The thought processes underlying self-as-a-model interventions: An exploratory study

The current study examined self-as-a-model interventions, with the goal of understanding the thought processes that unfolded when children viewed feedback in this form. To accomplish this, a think aloud protocol (Ericsson & Simon, 1996) was employed with young children (n=22) who were learning how to swim. The children (mean age=8.3 years) participated in an eight-day intervention program during which time the children were instructed to verbalize all of their thoughts while watching their respective self-as-a-model videos. An exploratory approach was undertaken to discover the emerging themes that arose from the think aloud protocol. The results from this exploratory study showed that the majority of the children's verbalizations were self-evaluative in both a positive (Descriptive Positive), and negative (Descriptive Negative) direction, as well as, being related to future skill improvement (Prescriptive). Overall, the novel introduction of a think aloud protocol provided insight into the thought processes engaged in by children while viewing self-as-a-model videos. These findings provide an interesting starting point for future investigations into children's thought processes during modeling interventions.