Thinking Out Loud or Speaking In Loud: A Review on Inner Speech

Abstract

Talking to oneself is not heard by anyone but us. So many terms have been used to indicate “inner speech”: inner voice, self-talk, verbal thoughts, etc. This psychic phenomenon refers to the silent production of words in one’s mind. Inner speech plays a central role in human consciousness, providing guidance for the growth of the individual. Sharing Vygotsky’s ideas, a central aspect of his theorizing is that inner speech is developmentally the internalisation of the external dialogues between children and their parents or other caregivers. This process follows four stages of internalization: external dialogue (level 1), private speech (level 2), expanded inner speech (level 3), condensed inner speech (level 4). Children’s private speech represents, indeed, a waystation on the developmental path between external and inner speech. Thus, the socio-cultural tool or symbol system of language, first used for interpersonal communication, is used by the child overtly not for communication with others but for intrapersonal communication and self-guidance. A monitoring deficit in inner speech may result in auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH), have in common neurobiological correlates. History and art have shown for a long time the power of this phenomenon as a guide for creativity and growth of society.