“Think Aloud” is a way of studying how people think by asking them to talk about their thoughts while they do something, like solving a problem. This concept was first discussed by psychologists Ericsson and Simon in 1980. There are three levels of “thinking aloud”: Level 1 is just saying what you’re thinking without making an effort to synthesize it. Level 2 is talking about mental images you have in your head. Level 3 is explaining your thoughts, ideas, and motives. Some psychologists think it’s hard for people to accurately report their thoughts (Nisbett & Wilson, 1970), but Ericsson and Simon (1980) think it’s possible for people to report on what they are consciously thinking. In sports, “thinking aloud” has been used to study how different people think when they play sports, as shown in studies such as Kaiseler et al. (2012) and Whitehead et al. (2016).
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Ericsson, K. A., & Simon, H. A. (1980). Protocol analysis: Verbal reports as data. Cambridge, MA: Bradford Books/ MIT Press.
Kaiseler, M., Polman, R. C. J., & Nicholls, A. R. (2012). Gender differences in stress, appraisal, and coping during golf putting. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 11, 258272.
Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. C. (1977). Telling more than what we know: Verbal reports on mental processes. Psychological Review, 84, 231259.
Whitehead, A. E., Taylor, J. A., & Polman, R. C. J. (2016). Evidence for skill level differences in the thought processes of golfers during high and low pressure situations. Frontiers in Psychology, 1974, 114.
