Descriptive Experience Sampling Demonstrates the Connection of Thinking to Externally Observable Behavior

Cognitive models of psychotherapy assume a connection between thinking and behavior but have examined that connection with the use of only retrospective reports of thinking. However, such retrospective reports may not be trustworthy. Descriptive experience sampling (DES), a nonretrospective procedure for examining inner experience (thinking, feelings, etc.), has demonstrated links between thinking and behavior in some psychiatric populations but not yet in general. Here, DES was used to compare 7 undiagnosed individuals who share an externally observable characteristic (high rate of speech) to 7 normal-speech-rate individuals. High-speech-rate individuals had fewer instances of simple inner speech, more instances of complex inner experiences, fewer feeling experiences, and more “just doing” experiences, thus demonstrating a connection between inner experience and external behavior, and that DES is useful for exploring inner experience.

[1]  M. S. Miron,et al.  Effects of time compression upon the comprehension of connected speech. , 1957, The Journal of speech and hearing disorders.

[2]  Samuel R. Friedman,et al.  Depression: Clinical, Experimental, and Theoretical Aspects , 1968 .

[3]  Timothy D. Wilson,et al.  Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes. , 1977 .

[4]  Russell T. Hurlburt,et al.  Sampling Normal and Schizophrenic Inner Experience , 1990 .

[5]  Inner Experience in Anxiety , 1993 .

[6]  Rth,et al.  A Comment to Suspend the Introspection Controversy , 1993 .

[7]  Inner Experience in Bulimia , 1993 .

[8]  Russell T. Hurlburt,et al.  Sampling inner experience in disturbed affect , 1993 .

[9]  U. Frith,et al.  Sampling the form of inner experience in three adults with Asperger syndrome , 1994, Psychological Medicine.

[10]  J. Beck,et al.  Cognitive Therapy: Basics and Beyond , 1995 .

[11]  Descriptive experience sampling of individuals with high natural rates of speech , 1997 .

[12]  R. T. Hurlburt.  Randomly sampling thinking in the natural environment. , 1997, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[13]  G. Davison,et al.  Think-aloud approaches to cognitive assessment and the articulated thoughts in simulated situations paradigm. , 1997, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[14]  W. Hippel,et al.  Mapping cognitive structures and processes through verbal content: the thought-listing technique. , 1997, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[15]  C. R. Glass,et al.  Questionnaire methods of cognitive self-statement assessment. , 1997, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[16]  R. T. Hurlburt,et al.  Interobserver Reliability of Descriptive Experience Sampling , 2002, Cognitive Therapy and Research.

[17]  R. T. Hurlburt,et al.  How are questionnaire data similar to, and different from, thought-sampling data? Five studies manipulating retrospectiveness, single-moment focus, and indeterminacy , 1987, Cognitive Therapy and Research.

[18]  R. T. Hurlburt,et al.  Random sampling of cognitions in alleviating anxiety attacks , 1978, Cognitive Therapy and Research.

[19]  Russell T. Hurlburt.  Validation and correlation of thought sampling with retrospective measures , 2005, Cognitive Therapy and Research.

[20]  R. T. Hurlburt,et al.  P-technique factor analyses of individuals' thought- and mood-sampling data , 1987, Cognitive Therapy and Research.