Shared and Specific Perceptual Simulation Mechanisms Underpin Dialogic and Other-People Inner Speech

This study examined the cognitive mechanisms of dialogic and other-people inner speech varietiesthrough individual differences in perceptual simulation and corollary discharge abilities.Participants (N=174) completed subjective measures of inner speech phenomenology, auditoryimagery vividness, and objective tests of pitch imagery and corollary discharge. Bifactor structuralequation modelling indicated that general perceptual simulation ability significantly predicted thefrequencies of both dialogic and other-people inner speech. Moreover, unique contributionsbeyond general perceptual simulation were also identified: dialogic inner speech was specificallypredicted by self-voice and pitch imagery abilities, while other-people inner speech was predictedby other-voice imagery. These findings demonstrate that inner speech phenomenology depends onboth shared and specific perceptual simulation processes, with implications for understandingindividual differences in inner speech and related cognitive functioning.