Les ruminations mentales sont majoritairement exprimées sous forme verbale et il a été proposé de les considérer, par conséquent, comme une forme dysfonctionnelle de parole intérieure (i.e., production mentale de parole). D’autre part, les recherches sur la psychophysiologie de la parole intérieure ont révélé que les processus neuronaux impliqués dans la parole à voix haute et dans la parole intérieure sont similaires. Ces observations sont cohérentes avec l’idée que certaines formes de parole intérieure pourraient être considérées comme une forme de simulation de la parole à voix haute, de la même manière que certaines actions imaginées peuvent être considérées comme le résultat d’une simulation de l’action correspondante (par exemple, marcher et s’imaginer en train de marcher). En d’autres termes, l’hypothèse de la simulation motrice suggère que le système moteur de la parole devrait également être impliqué lors de la production de parole intérieure. L’hypothèse corollaire peut être formulée, selon laquelle la production de parole intérieure (et de ruminations) devrait être perturbée par une perturbation du système moteur de la parole. Nous avons mené une série de cinq études visant à sonder le rôle du système moteur de la parole dans les ruminations. Dans l’ensemble, nos résultats soulignent que, bien que la rumination verbale puisse être considérée comme une forme de parole intérieure, elle ne semble pas recruter spécifiquement le système moteur de la parole. Plus précisément, nous soutenons que la rumination peut être considérée comme une forme de parole intérieure particulièrement condensée, qui s’exprimerait sous la forme d’une représentation phonologique, et dont les traits articulatoires ne seraient pas complètements spécifiés. Nous faisons le lien entre ces résultats et l’hypothèse théorique du cadre “habitude-but” de la rumination dépressive et nous discutons de leurs implications pour les théories de la production de parole intérieure. / Rumination is known to be a predominantly verbal process and has been proposed to be considered as such as a dysfunctional form of inner speech (i.e., the silent production of words in one’s mind). On the other hand, research on the psychophysiology of inner speech revealed that the neural processes involved in overt and covert speech tend to be very similar. This is coherent with the idea that some forms of inner speech could be considered as a kind of simulation of overt speech, in the same way as imagined actions can be considered as the result of a simulation of the corresponding overt action (e.g., walking and imagined walking). In other words, the motor simulation hypothesis suggests that the speech motor system should be involved as well during inner speech production. The corollary hypothesis might be drawn, according to which the production of inner speech (and rumination) should be disrupted by a disruption of the speech motor system. We conducted a series of five studies aiming to probe the role of the speech motor system in rumination. Overall, our results highlight that although verbal rumination may be considered as a form of inner speech, it might not specifically involve the speech motor system. More precisely, we argue that rumination might be considered as a particularly strongly condensed form of inner speech that does not systematically involve fully specified articulatory features. We discuss these findings in relation to the habit-goal framework of depressive rumination and we discuss the implications of these findings for theories of inner speech production.

[Truncted abstract] A number of studies have provided evidence that individuals with autism have poor semantic processing of verbal information, instead gaining greater meaning from pictorial information. The aims of this thesis were, to firstly, investigate the verbal and pictorial encoding abilities of children with autism, and secondly, to determine the extent to which limitations in the use of inner speech may drive any encoding differences. The first study investigated the notion that children with autism have an atypical verbal processing style, showing poor semantic but enhanced phonological encoding of verbal stimuli. The experiment compared the performance of children with autism and ability-matched controls (N = 20 in each group) on a novel explicit verbal recall task that contained 20 word stimuli. Recall performance could be benefited through, in one condition, an understanding of the semantic links between the stimuli, and in another condition, an understanding of the phonological similarities between the stimuli. The design of the recall task controlled for the possibility that children with autism have poor retrieval strategies (by providing either a semantic or phonological retrieval cue) and hence maximized the likelihood that any between-groups differences in performance would be related to problems at the encoding stage. There was no difference between the two groups. Follow up comparisons revealed that the performance of the autism group was consistent with that of typically developing children of the same chronological age. The idea that individuals with autism have increased facility for processing pictorial information (Kamio & Toichi, 2000) was then investigated.

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Inner speech has been implicated in Vygotsky´s theory of cognitive development. Converging evidence suggests that language skills as well as self-directed speech, in particular inner speech, is important for cognitive functions. However, the role of self-directed speech (including inner speech) in the relation between language skills and cognition have remained unclear. Despite a growing body of studies on the neural substrate of inner and overt speech, evidences of the neural differences between inner and overt speech have remained diffuse. The present dissertation aimed at filling the gap by investigating inner speech and its process of internalization with behavioral and neuroscientific methods. One study addressed the role of self-directed speech in the interplay between language skills and cognition by using the Tower of London task in children. Two studies addressed the neural correlates of the differences between inner and overt speech in adults and children during a picture-naming task by simultaneously applying the electroencephalography and functional near-infrared spectroscopy. The results of the first study confirmed that the internalization of speech is related to children´s cognition although it cannot explain the relation between language skills and problem-solving. The second study showed that inner speech is not overt speech without articulation, even more it is that prior phonological processes are downregulated. Moreover, the study showed that the brain differentiates between inner and overt speech even when no linguistic and motoric process is necessary. The results of the third study showed less differences between inner and overt speech in children indicating that inner speech is not yet adult-like. Even more it seems that inner speech represents linguistically the same like overt speech in the children´s brain.:Table of Content Danksagung VIII Bibliographische Darstellung X Zusammenfassung XI Summary XVI Theoretical Part 1 1 Introduction and Overview 2 1.1 Introduction 2 1.2 Theoretical Background 4 1.3 Development of Inner Speech 15 1.4 Behavioral Significance of Inner Speech 17 1.4.1 The Link between Inner Speech and Cognition 18 1.4.2 The Link between Inner Speech and Language 22 1.4.3 The Link between Language Skills and Cognition 23 1.5 Psycholinguistic and Biological Significance of Inner Speech 25 1.5.1 Speech Production Model 27 1.5.2 Differences between Inner and Overt Speech in the Brain 32 1.6 Overview of the Goals and Research Questions 42 2 Study Designs and Methodologies 46 2.1 Behavioral Methods 46 2.1.1 Tower of London 46 2.2 Neuroscientific Methods 51 2.2.1 Electroencephalography 52 2.2.1.1 Physiological Principles of the EEG 52 2.2.1.2 Technical Principles of the EEG 55 2.2.1.3 EEG Frequency Bands 57 2.2.1.4 Event-related Brain Potentials (ERPs) 58 2.2.2 Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy 59 2.2.2.1 Physical Principles of the fNIRS 59 2.2.2.2 Physiological Principles of the fNIRS 65 2.2.2.3 Technical Principles of the fNIRS - Measurement Setup 66 Empirical Part 68 Preliminary Note 69 3 Study 1 - The role of self-directed speech in problem-solving 70 3.1 Introduction 70 3.1.1 The Association between Language Skills and Executive Functions 71 3.1.2 The association between language skills and use of self-directed speech 72 3.1.3 The role of self-directed speech in Executive Functions 73 3.1.3.1 Quantitative and qualitative analysis of self-directed speech 73 3.1.3.2 Dual-task method 74 3.1.3.3 Triggering self-directed speech 75 3.2 The present study 76 3.3 Material and Method 78 3.3.1 Participants 78 3.3.2 General procedure 79 3.3.3 Measures 79 3.3.3.1 Language Skills 79 3.3.3.2 Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary 79 3.3.3.3 Expressive Grammar 80 3.3.3.4 Receptive Grammar 80 3.3.3.5 Non-verbal intelligence (IQ) 81 3.3.3.6 Complex EF (problem-solving ability) 81 3.3.4 Coding speech 84 3.3.4.1 Quantity 85 3.3.4.2 Quality: Internalization 85 3.3.4.3 Quality: Spatial language 86 3.3.4.4 Quality: Planning function 86 3.3.4.5 Quality: Grammatical completeness 87 3.3.4.6 Interrater reliability 87 3.4 Results 88 3.4.1 Preliminary analyses 88 3.4.1.1 Factor analysis 88 3.4.1.2 Bivariate Correlations between all study measures 88 3.4.2 Main analyses 90 3.4.2.1 H1: Relation between language skills and problem-solving 90 3.4.2.2 RQ: Role of self-directed speech 91 3.4.2.2.1 RQ1: Mediation effect of self-directed speech 91 3.4.2.2.2 RQ2: Susceptibility to articulatory suppression 95 3.4.2.2.3 RQ3: Prompting self-directed speech 96 3.5 Discussion 99 3.5.1 Limitations and Next Steps 105 3.5.2 Conclusion 107 4 Study 2 - Differences between inner and overt speech in adults 108 4.1 Introduction 108 4.2 Material and Method 114 4.2.1 Participants 114 4.2.2 Material 114 4.2.3 Tasks and Procedure 115 4.3 NIRS/EEG Data Recordings 117 4.3.1 fNIRS Data Recording 117 4.3.2 EEG Data Recording 118 4.4 Data analyses 119 4.4.1 fNIRS Data Analyses 119 4.4.2 EEG Data Analyses 120 4.5 Results 121 4.5.1 fNIRS results 121 4.5.2 EEG results 122 4.6 Discussion 127 4.7 Conclusions 131 5 Study 3 - Differences between inner and overt speech in children 133 5.1 Introduction 133 5.2 Material and Method 138 5.2.1 Participants 138 5.2.2 Material 139 5.2.3 Tasks and Procedure 139 5.3 NIRS/EEG Data Recordings 141 5.3.1 fNIRS Data Recording 141 5.3.2 EEG Data Recording 143 5.4 Data analyses 143 5.4.1 fNIRS Data: Analyses 143 5.4.2 EEG Data Analyses 144 5.5 Results 145 5.5.1 fNIRS results 145 5.5.2 EEG results 146 5.6 Discussion 146 5.7 Conclusion 150 6 General Discussion 151 6.1 What role does self-directed and inner speech play in the relation between language and cognition in children? 152 6.1.1 Quantitative and qualitative analyses of self-directed speech 152 6.1.2 Articulatory suppression of self-directed speech 155 6.1.3 Triggering self-directed speech 158 6.1.4 Conclusion 159 6.2 What distinguishes inner speech from external (overt) speech in adults? 160 6.2.1 Preparation phase 161 6.2.2 Execution phase 162 6.2.3 Conclusion 164 6.3 What distinguishes inner speech from external (overt) speech in children? 164 6.3.1 Preparation phase 165 6.3.2 Execution phase 167 6.3.3 Conclusion 169 6.4 Limitations and Future Research 169 6.5 Conclusion 176 7 References 179 Appendices 212 Coding Manual of Self-Directed Speech 213 Coding scheme 213 Coding Speech 214 Quantity of Private Speech 214 Quality of Private Speech 216 Speech Structure 216 Content Functions 218 Syntactic Features 221 Publications and Conference Contributions 222 Selbstständigkeitserklärung 225

Research on brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) has been around for decades and recently the inner speech paradigm was picked up in the area. The realization of a functioning BCI could improve the life quality of many people, especially persons affected by Locked-In-Syndrome or similar illnesses. Although implementing a working BCI is too large of a commitment for a master's thesis, this thesis will focus on investigating machine learning methods to decode inner speech using data collected from the non-invasive and portable method electroencephalography (EEG). Among the methods investigated are three CNN architectures and transfer learning. The results show that the EEGNet architecture consistently reaches high classification accuracies, with the best model achieving an accuracy of 29.05%.

This research contributes to current understandings of how the process of learning unfurls temporally during coaching conversations. This experience has been obtained through first-hand lived experience, in particular, my active participation as a coachee in a series of one-to-one coaching conversations with two professional coaches. To assist in developing and enriching these understandings further I have crafted a research design with a two-stage process. And a hybrid methodology drawn from Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and Dialogical Methods. This approach is beneficial in enabling the complexity of self-other relationships that unfold within coaching conversations to be fully articulated. I have chosen to adopt autoethnography as a research method in stage one of this research, and interviews in stage two, respectively. Autoethnography enables a complex exploration of first-hand lived experience, providing a forum in which reflexive dialogues between self and other can emerge. Thus, allowing multiple perspectives to be heard. In stage two I have interviewed 6 professional coaches, facilitating an additional dialogue to unfold between self and others, enriching this research. Critically, within this research, the self is described as malleable and non-identical with itself, where on encountering others in external and inner dialogues it experiences challenges and struggles with the unknown and unfamiliar. Significantly, through this experience the self is transformed. Finally, this process can be understood as artistic, since this research describes an aesthetic metaphor informed by Bakhtin and Gell, in which coach and coachee - described as the recipient are actively engaged in emotionally crafting and shaping the other.

Research has demonstrated the importance of early social interactions in the development of self-talk. It does not appear, however, that existing research has examined the relationship between parents' self-talk and the self-talk that develops in their children. This study examined the relationship between self-talk in parents and their college-age children. Results revealed significant relationships between students' and parents' positive self-talk, but not negative self-talk. Marginal relationships were found for self-talk ratios (ratios of positive and negative self-talk). Maternal communication was found to mediate the relationship between students' and their mothers' positive self-talk. Different trends also were noted between genders. Finally, self-talk was related significantly to depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. Overall, results of this study emphasize the relationship between parents' and their children's positive self-talk and the importance of self-talk in psychological functioning. These findings lend promise to the possibility of modifying parents' self-talk and communication as a way to modify their children's self-talk and psychological functioning.

Inner speech, or self-talk, is a process by which we talk to ourselves to think through problems or plan actions. Although inner speech is ubiquitous, its neural basis remains largely unknown. This thesis investigates the feasibility of using brain signal analysis to classify the recorded electroencephalography (EEG) data from participants engaged in tasks involving Inner Speech and made publicly available by Nieto et al. (2021). We present the implementation of four machine learning models, demonstrate the results, and compare using different protocols. The results are compared to the ones obtained by Berg et al. (2021), who used the same dataset. Two of the classical models we tried (SVC and LinearSVC) prove superior even against results obtained with deep learning models. We also compare the results from Inner Speech with Pronounced Speech to validate the reusability of the proposed method. We found an apparent regularity in the data on the results, validating the method’s quality and reusability.

Les hallucinations auditives verbales (HAVs) sont des perceptions langagières en l'absence de stimuli externes appropriés. Elles sont un des symptômes les plus invalidants dans la schizophrénie. Parmi les grands types de modèles explicatifs, deux sont particulièrement intéressants : les modèles à origine perceptive, selon lesquels les voix entendues seraient dues à une imagerie mentale et des représentations auditives trop vives et les modèles à origine productive, selon lesquels la parole intérieure est perturbée de telle sorte que les propres pensées verbales du patient sont attribuées à un agent externe. Pour tester le versant moteur des modèles productifs, une expérience de recueil de traces oro-faciales lors des HAVs à l'aide de l'électromyographie de surface a été conduite auprès de 11 patients schizophrènes. Les résultats montrent une tendance à l'augmentation de l'activité musculaire de l'orbiculaire inférieur lors des HAVs par rapport à une condition de repos. Pour tester le versant cérébral des modèles, une expérience en IRMf de génération de pensée verbale et de perception auditive a été menée auprès de 19 sujets schizophrènes et 24 sujets contrôles et a montré une hyper-activation d'un réseau impliquant le cortex temporal et le cortex cingulaire antérieur. La caractérisation phénoménologique des HAVs vécues par les patients a montré que les HAVs diffèrent de la pensée intérieure typique en ce que les voix entendues peuvent être nombreuses et ne sont pas celle du patient lui-même. Ainsi aucun des deux types de modèles considérés isolément n'est satisfaisant pour expliquer les HAVs. Un modèle intégratif multidimensionnel permettrait de mieux rendre compte de la complexité des HAVs. Il existerait, chez les patients schizophrènes une prédisposition perceptive hyper-active couplée à un système de prédiction défaillant. Les deux dysfonctionnements seraient de plus modulés par des facteurs top-down, de stress et un biais cognitif d'externalisation. / Les hallucinations auditives verbales (HAVs) sont des perceptions langagières en l'absence de stimuli externes appropriés. Elles sont un des symptômes les plus invalidants dans la schizophrénie. Parmi les grands types de modèles explicatifs, deux sont particulièrement intéressants : les modèles à origine perceptive, selon lesquels les voix entendues seraient dues à une imagerie mentale et des représentations auditives trop vives et les modèles à origine productive, selon lesquels la parole intérieure est perturbée de telle sorte que les propres pensées verbales du patient sont attribuées à un agent externe. Pour tester le versant moteur des modèles productifs, une expérience de recueil de traces oro-faciales lors des HAVs à l'aide de l'électromyographie de surface a été conduite auprès de 11 patients schizophrènes. Les résultats montrent une tendance à l'augmentation de l'activité musculaire de l'orbiculaire inférieur lors des HAVs par rapport à une condition de repos. Pour tester le versant cérébral des modèles, une expérience en IRMf de génération de pensée verbale et de perception auditive a été menée auprès de 19 sujets schizophrènes et 24 sujets contrôles et a montré une hyper-activation d'un réseau impliquant le cortex temporal et le cortex cingulaire antérieur. La caractérisation phénoménologique des HAVs vécues par les patients a montré que les HAVs diffèrent de la pensée intérieure typique en ce que les voix entendues peuvent être nombreuses et ne sont pas celle du patient lui-même. Ainsi aucun des deux types de modèles considérés isolément n'est satisfaisant pour expliquer les HAVs. Un modèle intégratif multidimensionnel permettrait de mieux rendre compte de la complexité des HAVs. Il existerait, chez les patients schizophrènes une prédisposition perceptive hyper-active couplée à un système de prédiction défaillant. Les deux dysfonctionnements seraient de plus modulés par des facteurs top-down, de stress et un biais cognitif d'externalisation.

O presente estudo teve por objetivo explorar os diferentes estilos de conversa interna (CI) ou reflexividade, definidos como comunicativo, autônomo, metarreflexivo, e fraturado. Os autorrelatos da experiência da conversa interna foram obtidos por entrevistas com sete mulheres e três homens, de formações e ocupações diversificadas, com idade variando entre 24 e 63 anos. Os relatos foram analisados e interpretados de acordo com a orientação fenomenológica. A descrição focalizou a apreensão do fenômeno em uma estrutura simples e básica de um agente primário (capacitações cognitivas gerais e compartilhadas): quando ocorre, como se realiza, sobre quais conteúdos, para que serve e em que ajuda. A redução apontou três especificações de um agente corporativo (organizado e articulado): 1) quanto à experiência em si (comum, natural, habitual); 2) quanto à generalidade e à normalidade (não seria coisa de louco)? e 3) quanto à forma (se metódica e organizada; se espontânea e quase inconsciente). Interpretou-se que os modos de reflexividade, enquanto traslados qualitativos interculturais e atemporais sustentam-se em sua replicabilidade, com possíveis variações em implementações, preferências e manifestações. / This study intended to explore the different styles of internal conversation (IC) or reflexivity, defined as communicative, autonomous, meta-reflexive, and fractured. The self-reported experiences of internal conversation were obtained by interviewing seven women and three men of diverse backgrounds and occupations, aged between 24 and 63 years. The self-reported experiences were analyzed and interpreted in accordance with the phenomenological orientation. The description focused on understanding the phenomenon in a simple and basic structure of a primary agent (general and shared thinking skills): when it happens, how it happens, what are its contents, what purpose it serves and in which way it is helpful. The reduction pointed to three specifications of a corporate agent (organized and articulated): 1) in regards to the experience itself (common, natural, habitual); 2) whether it is general and normal (isn’t it something crazy?), and 3) regarding its form (is it methodical and organized or spontaneous and almost unconscious?). It was inferred from this study that the styles of reflexivity, while having inter-cultural and timeless qualities, are sustained in their universality, with possible variations in implementations, preferences and manifestations.