Let’s try a fun experiment! In your mind, think about the sentence “I like crickets.” Don’t say it out loud, just think it. Now, try thinking the same sentence, but this time, imagine saying it quietly in your head. Did you notice any difference in the “volume” of your inner voice? It might feel like you can change the volume, but actually, you can’t. You can only change the tone and pitch because you’re not really hearing that voice. Your inner voice feels like you’re listening to your thoughts, but it happens in a different part of your brain.
Here’s something cool: when you’re thinking during the day, do you think in words and full sentences? I do, but not everyone does. Some people think in pictures, actions, or images instead of words. Scientists say there are three main types of thinkers:
Most people use a mix of all three types of thinking. This means not everyone has an inner monologue, which is a surprise to many. But when reading or writing, most people do think in full sentences.
One interesting study looked at how reading dialogue is similar to hearing it. Participants in an fMRI scanner read different sentences in their heads. Some sentences had dialogue, like “The man said, ‘I like crickets.’” Others were written differently, like “The man said that he likes crickets,” which means the same thing but isn’t direct dialogue.
The study found that when sentences include dialogue, parts of the brain’s auditory cortex light up. This means you’re “hearing” what the characters say in your mind. Even when you imagine a conversation, parts of the auditory cortex are active. This is different from just having an inner monologue, which doesn’t activate the auditory cortex.
What your inner reading voice sounds like isn’t the same for everyone. Some people hear their own voice, while others might hear a different voice with a unique gender, pitch, or tone. This voice might stay the same or change depending on what you’re reading. Some people even hear multiple voices, while others don’t hear any voice at all when reading.
Since we can’t see or hear what’s happening in someone else’s mind, we often think our experiences are the same as everyone else’s. Because of this, much of this research is new. We’re just beginning to understand how different our minds can be and how we each experience the world. Isn’t that something interesting to think about?
Try this experiment: Think of a simple sentence like “I enjoy reading.” Now, imagine saying it in your head with different emotions—happy, sad, or excited. Notice how the tone changes. Discuss with your classmates how your inner voice sounded and if it changed with each emotion.
Create a survey with questions about how you think. Do you think in words, pictures, or patterns? Share your results with the class and see which thinking style is most common. Discuss how these styles might affect learning and problem-solving.
Read a short story with dialogue in pairs. One person reads aloud, and the other reads silently. Afterward, discuss whether you “heard” the characters’ voices in your mind and how they sounded. Compare your experiences with your partner.
Imagine your inner voice as a character. Draw or describe what they look like, sound like, and how they help you think. Share your character with the class and explain how they assist you in daily tasks or decision-making.
Create a mind map of your thoughts on a topic of your choice. Use words, images, and patterns to represent your ideas. Present your mind map to the class and explain how your thinking style influenced its creation.
Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Let’s try a little experiment. In your head, I want you to think the sentence “I like crickets.” Don’t say it out loud! Just in your head. Good, now do the same thing, but this time instead of thinking it loudly, think “I like crickets” quietly in your head.
Now, was the actual volume of your inner voice different when you thought it loudly versus quietly? It may seem like it, but you can’t change the volume of the voice in your head, just the tone and pitch. That’s because you aren’t actually hearing that voice at all. Your inner voice can feel like you’re hearing yourself think, but it exists in a completely different part of the brain.
And it gets even more interesting. When you’re going about your day, do you think in words and complete sentences? I do, but many people don’t. Unless they’re reading or writing, a lot of people report thinking in pictures, actions, or images, rather than words and sentences.
According to some scientists, there are three major types of thinkers. There are verbal thinkers, like me, who think in words or whole sentences. Pattern thinkers think in patterns and connections, which may feel like thinking in actions and emotions. Then there are visual thinkers who think in pictures and images. Most people probably do a little bit of all three.
This means that not everyone has an inner monologue, which was surprising to me. That term probably originated from a visual thinker. Anyway, regardless of how you think, a vast majority of people report thinking in whole sentences when reading or writing.
One study looked at how similar reading dialogue is to hearing it. They had participants in an fMRI scanner read different sentences in their heads. Some sentences included dialogue, like “The man said, ‘I like crickets.’” Other sentences were formatted differently, such as “The man said that he likes crickets,” which means the same thing but does not include dialogue.
The study found that when sentences contain dialogue, parts of the auditory cortex are activated. You’re actually hearing what the characters are saying. Even when you’re just replaying or imagining a conversation in your head, some parts of the auditory cortex activate. This is different from being a verbal thinker. An inner monologue does not activate the auditory cortex, but an inner dialogue does.
It turns out that what your inner reading voice sounds like is not universal. Some people read in their heads all in one voice: their own. Others read in a different voice, with an identifiable gender, pitch, or tone different from their own. This other voice may be consistent when reading, or it may change based on what you’re reading. Some people read in multiple voices, while others don’t hear a voice when reading at all.
Without being able to see or hear what’s going on in someone else’s mind, we tend to assume that our experiences are universal. As a result, a lot of this research wasn’t done until recently. We’re just starting to learn more about the variation in how our minds work and how we experience the world. And that’s something to think about.
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This version maintains the original content while ensuring clarity and appropriateness.
Inner Voice – The voice inside your head that you “hear” when you think or read silently. – Example sentence: When she was nervous, her inner voice reminded her to stay calm and focused.
Thinking – The process of using your mind to consider or reason about something. – Example sentence: During the test, he spent a lot of time thinking about the best way to solve the math problem.
Words – Units of language that convey meaning and are used to form sentences. – Example sentence: She carefully chose her words to express her feelings clearly to her friend.
Sentences – Groups of words that express a complete thought and contain a subject and a predicate. – Example sentence: In English class, we learned how to write sentences that are both clear and interesting.
Dialogue – A conversation between two or more people, often used in writing to show interaction. – Example sentence: The dialogue in the story helped us understand the characters’ relationships better.
Auditory – Related to the sense of hearing. – Example sentence: The teacher used auditory cues, like clapping, to get the students’ attention.
Cortex – The outer layer of the brain, involved in many important functions like thought and action. – Example sentence: The cerebral cortex plays a crucial role in processing complex information.
Reading – The process of looking at and understanding written language. – Example sentence: Reading her favorite book always made her feel happy and relaxed.
Unique – Being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else. – Example sentence: Each person’s perspective is unique, shaped by their own experiences and thoughts.
Experiences – Events or occurrences that leave an impression on someone. – Example sentence: His experiences traveling around the world taught him a lot about different cultures.
