Private Speech in Illiterate Adults: Cognitive Functions, Task Difficulty, and Literacy

This work presents an experimental study to contrast the Vygotskian hypothesis on the influence of private speech on task performance, modulated by task difficulty, and its development between 3 and 7 years of age. We employed a method to manipulate private speech, an individual calibration method for establishing task difficulty, and a comparison between different age groups (5, 7 and 9 years). Our results show a significant interaction between use of private speech and task difficulty on the number of self-addressed utterances: only in the free speech condition does the number of utterances adopt an inverted U distribution as a function of task difficulty. When utterance content is considered, the relationship appears only for utterances classified as “task relevant”. Another significant interaction effect appears on task performance. In the free speech condition with medium and high levels of difficulty, private speech makes a significant contribution to task performance. No significant age effects were found either on the number of utterances or on task performance.

We compared the development of spontaneous private speech and its relationship to self-controlled behavior in a sample of 6- to 12-year-olds with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and matched normal controls. Thirty-eight boys were observed in their classrooms while engaged in math seatwork. Results revealed that ADHD children were delayed in private speech development in that they engaged in more externalized, self-fuiding and less inaudible, internalized speech than normal youngsters. Several findings suggest that the developmental lag was a consequence of a highly unmanageable attentional system that prevents ADHD children's private speech from gaining efficient mastery over behavior. First, self-guiding speech was associated with greater attentional focus only among the least distractible ADHD boys. Second, the most mature, internalized speech forms were correlated with self-stimulating behavior for ADHD subjects but not for controls. Third, observations of ADHD children both on and off stimulant medication indicated that reducing their symptoms substantially increased the maturity of private speech and its association with motor quiescence and attention to task. Results suggest that the Vygotskian hypothesis of a unidirectional path of influence from private speech to self-controlled behavior should be expanded into a bidirectional model. These findings may also shed light on why treatment programs that train children with attentional deficits in speech-to-self have shown limited efficacy.

The purpose of this study was to describe and explore private speech in helping students self-regulation in solving mathematics problems for students of the Informatics Education Study Program. The approach used in this research is a qualitative approach, with the type of descriptive research. The research subjects were 12 students from 50 Informatics education students. The instruments used are description tests, interviews, questionnaires and observations as well as audio-visual recordings. Data analysis techniques were carried out in three ways, namely, data reduction, data presentation and drawing conclusions. There are three stages in this research, namely the preparation, implementation and report stages. The results of the research in the form of interviews and observations in general are obtained that private speech in its role is very helpful for self-regation, where private speech plays an important role in controlling student attitudes, and increasing academic values and student concentration. Various self-regation experienced by students but it does not become a negative influence on the behavior and daily life of students. Self-regulation experienced by students is controlling student attitudes and behavior when using private speech. Students always do assignments responsibly and on time using private speech, as many as 25% of students choose strongly agree, 58% choose agree and 17% choose less agree. The use of private speech makes students lazy to study, as many as 33% of students chose not to agree and 67% of students did not agree. Good self-regation makes students focus on solving problems, as many as 92% of students choose strongly agree and 8% of students choose agree. Academic value increased by using private speech with good self-regulation, as many as 17% of students strongly agreed and 58% of students agreed and 25% of students did not agree. Private speech is done when they find it difficult to solve problems, as much as 25% choose strongly agree, 42% agree and 33% disagree. Self-regation affects academic scores as much as 33% choose strongly agree, 42% agree and 25% disagree

Although by 370 b.c. Hippocrates had concluded that the brain played a role in the generation of behavior (Carlson, 2003), it was not until seminal studies performed in the 1860s that specific human cognitive abilities began to be mapped onto regions of the brain with some accuracy. Postmortem studies by Paul Broca and Karl Wernicke allowed individuals' cognitive deficits to be linked tentatively to lesions discovered in specific brain regions. It was not until almost a century later that the advent of noninvasive neuroimaging techniques allowed the functional neuroanatomy of the brain of a living individual to be visualized for the first time. The striking contemporary images produced by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have allowed researchers to examine in detail the neural correlates of a wide range of cognitive processes such as visual perception, speech perception, and short-term memory.

Background: According to Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, private speech functions both as a tool for thought regulation and as a transitional form between outer and inner speech. However, its role in adult second language (L2) learning-and the neural mechanisms supporting it-remains insufficiently understood. This study thus examined whether private speech facilitates L2 oral production and investigated its underlying neural mechanisms, including the extent to which private speech resembles inner speech in its regulatory function and the transitional nature of private speech. Methods: In Experiment 1, to identify natural users of private speech, 64 Chinese-speaking L2 English learners with varying proficiency levels were invited to complete a picture-description task. In Experiment 2, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to examine the neural mechanisms of private speech in 32 private speech users identified in Experiment 1. Results: Experiment 1 showed that private speech facilitates L2 oral production. Experiment 2 revealed that private and inner speech elicited highly similar patterns of functional connectivity. Among high-proficiency learners, private speech exhibited enhanced connectivity between the language network and the thought-regulation network, indicating involvement of higher-order cognitive processes. In contrast, among low-proficiency learners, connectivity was primarily restricted to language-related regions, suggesting that private speech supports basic linguistic processing at early stages. Furthermore, both private and outer speech showed stronger connectivity in speech-related brain regions. Conclusions: This is the first study to examine the neural mechanisms of private speech in L2 learners by using fNIRS. The findings provide novel neural evidence that private speech serves as both a regulatory scaffold and a transitional form bridging outer and inner speech. Its cognitive function appears to evolve with increasing L2 proficiency.

This study investigates the use of language while engaged in solving a complex spatial problem. Children with specific language impairment (SLI) have been reported to lag behind age peers in certain cognitive tasks, despite normal range non-verbal intelligence test scores. It was hypothesized that these delays could reflect some failure to employ language to direct and facilitate thought. Dyads of preschool children were taped during a three-dimensional construction task. Task-relevant utterances were then coded for function and addressee. The speech of six children with SLI, aged 4;10, was compared with that of two control groups, one matched by age, the other by language level. The SLI group used less problem-solving speech and fewer modal expressions than their age peers. Not all differences were statistically significant, but the pattern of findings indicated that what differences did occur were due to overall reductions in the amount of speech rather than any specific failure to use language as a tool of thought. Correlations between the use of problem-solving speech and a measure of cognitive style indicated clear group differences. For children in the control groups, greater use of private speech was associated with greater cognitive efficiency; for children in the SLI group the relationship was in the opposite direction, greater use of private speech being associated with less cognitive efficiency. In all three groups, problem-solving speech could be addressed either to partner or to self, although some individual preferences were observed. The findings, while preliminary, suggest new directions for studies of cognitive deficits in children with SLI. They also indicate the importance of including socially directed utterances, and controls for language proficiency, in future research on private speech.

This study compared theoretical predictions of Piaget (1926) and Vygotsky (1962) about the development of children's private speech by extending earlier work of Kohlberg et al. (1968) and Berk & Garvin (1984) focusing on elementary school children downward to preschool children. 93 3-to 5-year olds attending 5 nursery school and day care programs were each observed for 12 10-minute segments distributed over the morning session of the school day, totaling 2 hours of observation per child. Berk & Garvin's (1984) category system, enabling a direct comparison of Piaget's and Vygotsky's theories, was used to code the observations. Results supported the Kohlberg et al. developmental sequence and Vygotsky's theory about the social origins of private speech. Piaget's explanation of private speech as indicator of the child's cognitive inability to take the perspective of others was not supported. In agreement with previous reserch, girls and middle class children showed more mature forms of private speech than boys and lower class children.

Studies investigating repetition in SL/FL learners' private speech have focused mainly on its cognitive and metacognitive functions. In the present study, the classroom observations, video-recordings of lessons, audio-recordings of six learners and two teachers and simulated recall interviews were conducted in Japanese language classes over two semesters. Repetition was found to have not only cognitive and metacognitive functions such as processing and monitoring, but also social and affective functions such as increasing learners' involvement and enjoyment. Repetition appears to promote learners' participation in both classroom and conversational situations.

Similarities and differences in the views of private or egocentric speech held by Piaget, Vygotsky, G. H. Mead, and Flavell are examined. These views are related to previous findings and to four new studies of the effects of age, IQ, and task difficulty upon private speech in various natural and experimental settings. These studies support the interpretation common to all the theorists in that mental age and task difficulty were found to be primary and regular determinants of private speech in contrast to such factors as sex, nationality, or chronological as opposed to mental age. The findings also support Vygotsky's belief that private speech has a curvilinear course of development (due to its functioning as a transition from outer speech to thought) as opposed to Piaget's view that it declines monotonically with cognitive and social maturity. 7 types of private speech are defined and evidence is presented suggesting that they form a developmental hierarchy consistent with Mead's view of the transformations of external communication to inner thought.

ABSTRACTThis study focuses on children who go through a ‘silent’ period early in the course of second language development, during which they largely cease verbal communication with speakers of the second language (English). Video recordings with radio microphones under natural conditions revealed that most of these children engaged in extensive private speech, which they were found to use for a variety of intrapersonal learning strategies, including (1) repetition of others' utterances, (2) recall and practice, (3) creation of new linguistic forms, (4) paradigmatic substitution and syntagmatic expansion, and (5) rehearsal for overt social performance. Quantity and quality of private speech was related not only to the children's level of cognitive development and the difficulty of the learning task (confirming previous research), but also to the children's social orientation and learning style, and to the domain of knowledge (language) that was being acquired.

This study examined the impact of social and economic factors on the uptake of HIV/AIDS care in Kibra Sub County, Nairobi. The research was grounded in Behavioral theory and focused on how household income, literacy levels, and access to health information influenced the adoption of HIV/AIDS treatment. A descriptive survey design approach was employed, involving a sample of 365 households chosen through simple random and stratified sampling techniques from target population of 61,690 households, as outlined by Krejcie and Morgan's formula. Data collection was carried out using key informant interviews and self-administered questionnaires. Descriptive techniques, such as frequency and median analysis, as well as inferential techniques, such as bivariate correlation analysis, chi-square testing, and binomial logistic regression, were used. The results were displayed using tables, graphs, and percentages. Thematic analysis was also used to examine qualitative data in order to find new topics. The analysis revealed a strong positive relationship between access to health information and the likelihood of seeking treatment. Households with higher income and literacy levels were more likely to pursue HIV/AIDS care. Quantitative results showed that access to HIV-related information increased the likelihood of treatment uptake by 6.666 times. Additionally, increased household income and higher literacy levels were linked to a 7.434-fold and 3.554-fold rise, respectively, in the probability of seeking care. The study concluded that socio-economic factors, particularly income, literacy, and information access, significantly influenced healthcare-seeking behaviors in Kibra. To enhance access to HIV/AIDS treatment, it is recommended that policymakers, NGOs, and other stakeholders implement targeted interventions, including income-generating programs and comprehensive health education, to address the socio-economic barriers that hinder healthcare uptake.

Background: The rapid growth of financial technology in Pakistan has transformed the way people, especially the youth, experience financial services. However, limited evidence is available in relation to digital financial literacy among university students and how it steers their fintech usage. Objective: The present study focused on assessing DFL levels and preferred fintech services among Pakistani university students while analyzing the differences in gender and academic fields. Methods: In this study, a descriptive cross-sectional survey of 235 university students from diverse disciplines was carried out using a structured, self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire measured DFL with a 12-item Likert scale (Cronbach's α = 0.854) and measured fintech usage patterns. Data analysis was done using SPSS, version 23. Results: The average DFL score was 3.32 ± 0.70, which denotes a moderate level of literacy. No significant difference was observed between male and female students (p = 0.878), but significant differences were present across academic disciplines (p < 0.001), with students in Computer/IT and Engineering having higher levels of literacy. Mobile banking applications were used most frequently at 42.13%, mainly for convenience and time-saving, whereas security concerns remain the major barrier. Conclusion: University students in Pakistan exhibit a moderate level of digital financial literacy with frequent use of fintech. DFL should be improved through academic integration and awareness programs to facilitate safe and inclusive fintech adoption.

Financial literacy level of MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) is only 15.68% and majority of the actors are unbanked. The level of MSMEs actors’ financial literacy is important in business sustainability. This study aims to measure level of MSMEs financial literacy and determine its correlation with demographic and economic variables as well as designing models to increase the literacy.Results show that 51 (25.5%) actors of MSMEs have low literacy level, 105 (52.5%) have moderate level, and the rest of 44 (22%) have high literacy level. Contingency Coefficient of <0.6 indicates that demographic and socioeconomic correlation is less strong in level of literacy.

Western study of private speech has been mostly directed at looking for empirical data to test L. S. Vygotsky's hypotheses (Vygotsky, 1934/1987). The great majority of empirical studies have been focused on three main aspects of private speech: (a) its origin and evolution; (b) its cognitive function and relations with task performance; and (c) the structure of private speech productions (Berk, 1992; Díaz, 1992; Fuson, 1979; Krafft & Berk, 1998; Montero, de Dios, & Huertas, 2006; Winsler, 2006; Winsler, de León, Carlton, & Willson-Quayle, 2003; Winsler, Díaz, & Montero, 1997; Zivin, 1979).

Pupillary responses as a biomarker of cognitive effort and the impact of task difficulty on reward processing in schizophrenia