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Abstract The think-aloud protocol provides researchers an insight into the designer's mental state, but little is understood about how thinking aloud influences design. The study presented in this paper sets out to measure the cognitive and neurocognitive changes in designers when thinking aloud. Engineering students (n=50) were randomly assigned to the think-aloud or control group. Students were outfitted with a functional near-infrared spectroscopy band. Students were asked to design a personal entertainment system. The think-aloud group spent significantly less time designing. Their design sketches included significantly fewer words. The think-aloud group also required significantly more resources in the left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). The left DLPFC is often recruited for language processing, and the right DLPFC is involved in visual representation and problem-solving. The faster depletion of neurocognitive resources may have contributed to less time designing. Thinking aloud influences design cognition and neurocognition, but these effects are only now becoming apparent. More research and the adoption of neuroscience techniques can help shed light on these differences.
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Students’ neurocognition changes during engineering design when thinking aloud
The purpose of this study was to measure the neurocognitive effects of think aloud when engineering students were designing. Thinking aloud is a commonly applied protocol in engineering design education research. The process involves students verbalizing what they are thinking as they perform a task. Students are asked to say what comes into their mind. This often includes what they are looking at, thinking, doing, and feeling. It provides insight into the student’s mental state and their cognitive processes when developing design ideas. Think aloud provides a richer understanding about how, what and why students’ design compared to solely evaluating their final product or performance. The results show that Ericsson and Simon's claim that there is no interference due to think-aloud is not supported by this study and more research is required to untangle the effect of think-aloud.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1929896
- PAR ID:
- 10399189
- Editor(s):
- ASEE
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- NSF EEC Grantees Conference 2022
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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