Aspects of reading investigated by think-aloud methodology

It is important to note that in this book the terms “think-aloud protocols,” “verbal protocols” and “protocol analysis” are used interchangeably. They both refer to “a methodology for examining thought and action” (Pressley and Afflerbach 1995: 1). The term “verbal reports” and “protocols” refer to data obtained from subjects during think-aloud tasks.

Let us begin with a brief history of think-aloud (TA) research. Asking people to describe what they think is not a new method. James (1890), a famous American psychologist, developed his theories about the mind by asking people to say what they think. Protocol-based research was applied to watch strategies used by experts, e.g., in solving mathematical problems (e.g., Polya 1954, cited in Afflerbach 2000) and in playing chess (e.g., de Groot 1965, cited in Afflerbach 2000). In reading research, protocol analysis began to be used in the first half of the 20th century, e.g., Huey (1908). Despite the criticism of behaviourists and their “schizophrenic” (as Ericsson and Simon 1980: 216 call it) scepticism concerning investigating people's verbalizations, protocol analysis did continue. For example, McCallister (1930) looked at readers’ responses to questions and Piekarz (1954) studied readers’ responses to texts. The cognitive revolution changed the conceptualization of reading; reading began to be viewed as a cognitive process. Inspired by the studies that investigated human problem solving (e.g., Newell and Simon 1972), researchers began to see reading as strategic problem solving, (e.g., Olshavsky 1976/1977).