Self-Instruction Training

Description of the Strategy

Self-instruction training is an evidenced-based treatment strategy usually employed as part of a cognitivebehavioral intervention. In self-instruction training, [Page 1021]emphasis is placed on teaching the individual a variety of self-statements that would be used by the individual to either control his or her behavior or perform certain tasks.

The theoretical base for self-instruction training was derived from Lev Vygotsky's and Aleksandr Luria's work in the late 1950s on the functional relationship between language and behavior. Vygotsky theorized that as children internalize verbal commands, they take a critical step toward voluntary control of their own behavior. Luria, Vygotsky's student, elaborated on this theory by proposing that children undergo two developmental shifts concerning language and behavior. According to Luria, children's behaviors are initially under the control of others' verbalization, particularly parents. The first developmental shift takes place when children gain verbal control over their own behavior through overt verbalizations. The verbal control initially experienced by children is mainly impulsive, and speech is used as a physical stimulus that can either inhibit or promote behaviors. The second developmental shift takes place by age 5 or 6 years when children begin control over their behavior through their own covert verbalizations. The shift from overt to covert verbal control also signals a shift from impulsive to semantic verbal control. When children acquire covert verbal control, they also begin to view speech as a carrier of symbolic meaning and acquire internal self-regulating speech.

Early support for this position theory can be drawn from research studies conducted in the 1970s. These studies examined the ability of impulsive preschool children to resist distractions and delay self-gratification through the use of self-generated verbal strategies (e.g., self-instructions and self-praise). Results indicated children were unable to come up with selfinstructions to help themselves cope with distractions on their own. However, if the children were provided with specific self-instructions from the experimenters, they were able to improve resistance to distractions.

Similar to Luria, researchers also proposed that children's private speech followed a developmental hierarchy. The lowest level consisted of self-stimulatory private speech (e.g., animal noises, singing, repeating words). The second level, similar to Jean Piaget's collective monologue, consisted of outer-directed private speech (e.g., speech directed to inanimate objects and self-narration of children's own activities). The third level consisted of inward-directed or self-guided private speech (e.g., self-instructions). The final level consisted of external manifestations of inner speech characterized by inaudible mutterings. The inner speech of impulsive children was considered immature and proposed to consist of self-stimulatory private speech (Level 1).

Results from research studies showed that impulsive children used similar amounts of inner-directed private speech (Level 3) as nonimpulsive children. Also, impulsive children used more self-stimulating (Level 1) and outer directed private speech (Level 2). Similarly, a majority of verbalization emitted by aggressive children consisted of immature self-stimulating private speech (Level 1).

Other researchers applied the concept of private speech to young children's problem-solving abilities and proposed that impulsive and hyperactive children did not process information efficiently because they used feedback in a trial-and-error fashion during problem-solving tasks. Impulsive and hyperactive children possessed difficulties in (a) comprehending the task or problem, (b) accessing mediators needed to complete task, and (c) producing mediators that did not guide behavior. The interventions formulated to address these three deficiencies contained discrete steps, each aimed at addressing each deficiency and improving task.

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