The Phenomenology of Silent Expertise: From Inner Speech to Embodied Knowing
Research Square November 17, 2025 preprint DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8093329/v1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Empirical phenomenology study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 60 |
| Population | Participants grouped by level of baseball expertise (n = 20 per group) |
| Measures | Motor Imagery Vividness Scale (MIVS) |
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Imagery vividness increased and verbalization declined with expertise (r = –.70). The authors argue this pattern reflects a developmental condensation of reflective awareness into pre-reflective, affective attunement, in which cultural-symbolic regulation becomes embodied self-regulation. |
Abstract
Abstract This study contributes to the theoretical integration of phenomenology and behavioral science by examining how expertise reorganizes conscious experience. From a developmental and communicative perspective, skilled performance represents an epigenetic reconfiguration of awareness—from linguistically mediated control to embodied intuition. We develop an empirical phenomenology of this transformation by combining Merleau-Ponty’s ontology of expressive embodiment, Vygotsky’s model of inner-speech condensation, Michel Henry’s affective auto-affection, and the minimal-self framework. Sixty participants (n = 20 per group) imagined a baseball pitch, rated vividness on the Motor Imagery Vividness Scale (MIVS), and described their inner speech. Imagery vividness increased and verbalization declined with expertise (r = –.70, p < .001). Phenomenologically, this pattern reveals a developmental condensation of reflective awareness into pre-reflective, affective attunement. The study thus articulates how cultural-symbolic regulation becomes embodied self-regulation, bridging phenomenology, communication theory, and behavioral science within an integrative framework of embodied knowing.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualitative thematic analysis of the phenomenology of near-death experiences Cardiac arrest survivors | 2018 | Qualitative study | n = 34 |
| Phenomenology and Sequelae of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine Use Psychiatrists who had taken MDMA | 1992 | Qualitative study | n = 20 |
| A phenomenology of meditation-induced light experiences: traditional buddhist and neurobiological perspectives American Buddhist practitioners | 2014 | Qualitative study | |
| Evoking the ineffable: The phenomenology of extreme sports. Extreme sports participants across three continents, including BASE jumping, big wave... | 2017 | Qualitative study | n = 15 |
| Phenomenology and content of the inhaled N, N-dimethyltryptamine (N, N-DMT) experience. Naturalistic inhaled N,N-DMT experiences posted to the r/DMT Reddit community | 2022 | Qualitative analysis | n = 3,778 |