Abstract

HONTOU, Cecilia  and  MORIERA, Karen. Private speech in solving problem with adolescents 15 years old. Psicol. Conoc. Soc. [online]. 2017, vol.7, n.1, pp.76-97.  Epub May 31, 2017. ISSN 1688-7026.

The phenomenon of self-addressed speech has been researched from different psychological standpoints. Socio-cultural psychology refers to this as Private Speech (PS). It is defined as an external manifestation of language, which is self-directed and has a self-regulatory function.

PS enables individuals to guide, monitor and evaluate ongoing activities. It appears in moments when people are faced with tasks which demand a high level of cognitive challenge. This is why the relation between PS and problem-solving performance has been researched. Although most of the investigations focus on childhood, there are studies which were carried out by teenagers and adults. Such studies show that PS is a cognitive strategy, which is present throughout the lifespan. The aim of this article is to present the results of a study which focused on PS in teenagers and its relation with the ability to solve problems. To achieve this, the Vygotsky-Saharov Artificial Concept Formation Task (ACFT) was carried out by nineteen 15-year-old teenagers, from two different socio-economic contexts. In addition to this, creating verbal protocols and performing a microgenetic analysis thereof.

Findings add to prior evidence regarding the relation between thought and language since seventeen of nineteen teenagers used PS and showed a significant positive correlation between the use of PS and task performance.

Keywords : Private-Speech; Problem-Solving; Thought & Language.

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