Inner speech as language process and cognitive tool

Fernyhough, Charles; Borghi, Anna M.

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2023.08.014

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…It is through stories that we make sense of the world around us 3,4 , shaping our understanding of reality [5][6][7][8] . This intrinsic connection between storytelling and the human experience underscores not just the importance of narratives in preserving cultural heritage [9][10][11] , but also in the construction and expression of the self [12][13][14] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Neural dynamics of semantic control underlying generative storytelling

Rastelli,

Greco,

Finocchiaro

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Storytelling has been pivotal for the transmission of knowledge and cultural norms across human history. A crucial process underlying the generation of narratives is the exertion of cognitive control on the semantic representations stored in memory, a phenomenon referred as semantic control. Despite the extensive literature investigating the neural mechanisms of semantic control in generative language tasks, little effort has been done towards storytelling under naturalistic conditions. Here, we probed human participants to generate stories in response to a set of instructions which triggered a narrative that was either appropriate (ordinary), novel (random), or balanced (creative), while recording functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signal. By leveraging deep language models, we demonstrated how participants ideally balanced the level of semantic control during story generation. At the neural level, creative stories were differentiated by a multivariate pattern of neural activity in frontal cortices compared to ordinary ones and in fronto- temporo-parietal cortices with respect to randomly generated stories. Crucially, similar brain regions were also encoding the features that distinguished the stories behaviourally. Moreover, we decomposed the neural dynamics into connectome harmonic modes and found specific spatial frequency patterns underlying the modulation of semantic control during story generation. Finally, we found different functional coupling within and between the default mode, salience and control networks when contrasting creative stories with their controls. Together, our findings highlight the neural mechanisms underlying the regulation of semantic exploration during narrative ideation and contribute to a deeper understanding of the neural dynamics underpinning the role of semantic control in generative storytelling.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Neural dynamics of semantic control underlying generative storytelling

Rastelli,

Greco,

Finocchiaro

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…In terms of questionnaire-based studies, self-talk for self-regulation responses had weak-tomoderately strong relationships with various inner speech measures in one study [18] and with types of inner dialogues (e.g., identity, rumination) in another study [19]. In essence, there is a connection between overt and covert self-talk, and they both share self-regulatory functions, although they cannot be equated because the development, phenomenology, and functional range of covert and overt self-talk vary [20]. Even though there are other forms of experimental and neurobiological evidence for the usefulness of self-talk in self-regulation, conceptualizations as well as various questionnaire tools are still in the development stages.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Additionally, not only may some questionnaires be built on a priori notions about the nature of psychological constructs, but participants can have a priori or misinformed notions about constructs as well as the nature of their own minds. Moreover, those who report experiencing inner speech vary widely in their responses, and researchers do not yet know if everyone experiences inner speech [20]. There is an unfortunate stigma attached to "being caught" in the act of talking to oneself, which may affect people's awareness of their own experience and their willingness to disclose.…”

Section: Conclusion Limitations and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships between Self-Talk, Inner Speech, Mind Wandering, Mindfulness, Self-Concept Clarity, and Self-Regulation in University Students

Racy,

Morin

2024

Behavioral Sciences

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In this study, the researchers explored novel relationships between the self-related processes of self-talk, inner speech, self-concept clarity, mindfulness, mind wandering, and self-regulation. Using self-report questionnaires (n = 227), we found a small positive association between inner speech use and mind wandering, as well as a medium positive association of mindfulness with self-regulation, in accordance with claims made in the literature. We found a medium positive relationship between mindfulness awareness and inner speech responses, potentially because mindfulness awareness represents an active state of self-focus, requiring verbal self-directed probes. Conversely, the correlations between reports of inner speech use and mindfulness acceptance were medium and negatively associated, perhaps because self-acceptance is a less active process that does not require as much self-directed speech as acquiring self-awareness, or perhaps self-acceptance consists of silencing the mind. Furthermore, the mindfulness-acceptance responses were negatively associated with mind wandering but positively correlated with self-concept clarity and self-regulation (all significant and of medium strength). Another noteworthy result was that mind wandering was negatively correlated with self-concept clarity and self-regulation, in accordance with the view that mind wandering represents a self-escape mechanism and thus impedes the transparency of one’s self-view and efforts at controlling oneself. This study pieces together what has been presented in the literature, examining variables that are typically studied in isolation. Further, these results have implications for the future study of self-regulation in that self-focused attention, self-acceptance, and self-concept clarity may be mediators on the paths between self-talk or inner speech use and self-regulation.

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“…In summary, it is suggested that the acquisition of new motor skills is guided by the drive to explore (curiosity) and supported equally by the developing nervous system and its interactions with sensory-motor processes and the environment (Bernstein, 1967;Gibson, 1979;Thelen and Smith, 1998;Oudeyer et al, 2016;Schillaci et al, 2016). Moreover, there is mounting evidence (Alderson-Day and Fernyhough, 2015;Fernyhough and Borghi, 2023) that such process of cognitive development is accompanied by the evolution of inner or covert speech that associates a symbolic component to the maturation of subsymbolic sensorimotor capabilities. Such linguistic component has also been linked to the role of inner speech in working memory (Miyake and Shah, 1999), namely the retention of information "online, " critical for a complex task.…”

Section: Principles Of Developmental Roboticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial cognition vs. artificial intelligence for next-generation autonomous robotic agents

Sandini,

Sciutti,

Morasso

2024

Front. Comput. Neurosci.

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The trend in industrial/service robotics is to develop robots that can cooperate with people, interacting with them in an autonomous, safe and purposive way. These are the fundamental elements characterizing the fourth and the fifth industrial revolutions (4IR, 5IR): the crucial innovation is the adoption of intelligent technologies that can allow the development of cyber-physical systems, similar if not superior to humans. The common wisdom is that intelligence might be provided by AI (Artificial Intelligence), a claim that is supported more by media coverage and commercial interests than by solid scientific evidence. AI is currently conceived in a quite broad sense, encompassing LLMs and a lot of other things, without any unifying principle, but self-motivating for the success in various areas. The current view of AI robotics mostly follows a purely disembodied approach that is consistent with the old-fashioned, Cartesian mind-body dualism, reflected in the software-hardware distinction inherent to the von Neumann computing architecture. The working hypothesis of this position paper is that the road to the next generation of autonomous robotic agents with cognitive capabilities requires a fully brain-inspired, embodied cognitive approach that avoids the trap of mind-body dualism and aims at the full integration of Bodyware and Cogniware. We name this approach Artificial Cognition (ACo) and ground it in Cognitive Neuroscience. It is specifically focused on proactive knowledge acquisition based on bidirectional human-robot interaction: the practical advantage is to enhance generalization and explainability. Moreover, we believe that a brain-inspired network of interactions is necessary for allowing humans to cooperate with artificial cognitive agents, building a growing level of personal trust and reciprocal accountability: this is clearly missing, although actively sought, in current AI. The ACo approach is a work in progress that can take advantage of a number of research threads, some of them antecedent the early attempts to define AI concepts and methods. In the rest of the paper we will consider some of the building blocks that need to be re-visited in a unitary framework: the principles of developmental robotics, the methods of action representation with prospection capabilities, and the crucial role of social interaction.

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Inner speech as language process and cognitive tool

Cited by 15 publications

References 97 publications

Neural dynamics of semantic control underlying generative storytelling

Neural dynamics of semantic control underlying generative storytelling

Relationships between Self-Talk, Inner Speech, Mind Wandering, Mindfulness, Self-Concept Clarity, and Self-Regulation in University Students

Artificial cognition vs. artificial intelligence for next-generation autonomous robotic agents

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