Talking to Yourself: What Research Says About Thinking Out Loud

Talking to yourself is normal, and research suggests it can genuinely help you think. Saying the name of something out loud can help you spot it faster, children use spoken self-talk to plan and stay on task, athletes perform better with the right cue words, and talking to yourself by name can calm nerves before a stressful moment. What the evidence does not show is that people who talk to themselves are geniuses. Self-talk is an ordinary tool of the human mind, and like any tool it works better in some situations than others.

Many of us know the scene: you are hunting for the lotion that rolled under the bed, muttering "where are you?" as you look. Then a stranger on the train catches you mid-sentence, and you feel slightly silly. Here is what psychologists have learned about why we do it and when it pays off.

Is talking to yourself normal?

Yes. Psychologists call audible self-directed speech "private speech": talk that is spoken aloud but not meant for anyone else. It is most visible in children between roughly two and seven, but it does not disappear. In questionnaire studies, young adults report using it often, especially during tasks that demand memory, attention or careful thinking.

Most adult self-talk has simply moved inside, becoming the silent "inner voice" many people use to plan, rehearse conversations or talk themselves through a problem. Speaking aloud is the same process, just with the volume turned up.

Ordinary self-talk is very different from hearing voices that seem to come from outside you, or that you cannot control. If that happens, or if your own thoughts feel frightening or overwhelming, talk to a doctor.

The study behind "say it to find it"

The best-known experiment on this was run by psychologists Gary Lupyan of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Daniel Swingley of the University of Pennsylvania, and published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. They were inspired by a familiar habit: muttering "peanut butter" while scanning supermarket shelves.

In the first task, volunteers looked at screens showing 20 pictures of objects and had to find a named target, such as a teapot. On some trials they simply read the name; on others they said it aloud while searching. Speaking the name helped them find the object faster.

A follow-up "virtual shopping" task used photographs of supermarket shelves rather than a real store. Participants had to find every example of a product, such as bags of apples or bottles of Diet Coke. Saying the name helped for very familiar products, but for a less familiar brand, Speed Stick deodorant, it actually slowed people down.

Lupyan explained that if you don't really know what an object looks like, "saying its name can have no effect or actually slow you down." The likely reason is that a word activates your mental picture of the thing. When that picture is clear, the word sharpens your search; when it is vague, it adds noise.

How children learn by talking to themselves

Two of the most influential child psychologists disagreed about self-talk. Jean Piaget, writing in the 1920s, called it "egocentric speech" and saw it as a sign of immature thinking that would fade. Lev Vygotsky argued the opposite: that children use it to guide themselves, plan steps, pace their actions and check their work, and that it gradually turns into silent inner speech.

Later research has largely supported Vygotsky. Children tend to talk to themselves more when a task is hard or when no adult is helping, and their use of private speech is linked to better task performance. A child fitting toy cars into a garage might narrate "the big truck won't fit, try the small one," which is exactly this kind of self-guidance at work.

For parents and teachers, the practical lesson is simple: a child chatting through a puzzle is usually concentrating, not misbehaving.

Self-talk in sport and skill learning

Sports psychologists have studied self-talk for decades. A 2011 meta-analysis led by Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis, published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, pooled 32 studies and found a moderate overall benefit of self-talk on sports performance.

The effect was larger for tasks that need precision, such as a golf putt or a dart throw, than for tasks of raw power, and larger for new skills than for well-practised ones. Instructional cues such as "elbow up" or "eyes on the ball" were especially useful for fine skills. People who had been trained in how to use self-talk improved most.

The same principle applies off the field. Talking yourself through the steps of a new recipe, a dance routine or a piece of software keeps the sequence in mind while your hands catch up.

Use your own name to calm your nerves

The words you choose matter too. In a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in February 2014, Ethan Kross of the University of Michigan and colleagues looked at what happens when people talk to themselves using "you" or their own name instead of "I".

That small switch, which researchers call distanced self-talk, helped people manage their thoughts and feelings in socially stressful situations such as giving a speech. Kross compared it to advising a friend: it is often easier to see someone else's problem clearly than your own, and using your name puts a little of that distance between you and the worry.

So instead of "I'm going to mess this up," try "Maria, you've prepared for this. Take it one slide at a time."

Myths: genius, madness and Einstein

Myth: talking to yourself is a sign of genius. No study shows that. The research above shows that self-talk can help with particular tasks, and anyone can use it. Clever people do it; so does nearly everyone else.

Myth: talking to yourself means you are going mad. Also false. Self-talk is common and healthy. The warning signs are different: voices you do not recognise as your own, or distress you cannot shake.

The Einstein story. Albert Einstein is often held up as a famous self-talker. According to a biographical essay on the Albert Einstein Archives website, as a boy he was slow to speak and, until about the age of seven, he "used to repeat his sentences to himself softly." That is a charming detail about one child's development, not evidence that self-talk creates brilliance.

How to make self-talk work for you

Name what you are looking for when you know what it looks like. "Blue keys, blue keys" helps; naming something you have never seen does not.
Talk through steps, not just feelings. Short instructions ("loosen the bolts first, then jack it up") keep complex tasks in order.
Switch to your name or "you" before a stressful event to give yourself some perspective.
Keep it kind. Self-talk can be harsh. If your inner voice is constantly critical, notice it and rephrase it the way a supportive coach would.
Write it down when speaking aloud is awkward. Journaling is self-talk on paper and can help organise tangled thoughts before a decision.

And if someone gives you a funny look on the bus, you now know you are in very good, and very ordinary, company.

Sources: ScienceDaily on Lupyan and Swingley (2012); Lupyan & Swingley, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology; Wikipedia: Private speech; Hatzigeorgiadis et al., self-talk and sport performance meta-analysis (2011); University of Michigan on Kross et al. (2014); Albert Einstein Archives: Einstein's childhood. Inspired by an essay by Gigi Engle for Elite Daily, shared via Idealist Revolution.

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