Children's Literature Resources

EXCERPT:

Research has shown people generally think in five different ways, only one of which involves an inner monologue.

• Inner speech: Our inner monologue in which we speak words in our minds.
• Inner seeing: Imagining an image in our minds that doesn’t match what we’re seeing in reality. For example, you might conjure an image of a place you want to vacation.
• Unsymbolized thinking: Thinking but without employing words, images, or other symbolic methods of communication. For instance, you might go through the motions of brushing your teeth without consciously envisioning or telling yourself to complete each step.
• Feeling: Consciously considering your emotions. For example, acknowledging that you’re feeling overjoyed after getting good news.
• Sensory awareness: Idly thinking about one sensory aspect of the environment while not thinking about others. For instance, on a windy day, you may feel the wind and the way it makes your clothes blow around you, but instead of thinking about those things you may focus your thoughts on how cutting the wind feels on your hands.

Some people may think in all five of these ways, while others may be limited to one or two. As a result people without an inner monologue are likely to be thinking in one or more of the four ways that don’t involve inner speech.

Potential Issues In Reading & Comprehension: