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Comment by roflc0ptic | Hacker News Reader

>> "Thinking aloud" ... is a specific metacognitive skill

Is there evidence for this claim? I'm inclined to believe it but that's experiential. It's also something I've never had to work to acquire, but that could be a cultural thing (my family and friends talk a lot about thinking) or a personal history thing (I have a minor learning disability, and it has forced me to develop strong, conscious meta-cognition).

It's not a given, tho, that being able to talk about thinking is distinct from being able to think and being able to talk.

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I think psychology has a lot of models of cognition without a clear winner, so there's probably no conclusive answer at the moment.

But talking through a problem forces you to use verbal reasoning. A lot of programming can be done well with non-verbal reasoning skills.

Personally, quickly sketching some timelines on a piece of paper would be the fastest way to get the correct checks. Talking it through would force me to convert my mental visualizations into words, and that'd make me stumble.

the idea to "think aloud" is downright silly.

people who "talk to themselves" are labelled idiots. mental dialogue is supposed to be mental.

call it social conditioning if you will. spelling out your thoughts for someone else to hear them just so they can take note of them for evaluation is the polar opposite of normal human interaction.

Let's just say that it's at best a corner case in the the toolbox of approaches our brain has for tackling problems. Yes, it's something we make use of once in a while. But more like a "caught you in the hall, here's my idea" approach. Never in a "solve this now in 5 minutes or yer OUT!" sense.

The problem with the modern interview process is that not only elevates the later approach way out of proportion to its actual significance -- but basically makes in the centerpiece of your interactions with the company and potential team members, on that fateful day.

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