Talking out loud to yourself is perfectly normal—and even beneficial. It can facilitate problem-solving and improve how well you perform at a task, says Gary Lupyan, a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has researched self-talk. One of his studies involved asking people to search for different objects, like a picture of a fork among a set of random photographs. When participants said the name of what they were looking for out loud, they were able to find it much faster than when they didn’t. “The idea is that it helps keep its visual appearance active in your mind as you’re searching,” he says. That means if you lose your car keys, it might be helpful to chant “keys, keys, keys” to yourself as you dash around the house looking for them.
Self-talk can be motivating, too, Lupyan points out. In one study, basketball players performed faster and better when they talked through their moves out loud in an encouraging or instructional way. It can also help keep you focused, especially in a situation that requires lots of different steps. “Language is good at sequencing things,” he says. “It helps people stay on task and know when to switch.”
The full article, “The Surprising Benefits of Talking Out Loud to Yourself,” is available here.