11 
Collection of Wisdom-Related Responses 
2. 
The following sections present the standard procedure for the collection of responses 
indicative of wisdom-related knowledge. Throughout the interview, the interviewer follows a 
standardized written text of instructions and explanations. Interviewers should receive at least 2 
days of training and actual practice in administering the interview before actual data collection 
starts. In the following, the instructions given to the participant by the interviewer are indicated 
by quotation marks. The written text handed out to the subjects is presented in bold letters, and 
instructions or notes for the interviewer are printed in italics. 
The first part of the interview serves to familiarize the participants with the method of 
"thinking aloud," and to prepare them for the task of reflecting on the life problems of a ficticious 
person. 
2.1 
The Method of Thinking Aloud 
A number of tasks are helpful in motivating the subjects to think aloud rather than 
silently. We selected several examples, which are described in the following sections, from 
Ericsson and Simon (1984). The task to multiply 24 and 36, for instance, clearly shows the 
difficulty of verbalizing all the steps in one's thought processes, and also illustrates the 
importance of continuous feedback on the part of the interviewer. 
The task to name 20 animals is especially well suited for giving the subjects feedback on 
thinking aloud and speaking continually without pausing, rather than recapitulating preceding 
thought processes. While naming 20 animals, most subjects tend to pause for several seconds as 
they search for different species. Feedback should encourage them to verbalize both their search 
and the solutions they come up with. 
Usually, as a final warm-up task, we ask the subjects to retrace the route from their home 
to the interview laboratory, describing every change of direction they made (all the left and right 
turns taken). This is meant as a final check on whether the subjects fully understand the method 
of thinking aloud, that is, whether they really verbalize the pathway to their solution, rather than 
simply stating the answer. 
"In this study, we are interested in what you spontaneously think about when you 
are presented with a certain problem to be solved. In order to find out what goes 
on in your mind while you are solving the problem, we ask you to think aloud. We 
want you to say everything that goes through your head, from the moment when 
you first read the problem, until you are finished. Please speak continuously while 
you are working on the problem. Also, please do not try to plan or explain what 
you say, simply imagine that you are sitting alone in a room, talking to yourself. It 
is very important for us that you speak continuously. For this reason, if you should 
stop talking for an extended period of time, I will prompt you to continue 
speaking. Is it clear what we mean by thinking aloud? If you have any questions 
then we should resolve them now, before you start working on the problem. 
Alright. We will start with some warm-up tasks, so that you can get used to the 
method of thinking aloud. First, I would like you to think aloud when you 
multiply two numbers. Please tell me what you are thinking while you compute the 
answer."