary
Modern research on the developmental progression of children’s private speech (e.g., Berk & Garvin, 1984; Diaz & Berk, 1992; Winsler & Naglieri, 2003) supports Vygotsky’s (1934/1987) contention that this form of self-talk is gradually internalized during early childhood and transformed into inner speech or verbalized thought. Kohlberg and colleagues (1968) reported that children continue to use this covert private speech well into middle childhood, and more recent research has shown that private speech endures as a means of regulating cognitive performance even during adulthood (Duncan & Cheyne, 1999, 2002)
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