The Psychophysiological Effects of Self-Talk

Abstract

  Self-talk has been used in various situations as a technique of self-conditioning. The important effects of this technique on anxiety, self-confidence, and task performance have been reported in previous studies. However, the effects of self-talk have mostly been evaluated based on subjective reports, and the mechanism has not been elucidated. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychophysiological effects of positive and negative self-talk, using electroencephalogram (EEG). The participants in this experiment were young males. EEGs were obtained from the participants during a positive or negative self-talk condition, and when they were resting. The EEG recordings were Fourier transformed and estimates of the total power, and the relative power in the theta, alpha, and beta bands were calculated. The theta ratio of right central area was larger in the rest condition than in both of the self-talk conditions. The alpha ratio of left frontal and central areas was smaller in the positive self-talk condition than in the negative self-talk and rest conditions. The beta ratio of mid-central, right central and right parietal areas in the positive self-talk condition was larger than that in the rest condition. These results indicate that positive self-talk may stimulate brain activity and bring about the appropriate arousal level by influencing the activities of the right frontal area related fatigue suppression and the central areas related to motor command. The findings of the present study suggest that the use of positive self-talk evoked the occurrence of pleasant emotions by directing the brain to an appropriate arousal level and that positive self-talk could possibly improve task performance. Furthermore, the effect of mental training, such as self-talk, could be evaluated more objectively in this study than in previous studies, using EEG.