Investigating Inner Speech: Results from an Empirical Study

The article addresses the empirical investigation of inner speech. After a brief introduction into the theory of inner speech, the analysis of four speaking-and-thinking types on the basis of thinking aloud protocols belonging to a comprehensive empirical study on inner speech is presented. Departing from the empirical evidence of strong correlations between inner speech and problem solving, qualitative aspects of speech are considered, illustrating the relevance of interiorisation processes by means of empirical data. Specifically, the central function of interpsychic processes in terms of the individual speech quality becomes clear. Concluding, the interaction between interpsychic processes and interiorised, intrapsychic processes is discussed: the mediated and mediating function of speech and its dynamic character in both directions – outward to others and inward to oneself – gets obvious.