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In a recent study published in Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, psychologists Gary Lupyan (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Daniel Swingley (University of Pennsylvania) conducted a series of experiments to discover whether talking to oneself can help when searching for particular objects. The studies were inspired by observations that people often audibly mutter to themselves when trying to find, for example, a jar of Peanut Butter on a supermarket shelf, or the stick of butter in their fridge.
In the first experiment, participants were shown 20 pictures of various objects and asked to find a particular one. In some trials, participants saw a text label telling them what object they should find (“Please search for the teapot.”) In other trials, the same subjects were asked to search again while actually say the word to themselves. It was found that speaking to themselves helped people find the objects more quickly. -Science Daily
Fiction Writing Prompt: Expand your character sketch. What does your character lose? What does your character do while trying to find the lost item?
Journaling Prompt: Write about what you lose and how you search for the item.
Art Prompt: Muttering
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about how you use the power of talking to yourself.
Photo Credit: See-ming Lee 李思明 SML on Flickr
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