Self-Talk as a Metacognitive Strategy

1. Self-Talk as a
Metacognitive
Practice Strategy
Julie Stephens
Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music

2. What do musicians say to themselves as they practice?

3. Excellent classroom rehearsals include
frequent, efficient teacher-talk with specific
feedback
frequent opportunities for student reattempts
-Cavitt 2003, Duke 1999/2000

4. However; do most musicians lead effective sessions on their
own?

5. Novice/Intermediate Practice
Objectives are vague-Oare 2012
Lacks forethought-Miszka 2011, Byo & Cassidy 2008, Duke
et. al 2009
Insufficient “toolkits”-Oare 2012
Do not show signs of self-regulation-Byo & Cassidy 2008,
Burwell & Shipton 2013

6. “Self-regulation is defined formally as self-generated
thoughts, feelings, and actions that are strategically planned
and adapted to the attainment of personal goals.”
-
Barry J. Zimmerman

7. Expert Practice
Lead self-regulated sessions
“Diagnose” with prior knowledge to target difficult areas before playing
“Repair” through methodical practice and use of a toolkit
Analyze the final product
-Neilsen 2001, Noorgard 2011
Seek further challenges-Bereiter & Scardamalia 1993
In sum: Experts are strategic in their practicing

8. How did researchers know novices/experts were purposefully
practicing a certain way?
Think-aloud protocols gathered thought processes, which provided
insight to their strategies and self-talk

9. System 1 defines impulses and instincts, “motivational”
System 2 monitors intentional ideas,
“instructional” -Kahneman 2011

10. Positive effects of self-talk can be practiced -Van Raalte, Vincent &
Brewer, 2016
In a study of anxiety-ridden pianists, subjects were trained to alter self-talk
by decreasing the amount of negative performance self-talk to increase
positive outcomes -Kendrick, Craig, Kenneth, Lawson, David, Davidson &
Park,1982

11. Which type of self-talk would you imagine is easier to change?
System 1-Gut feelings, intuitions, snap-judgements
System 2-Complex problem solving, novel sense-making
SYSTEM 2-INTENTIONAL THOUGHTS!

12. “On the first day I went upstairs to do Bach and it really didn’t work so I
came downstairs, and there was no one downstairs apart from you
and I thought, ‘I’d better go upstairs again and do some more
practice!’” -Burwell & Shipton p. 339
Think-aloud protocols for intermediate musicians and
athletes feature more motivational statements
“you can do it!” -Van Raalte p.259

13. Connections to Sports Psychology
Experts employ system 2 thinking more consistently than novices
“I’m using a rising scale and then when the five chord hits that diminished
triad that we map on to the dominant chord . . . it is a general shape . . . a
scale orientation of the two chord and an arpeggiated version of the five
chord.” -Noorgard p.119
“If I move my feet and hustle, nothing will get past me” -Van Raalte p.146

14. STUDY PROPOSAL
Do professional musicians employ system 2 instructional processes
more habitually than intermediate/pre-professionals in their regular
sessions?
Are there other meaningful themes in professionals’ practice sessions?
What do musicians say to themselves as they
practice?

15. Method
Qualitative Analysis
Prepare musician to answer post-practice questions
Extract 5-7 minute video sample within expert and intermediate players’
practice sessions
Immediately following, musicians will provide a post-session monologue as
they watch their video (audio recorded)
Researcher will allow natural descriptions and guide with questions only if
there are potential omissions in musician’s descriptions
Analyze transcripts whether there is a difference in system 1 or system 2

16. QUESTIONS?

17. Works Cited
Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1993). Chapter Four: Expertise as process. In Surpassing ourselves: An inquiry into the nature and implications of
expertise (pp. 77-120). Chicago: Open Court.
Burwell, K., & Shipton, M. (2013). Strategic approaches to practice: An action research project.British Journal of Music Education, 30, 329-345.
Byo, J. L., & Cassidy, J. W. (2008). An exploratory study of time use in the practice of music majors: Self-report and observation analysis . Update:
Applications of Research in Music Education, 27, 33-40.
Cavitt, M.E.(2003). A descriptive analysis of error correction in instrumental music rehearsals. Journal of Research in Music Education 5,1, 218-230.
Collins, A. (2013). Neuroscience meets music education: Exploring the implications of neural processing models on music education practice.
International Journal of Music Education, 31, 217-231.
Duke, R.A. (1999/2000). Measures of instructional effectiveness in music research. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music
Education, 143, 1-48.
Duke, R. A., Simmons, A.L., & Cash, C.D. (2009). It's not how much; it's how: Characteristics of practice behavior and retention of performance skills.
Journal of Research in Music Education, 56, 310-321.
Ericsson, K. A., Charness, N., Feltovich, P. J., & Hoffman, R. R. (2006). Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance(1st
pbk. ed.). New York: Cambridge Univ Press.
Ericsson, K. A., & Simon, H. A. (1993). Protocol analysis: Verbal reports as data. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Hallam, S. (2001). The development of metacognition in musicians: Implications for education. British Journal of Music Education, 18, 27–39.
Hart, J. T. (2014). Guided metacognition in instrumental practice. Music Educators Journal, 101(2), 57-64.

18. Works Cited, Continued
Kahneman, D., 1934. (2011).Thinking, fast and slow (1st ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Kendrick, Margaret J.; Craig, Kenneth D.; Lawson, David M.; Davidson, Park O. Cognitive and behavioral therapy for musical-performance anxiety. Journal
of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol 50(3), Jun 1982, 353-362. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.50.3.353
Miksza, P. (2011). Relationships among achievement goal motivation, impulsivity, and the music practice of collegiate brass and woodwind players.
Psychology of Music, 39, 50-67.
Nielsen, S. (2001). Self-regulating learning strategies in instrumental music practice. Music Education Research, 3(2), 155-167.
Noorgard, M. (2011). Descriptions of improvisational thinking by artist-level jazz musicians. Journal of Research in Music Education, 59(2), 109-127. doi:
10.1177/0022429411405669
Oare, S. (2012). Decisions made in the practice room: A qualitative study of middle schools students’ thought processes while practicing. Update:
Applications of Research in Music Education, 30, 63-70.
Van Raalte, J., Morrey, R. B., Cornelius, A., Brewer, B. W., & Department of Psychology, Springfield College, Springfield, MA. (2015). Self-talk of marathon
runners. The Sport Psychologist, doi:10.1123/tsp.2014-0159
Van Raalte, J. L., Vincent, A., & Brewer, B. W. (2016). Self-talk: Review and sport-specific model. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 22, 139-148.
doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2015.08.004