Think‐aloud protocols and the study of comprehension

Although the think‐aloud method (TAM) is being used with increasing frequency in the study of text comprehension, many researchers remain skeptical of its value. In this article, we discuss assumptions behind TAM, the specific aspects of comprehension that it can reveal, as well as new directions for research that use TAM. In particular, we argue that TAM is a useful technique for tracking changes in the contents of working memory during comprehension, but we need new approaches to protocol analysis and more research on the relation between the verbal protocols and other assessments of discourse representations.