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Multisensory Imagery pp 271–282Cite as

Imagery Questionnaires: Vividness and Beyond

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Abstract

Most imagery questionnaires require ratings of the vividness of mental images. But vividness is only weakly related to theoretical models of imagery. In this chapter we review the usefulness of vividness ratings as an index of imagery ability. We contrast this with recent questionnaires that attempt to measure different components of imagery ability in terms of the underlying processes such as image generation, maintenance, inspection, and transformation or in terms of object versus spatial versus verbal cognitive processing styles. We show how these more theory-driven approaches can lead to new insights and argue that such approaches can and should be extended to mental imagery beyond the visual domain.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Dean and Morris (2003) also note that this finding is an interesting challenge to the Kosslyn model which does not predict any effect on imagery due to the source of the imaged item.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, WMB 6000, 101 Woodruff Circle, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Simon Lacey

  2. School of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Rebecca Lawson

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  1. Simon Lacey
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  2. Rebecca Lawson
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Correspondence to Simon Lacey .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, WOODRUFF CIRCLE WMB 6207 101, ATLANTA, 30329, Georgia, USA

    Simon Lacey

  2. , School of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Bedford Street South, Liverpool, L69 7ZA, Montserrat

    Rebecca Lawson

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Lacey, S., Lawson, R. (2013). Imagery Questionnaires: Vividness and Beyond. In: Lacey, S., Lawson, R. (eds) Multisensory Imagery. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5879-1_14

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