Yes, this is key. This idea that humans also require sequences to think was popularized by Jeff Hawkins even before all the LLM hype.

He was able to show that the equivalent of place cells (normally used to determine one's physical location) fire sequentially when humans perform tasks like listening to music or imagine feeling along the rim of a coffee cup.

The think step-by-step trick might just be scratching the surface of the various mechanisms we can use to give LLMs this kind of internal voice.