Subsequent verbalization in the study of cognitive processes

The analysis of work situations, in which cognitive activities play a crucial role, often makes use of verbal reports, as is the case for laboratory experiments on problem-solving. In these cases, the verbal report is considered as an indicator, amongst others, of a cognitive process to be studied. A contribution to the methodological discussion on the validity of this indicator is offered here. Only the ‘subsequent’ verbal report (obtained after the execution of the process) is considered. First, the relationship is treated between the activity of verbalization and a cognitive process, by considering its level of elaboration and its type. Second, the role of instructions given to the subject is examined on what is verbalized about (verbalization of knowledge underlying the execution of the process, verbalization of a particular execution, verbalization of the process in all possible cases). Last, a discussion is presented on the procedure of validation of the hypotheses derived from the verbal protocols