Validity of the Think-Aloud Procedure for studying spontaneous thoughts: A Comparative study of Three Methods

Background. Whether it be during task performance or in idle moments, a remarkable feature of the human mind is its pervasive tendency to generate spontaneous thoughts (STs). This phenomenon is typically studied using the Thought Probes Procedure (TPP), in which participants vocalise the content of their STs only when randomly prompted by probes. However, the TPP has several limitations such as its inability to track the dynamic flow of thoughts. To address this issue, researchers have recently revisited the Think-Aloud Procedure (TAP), in which participants vocalise their STs continuously over a set period of time. Despite the advantages of the TAP in exhaustively capturing consecutive STs, its validity for assessing STs compared to the TPP and Everyday Life Experience Sampling (ESM) has been questioned.
Methods. We compared the phenomenological characteristics of STs assessed by three different methods in healthy young adults: TAP, TPP, and ESM.
Results. The characteristics of STs were largely similar between the TAP and TPP. Where differences were found, TAP generally aligned more closely with ESM than TPP.
Conclusions. The TAP emerges as a promising method for a more comprehensive assessment of STs, potentially providing insights into the dynamic nature of human cognition.