The Effect of Verbalization of Thought on Problem Solving Performance

Verbalization of thought indicates a verbalizing process and strategies of thinking. The purpose of the present study is to identify the effect of verbalization of thinking on problem solving performance. In this experimental study, fifty students of Zanjan University (18 females and 32 males with a mean age of 22.48 years old) were selected with random sampling. Then, they were assigned to two groups of aloud and mute thinking randomly. Missionaries and Cannibals Problem was used for evaluation and independent t-test was used for data analysis. The findings showed that thinking aloud caused reducing the time of problem solving, and the number of legal and illegal moves (p< 0.05). Oral presentation of problem solving strategies can decrease errors and increase velocity of problem solving.