

On this view of thinking, progress toward healthy thinking is made when one learns how to evaluate how well "statements of fact" are actually grounded, and when one learns how to avoid logical errors. Purposeful inner discourse starts with statements about matters of fact and proceeds with logical rigor until a solution is achieved. One example could be looking for a lost item and retracing one's steps with themself and debating the sequence of those steps until the item is found. Īn inner discourse takes place much as would a discussion with a second person.

Inner discourse is so prominent in the human awareness of mental functioning that it may often seem to be synonymous with "mind". Along with feelings such as joy, anger, fear, etc., and sensory awareness, it is one of the few aspects of the processing of information and other mental activities of which humans can be directly aware. Internal discourse is a constructive act of the human mind and a tool for discovering new knowledge and making decisions.

( March 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Intrapersonal communication also facilitates the process by which an individual engages in unspoken internal dialogue between different and sometimes conflicting attitudes, thoughts, and feelings, often as a way of resolving psychological conflicts and making decisions. Intrapersonal communication provides individuals with the opportunity to participate in 'imaginative interactions', by which they silently engage in conversation with another person, often as a means of selecting and rehearsing their intended spoken interpersonal communication with the actual person. But any text (or work) can become autocommunicational if it is read many times over. In organisations and corporations strategic plans and memos, for example, can function like mantras. Prayers, mantras and diaries are good examples. Intrapersonal communication is also typical for religious or artistic works. Intrapersonal communication is a broad concept, encompassing all types of internal communication, including for example the biological, and electrochemical communication that occurs between neurons and hormones. It may reflect both conscious and subconscious beliefs. As a result, it is relevant to a number of mental disorders, such as depression, and treatments like cognitive behavioural therapy which seek to alleviate symptoms by providing strategies to regulate cognitive behaviour. It is particularly important in planning, problem solving, self-reflection, self-image, critical thinking, emotions and subvocalization (reading in one's head).

It is usually tied to a person's sense of self. Intrapersonal communication, also referred to as internal monologue, autocommunication, self-talk, inner speech, or internal discourse, is a person's inner voice which provides a running monologue of thoughts while they are conscious. Intrapersonal communication is the process which an individual communicates within themselves by, acting as both sender and receiver of messages and encompasses the use of unspoken words to consciously engage in self-talk and inner speech. Regardless, there might be a silver lining to not being able to produce inner speech.įor instance, inner speech might help us to solve problems, but it can also put us down, which can lead to the development of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and many other forms of mental illness."Inner speech" redirects here. Maybe it is possible that the absence of inner speech is the brain's default setting (do human infants, or animals, have inner speech?), and there might be something unusual about people who do have it. Or maybe we're thinking about this the wrong way. One theory proposes that people who do not produce inner speech are unable to activate those networks without also activating their motor cortex.Īnother theory is poor introspection, which refers to a person's ability to examine their own mental processes.Īccording to this theory, everyone produces inner speech, but some people are conscious of it whereas others are not. These networks are the same as those used when we speak aloud (which also requires motor cortex, because we need to move our tongue, lips, etc.).
