The Inner Voice in Writing

Abstract

This study explores the connection between writing and working memory, specifically the role of the subvocal articulatory rehearsal process (or inner voice). The authors asked the 18 participants to type sentences describing 24 multipanel cartoons. In some conditions, the participants were required to repeat a syllable continuously while writing. This activity, called articulatory suppression, interferes with the articulatory rehearsal process. Results indicated that interfering with the articulatory rehearsal process (or inner voice) interferes with writing by slowing the rate of writing, increasing mechanical errors, changing the temporal microstructure of text production, and increasing the perceived difficulty of the writing task. The authors applied their model of written text production to provide a theoretical account for these results.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. (1974). Working memory. In G. H. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (Vol. 8, pp. 47-89). New York: Academic Press.

Baddeley, A. D., & Lewis, V. J. (1981). Inner active processes in reading: The inner voice, the inner ear, and the inner eye. In A. M. Lesgold & C. A. Perfetti (Eds.), Interactive processes and reading (pp. 107-129). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Chenoweth, N. A., & Hayes, J. R. (2001). Fluency in writing: Generating text in L1 and L2. Written Communication, 18, 80-98.

Clark, H. H. (1973). The language-as-fixed-effect fallacy: A critique of language statistics in psychological research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, pp. 335-359.

Daneman, M., & Stainton, M. (1991). Phonological recoding in silent reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 17, 618-632.

Elbow, P. (1994). About voice and writing. In P. Elbow (Ed.), Landmark essays on voice and writing (pp. xi-xlvii). Davis, CA: Hermagoras Press.

Gathercole, S. E., & Baddeley, A. D. (1993). Working memory and language. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Kaufer, D. S., Hayes, J. R., & Flower, L. (1986). Composing written sentences. Research in the Teaching of English, 20, 121-140.

Kellogg, R. T. (1996). A model of working memory in writing. In C. M. Levy & S. E. Ransdell (Eds.), The science of writing: Theories, methods, individual differences and applications (pp. 57-71). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

10.

Levy, C. M., & Marek, P. (1999). Testing components of Kellogg’s multicomponent model of working memory in writing: The role of the phonological loop. In M. Torrance & G. C. Jeffrey (Eds.), The cognitive demands of writing: Processing capacity and working memory in text production (pp. 25-42). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

11.

Longoni, A. M., Richardson, A. T. E., & Aiello, A. (1993). Articulatory rehearsal and phonological storage in working memory. Memory & Cognition, 21, 11-22.

12.

Madigan, R. J., Johnson, S. E., & Linton, P. W. (1994, June). Working memory capacity and the writing process. Paper presented at the American Psychological Society, Washington, DC.

13.

Rosenthal, R., & Rosnow, R. L. (1991). Essentials of behavioral research: Methods and data analysis (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.