Psychology suggests talking to yourself out loud may measurably improve cognitive performance and for people who are prone to it, stopping hinders them – Image for illustrative purposes only (Image credits: Unsplash)
Many adults catch themselves describing their actions while navigating routine activities, whether sorting items in a kitchen or retracing steps in an unfamiliar setting. What often feels like an unconscious habit may carry measurable advantages for how the brain handles demanding mental work. A 2023 investigation at UC San Diego examined this form of private speech in controlled conditions to determine its effects on performance.
Testing the Effect in a Controlled Setting
Researchers recruited 103 adults and asked them to complete a visual-spatial memory exercise that required locating matching pairs of hidden images. Each participant completed the task twice, once while remaining silent and once while encouraged to speak their thoughts freely. The order of the conditions was balanced across the group to rule out simple practice effects.
Performance improved noticeably when participants used private speech. Those who produced more spoken commentary during a given trial tended to finish the exercise in fewer attempts, indicating stronger working memory use. The advantage appeared whether the images were straightforward to describe or more abstract and difficult to label.
Habitual Self-Talkers Show the Largest Gains
Participants who reported relying on self-directed speech in daily life experienced the clearest improvement when allowed to speak during the experiment. For these individuals, the instruction to stay quiet appeared to disrupt their usual approach to organizing information. In contrast, those who rarely spoke to themselves showed smaller differences between the two conditions.
This pattern suggests that silence is not always a neutral starting point. For people accustomed to externalizing their thoughts, suppressing that channel may place an extra burden on internal resources alone. The study therefore highlights individual differences rather than claiming a universal benefit.
Three Mechanisms That May Explain the Advantage
Researchers outlined several pathways through which speaking aloud could support cognition. One involves directing attention more sharply toward relevant details and away from distractions. Another creates an additional auditory record that complements visual memory, effectively doubling the cues available for later retrieval.
A third possibility centers on labeling. By naming objects or steps out loud, individuals may connect the current task to broader knowledge stored in long-term memory, which in turn frees up capacity in working memory. These explanations remain proposals rather than proven pathways, and further work would be needed to isolate which factor operates most strongly in different situations.
Practical Context and Remaining Questions
The findings align with observations that many people already use self-talk to manage complex sequences, such as following a familiar recipe or locating an item in a crowded space. Yet the study involved only one type of memory task and a single laboratory session, so broader applications require additional evidence.
Future research could explore whether the same pattern holds for other cognitive domains, such as planning or decision-making under time pressure. It could also examine whether training in private speech produces lasting changes or whether the benefit diminishes once the novelty wears off.
Key points from the research
- Adults completed a card-matching memory task more efficiently when speaking aloud.
- Those who already use self-talk in daily routines gained the most from the opportunity to speak.
- Three possible mechanisms include sharpened attention, dual memory channels, and richer labeling of information.
- Results come from one study and do not apply equally to every person or every task.
Overall, the work reframes a common behavior as a potentially useful strategy rather than a mere quirk. Individuals who already mutter their way through challenges may simply be drawing on a tool that fits how their cognition operates best. Continued investigation will clarify how widely this approach can be applied and under what conditions it delivers the clearest returns.
Jan loves Wildlife and Animals and is one of the founders of Animals Around The Globe. He holds an MSc in Finance & Economics and is a passionate PADI Open Water Diver. His favorite animals are Mountain Gorillas, Tigers, and Great White Sharks. He lived in South Africa, Germany, the USA, Ireland, Italy, China, and Australia. Before AATG, Jan worked for Google, Axel Springer, BMW and others.
