Sociocultural influences on the development of verbal mediation: Private speech and phonological recoding in Saudi Arabian and British samples.
Open accessAbstract
Cross-national stability in private speech (PS) and short-term memory was investigated in Saudi Arabian (n = 63) and British (n = 58) 4- to 8-year-olds. Assumed differences in child-adult interaction between the 2 nationality groups led to predictions of Gender x Nationality interactions in the development of verbal mediation. British boys used more self-regulatory PS than British girls, whereas there was no such difference for the Saudi group. When age, verbal ability, and social speech were controlled, boys used slightly more self-regulatory PS than girls. Self-regulatory PS was related to children's use of phonological recoding of visually presented material in a short-term memory task, suggesting that PS and phonological recoding represent different facets of a domain-general transition toward verbal mediation in early childhood.
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The vehicle for inner speech is natural language, including signed languages known to operate as a medium for private and inner self-directed signing.
“The vehicle for IS is natural language, including signed languages known to operate as a medium for private and inner self-directed signing [128].”
From Inner speech as language process and cognitive tool (2023) · cites this paper as [128]
Recent empirical research has been largely supportive of Vygotskian claims about the functional significance of private speech, particularly its relations to task difficulty and task performance, and its developmental trajectory.
“Recent empirical research has been largely supportive of Vygotskian claims about the functional significance of private speech, particularly its relations to task difficulty and task performance (Al-Namlah, Fernyhough, & Meins, 2006; Fernyhough & Fradley, 2005; Winsler, Fernyhough, & Montero, 2009), and its developmental trajectory (Winsler & Naglieri, 2003).”
From Inner Speech: Development, Cognitive Functions, Phenomenology, and Neurobiology (2015) · cites this paper as Al-Namlah, Fernyhough, & Meins, 2006
Al-Namlah et al. (2006) found that use of self-regulatory private speech on a "Tower of London" task correlated with the size of the phonological similarity effect, an index of inner speech use in working memory.
“They found that use of self-regulatory private speech on a “Tower of London” task (a commonly used measure of planning, where participants must move rings on a set of poles to match a particular arrangement) correlated with the size of the phonological similarity effect, an index of inner speech use in working memory.”
From Inner Speech: Development, Cognitive Functions, Phenomenology, and Neurobiology (2015) · cites this paper as Al-Namlah et al. (2006)
Private speech on tower tasks increases with task difficulty and correlates with other indicators of verbal strategy use.
“Private speech on such tasks has been observed to increase in relation to task difficulty in children (Fernyhough & Fradley, 2005) and correlates with other indicators of verbal strategy use, such as susceptibility to the phonological similarity effect on STM tasks (Al-Namlah et al., 2006).”
From Inner Speech: Development, Cognitive Functions, Phenomenology, and Neurobiology (2015) · cites this paper as Al-Namlah et al., 2006
The use of verbal strategies in recall, switching, and planning, and correlations among them, suggest a domain-general shift to verbal mediation in early childhood.
“The apparent use of verbal strategies in recall, switching, and planning tasks, and correlations among them (e.g., Al-Namlah et al., 2006), are suggestive of a domain-general shift to verbal mediation in early childhood”
From Inner Speech: Development, Cognitive Functions, Phenomenology, and Neurobiology (2015) · cites this paper as Al-Namlah et al., 2006
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Spontaneous verbal rehearsal in a memory task as a function of age
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Self-citationBerk, L. E. (1986) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.22.5.671 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
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Inner Speech: Development, Cognitive Functions, Phenomenology, and Neurobiology
Alderson-Day, B., & Fernyhough, C. (2015) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/bul0000021 · Cited by 808 · see citing works
“To date, there have been few attempts to integrate the Vygotskian and working memory approaches to inner speech (although see Al-Namlah et al., 2006).”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationDumontheil, I. (2014) · Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2014.07.009 · Cited by 293 · see citing works
Lidstone, J. S. M., Meins, E., & Fernyhough, C. (2010) · Journal of Experimental Child Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2010.06.002 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Self-citationThe “Batman Effect”: Improving Perseverance in Young Children
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“velopmental precursor, private speech [129].”
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Individual differences in children’s private speech: the role of imaginary companions
Davis, P. E., Meins, E., & Fernyhough, C. (2013) · Journal of Experimental Child Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2013.06.010 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Al-Namlah, A. S., Fernyhough, C., & Meins, E.
- Affiliations
- Durham University (GB)
- Venue
- Developmental Psychology
- Published
- 2006
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 117-131
- ISSN
- 0012-1649 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-0599
- OpenAlex
- W2156228660
- Cited by
- 90
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 3.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Developmental Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (acceptedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Durham University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Representations and Identity
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Keywords
- private speech, verbal mediation, phonological recoding, short-term memory, cross-national comparison, Saudi Arabian children, British children, gender differences, adult-child interaction, self-regulation, early childhood cognitive development, verbal ability
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Child, Child, Preschool, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Culture, United Kingdom, Humans, Phonetics, Saudi Arabia, Schools, Speech, Verbal Behavior, Negotiating, Private Sector
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