Thought Processes as Data in Eye Care Education and Research

Working memory is a component of the human memory system in which all thought processes take place during an activity. Asking participants to verbalize their thoughts (think-aloud method) is a well-established technique in cognitive psychology and computer science for obtaining access to mental processes in order to investigate in-performance cognitions. Few attempts have been made to use such data in eye care research. This article provides a concise overview of the think-aloud technique and discusses potential research areas where this method can produce useful data.