Fact · Dictation
In a meta-analysis of 94 studies, procedures that asked people to describe or explain their thoughts and actions changed their performance, unlike plain thinking aloud.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“procedures that entail describing or explaining thoughts and actions are significantly reactive, leading to higher performance than silent control conditions”
Do procedures for verbal reporting of thinking have to be reactive? A meta-analysis and recommendations for best reporting methods, Mark C. Fox et al., Psychological Bulletin, 2011, Abstract.
Open the original (DOI 10.1037/a0021663)- What it measures
- The authors compared each verbal reporting condition with a matching silent condition, testing Ericsson and Simon's model of verbal reports. The studies were mostly visual or nonvisual laboratory tasks.
- What it does not show
- The studies were lab tasks, not essay writing or dictation, and results are averages across very different studies. The 94 studies figure is from the same abstract but is not in this quote, so the claim cites the sentence that carries the finding.