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Zeman A. Aphantasia and hyperphantasia: exploring imagery vividness extremes. Trends Cogn Sci 2024; 28:467-480. [PMID: 38548492 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2024.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Revised: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024]
Abstract
The vividness of imagery varies between individuals. However, the existence of people in whom conscious, wakeful imagery is markedly reduced, or absent entirely, was neglected by psychology until the recent coinage of 'aphantasia' to describe this phenomenon. 'Hyperphantasia' denotes the converse - imagery whose vividness rivals perceptual experience. Around 1% and 3% of the population experience extreme aphantasia and hyperphantasia, respectively. Aphantasia runs in families, often affects imagery across several sense modalities, and is variably associated with reduced autobiographical memory, face recognition difficulty, and autism. Visual dreaming is often preserved. Subtypes of extreme imagery appear to be likely but are not yet well defined. Initial results suggest that alterations in connectivity between the frontoparietal and visual networks may provide the neural substrate for visual imagery extremes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Zeman
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, UK.
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2
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Pounder Z, Eardley AF, Loveday C, Evans S. No clear evidence of a difference between individuals who self-report an absence of auditory imagery and typical imagers on auditory imagery tasks. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0300219. [PMID: 38568916 PMCID: PMC10990234 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Aphantasia is characterised by the inability to create mental images in one's mind. Studies investigating impairments in imagery typically focus on the visual domain. However, it is possible to generate many different forms of imagery including imagined auditory, kinesthetic, tactile, motor, taste and other experiences. Recent studies show that individuals with aphantasia report a lack of imagery in modalities, other than vision, including audition. However, to date, no research has examined whether these reductions in self-reported auditory imagery are associated with decrements in tasks that require auditory imagery. Understanding the extent to which visual and auditory imagery deficits co-occur can help to better characterise the core deficits of aphantasia and provide an alternative perspective on theoretical debates on the extent to which imagery draws on modality-specific or modality-general processes. In the current study, individuals that self-identified as being aphantasic and matched control participants with typical imagery performed two tasks: a musical pitch-based imagery and voice-based categorisation task. The majority of participants with aphantasia self-reported significant deficits in both auditory and visual imagery. However, we did not find a concomitant decrease in performance on tasks which require auditory imagery, either in the full sample or only when considering those participants that reported significant deficits in both domains. These findings are discussed in relation to the mechanisms that might obscure observation of imagery deficits in auditory imagery tasks in people that report reduced auditory imagery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoë Pounder
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Alison F. Eardley
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom
| | - Catherine Loveday
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom
| | - Samuel Evans
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom
- Neuroimaging, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
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3
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Krempel R, Monzel M. Aphantasia and involuntary imagery. Conscious Cogn 2024; 120:103679. [PMID: 38564857 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2024.103679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 03/09/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Aphantasia is a condition that is often characterized as the impaired ability to create voluntary mental images. Aphantasia is assumed to selectively affect voluntary imagery mainly because even though aphantasics report being unable to visualize something at will, many report having visual dreams. We argue that this common characterization of aphantasia is incorrect. Studies on aphantasia are often not clear about whether they are assessing voluntary or involuntary imagery, but some studies show that several forms of involuntary imagery are also affected in aphantasia (including imagery in dreams). We also raise problems for two attempts to show that involuntary images are preserved in aphantasia. In addition, we report the results of a study about afterimages in aphantasia, which suggest that these tend to be less intense in aphantasics than in controls. Involuntary imagery is often treated as a unitary kind that is either present or absent in aphantasia. We suggest that this approach is mistaken and that we should look at different types of involuntary imagery case by case. Doing so reveals no evidence of preserved involuntary imagery in aphantasia. We suggest that a broader characterization of aphantasia, as a deficit in forming mental imagery, whether voluntary or not, is more appropriate. Characterizing aphantasia as a volitional deficit is likely to lead researchers to give incorrect explanations for aphantasia, and to look for the wrong mechanisms underlying it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raquel Krempel
- Center for Logic, Epistemology and History of Science, State University of Campinas, R. Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, 251 - Cidade Universitária, Campinas, SP 13083-859, Brazil; Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, 4200 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
| | - Merlin Monzel
- Department of Psychology, Personality Psychology and Biological Psychology, University of Bonn, Kaiser-Karl-Ring 9, 53111 Bonn, Germany.
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Monzel M, Handlogten J, Reuter M. No verbal overshadowing in aphantasia: The role of visual imagery for the verbal overshadowing effect. Cognition 2024; 245:105732. [PMID: 38325233 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Revised: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
The verbal overshadowing effect refers to the phenomenon that the verbal description of a past complex stimulus impairs its subsequent recognition. Theoretical explanations range from interference between different mental representations to the activation of different processing orientations or a provoked shift in the recognition criterion. In our study, 61 participants with aphantasia (= lack of mental imagery) and 70 controls participated in a verbal overshadowing paradigm. The verbal overshadowing effect did not occur in people with aphantasia, although the effect was replicated in controls. We speculate that this is either due to the lack of visual representations in people with aphantasia that verbal descriptions could interfere with, or to the absence of a shift in processing orientation during verbalisation. To rule out criterion-based explanations, further research is needed to distinguish between discriminability and response bias in people with aphantasia. Finally, data indicated that the verbal overshadowing effect may even be reversed in individuals with aphantasia, partly due to a lower memory performance in the no verbalisation condition. Effects of further variables are discussed, such as mental strategies, memory confidence, and difficulty, quantity and quality of verbalisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Merlin Monzel
- Personality Psychology and Biological Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Kaiser-Karl-Ring 9, 53111 Bonn, Germany.
| | | | - Martin Reuter
- Personality Psychology and Biological Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Kaiser-Karl-Ring 9, 53111 Bonn, Germany
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5
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Keogh R, Pearson J. Revisiting the blind mind: Still no evidence for sensory visual imagery in individuals with aphantasia. Neurosci Res 2024; 201:27-30. [PMID: 38311033 DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2024.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/06/2024]
Abstract
The inability to visualise was given the name aphantasia in 2015 by Zeman and colleagues. In 2018 we published research showing that fifteen individuals who self-identified as having aphantasia also demonstrated a lack of sensory visual imagery when undergoing the binocular rivalry imagery paradigm, suggesting more than just a metacognitive difference. Here we update these findings with over fifty participants with aphantasia and show that there is evidence for a lack of sensory imagery in aphantasia. How the binocular rivalry paradigm scores relate to the vividness of visual imagery questionnaire (VVIQ) and how aphantasia can be confirmed is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Keogh
- School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia; School of Psychology, UNSW, Sydney, Australia.
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Walter K, Manley CE, Bex PJ, Merabet LB. Visual search patterns during exploration of naturalistic scenes are driven by saliency cues in individuals with cerebral visual impairment. Sci Rep 2024; 14:3074. [PMID: 38321069 PMCID: PMC10847433 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53642-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/08/2024] Open
Abstract
We investigated the relative influence of image salience and image semantics during the visual search of naturalistic scenes, comparing performance in individuals with cerebral visual impairment (CVI) and controls with neurotypical development. Participants searched for a prompted target presented as either an image or text cue. Success rate and reaction time were collected, and gaze behavior was recorded with an eye tracker. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis compared the distribution of individual gaze landings based on predictions of image salience (using Graph-Based Visual Saliency) and image semantics (using Global Vectors for Word Representations combined with Linguistic Analysis of Semantic Salience) models. CVI participants were less likely and were slower in finding the target. Their visual search behavior was also associated with a larger visual search area and greater number of fixations. ROC scores were also lower in CVI compared to controls for both model predictions. Furthermore, search strategies in the CVI group were not affected by cue type, although search times and accuracy showed a significant correlation with verbal IQ scores for text-cued searches. These results suggest that visual search patterns in CVI are driven mainly by image salience and provide further characterization of higher-order processing deficits observed in this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kerri Walter
- Translational Vision Lab, Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Claire E Manley
- The Laboratory for Visual Neuroplasticity, Department of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, 20 Staniford Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Peter J Bex
- Translational Vision Lab, Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lotfi B Merabet
- The Laboratory for Visual Neuroplasticity, Department of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, 20 Staniford Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
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Monzel M, Reuter M. Where's Wanda? The influence of visual imagery vividness on visual search speed measured by means of hidden object pictures. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024; 86:22-27. [PMID: 36627474 PMCID: PMC10769966 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-022-02645-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Previous research demonstrated effects of visual imagery on search speed in visual search paradigms. However, these effects were rather small, questioning their ecological validity. Thus, our present study aimed to generalize these effects to more naturalistic material (i.e., a paradigm that allows for top-down strategies in highly complex visual search displays that include overlapping stimuli while simultaneously avoiding possibly confounding search instructions). One hundred and four participants with aphantasia (= absence of voluntary mental imagery) and 104 gender and age-matched controls were asked to find hidden objects in several hidden object pictures with search times recorded. Results showed that people with aphantasia were significantly slower than controls, even when controlling for age and general processing speed. Thus, effects of visual imagery might be strong enough to influence the perception of our real-life surroundings, probably because of the involvement of visual imagery in several top-down strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Merlin Monzel
- Department of Psychology, Personality Psychology and Biological Psychology, University of Bonn, Kaiser-Karl-Ring 9, 53111, Bonn, Germany.
| | - Martin Reuter
- Department of Psychology, Personality Psychology and Biological Psychology, University of Bonn, Kaiser-Karl-Ring 9, 53111, Bonn, Germany
- Center for Economics and Neuroscience (CENs), Laboratory of Neurogenetics, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
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Moriya J. Visual mental imagery of atypical color objects attracts attention to an imagery-matching object. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024; 86:49-61. [PMID: 37872433 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-023-02804-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/01/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
Mental imagery attracts attention to imagery-matching stimuli. However, it remains unknown whether voluntarily imagined atypical color also attracts attention to a stimulus that matches the imagery when the imagined stimuli are color-diagnostic objects, which are strongly associated with typical color. This study investigated whether people can voluntarily imagine atypical colors of such objects and attend to imagery-matching stimuli. Participants in the imagery group were instructed to imagine an atypical color of the black-white objects according to the instructed color or voluntarily selected color, whereas participants in the control group were instructed to attend to the objects without any instruction of imagery. Thereafter, they detected a color target in a visual search task. Results revealed that participants in the imagery group directed attention to the imagery-matching atypical color, not to the original color of the object in the search. Meanwhile, participants in the control group did not demonstrate any attentional guidance. These results suggest that voluntarily imagining atypical color can attenuate mental representations of the original color imagery and change attention to a stimulus that matches imagery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Moriya
- Faculty of Sociology, Kansai University, 3-3-35 Yamate-cho, Suita-shi, Osaka, Japan.
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Cabbai G, Brown CRH, Dance C, Simner J, Forster S. Mental imagery and visual attentional templates: A dissociation. Cortex 2023; 169:259-278. [PMID: 37967476 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.09.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2023] [Revised: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023]
Abstract
There is a growing interest in the relationship between mental images and attentional templates as both are considered pictorial representations that involve similar neural mechanisms. Here, we investigated the role of mental imagery in the automatic implementation of attentional templates and their effect on involuntary attention. We developed a novel version of the contingent capture paradigm designed to encourage the generation of a new template on each trial and measure contingent spatial capture by a template-matching visual feature (color). Participants were required to search at four different locations for a specific object indicated at the start of each trial. Immediately prior to the search display, color cues were presented surrounding the potential target locations, one of which matched the target color (e.g., red for strawberry). Across three experiments, our task induced a robust contingent capture effect, reflected by faster responses when the target appeared in the location previously occupied by the target-matching cue. Contrary to our predictions, this effect remained consistent regardless of self-reported individual differences in visual mental imagery (Experiment 1, N = 216) or trial-by-trial variation of voluntary imagery vividness (Experiment 2, N = 121). Moreover, contingent capture was observed even among aphantasic participants, who report no imagery (Experiment 3, N = 91). The magnitude of the effect was not reduced in aphantasics compared to a control sample of non-aphantasics, although the two groups reported substantial differences in their search strategy and exhibited differences in overall speed and accuracy. Our results hence establish a dissociation between the generation and implementation of attentional templates for a visual feature (color) and subjectively experienced imagery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Cabbai
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom; Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom.
| | | | - Carla Dance
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Julia Simner
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom; Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Sophie Forster
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom; Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
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10
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Dance CJ, Hole G, Simner J. The role of visual imagery in face recognition and the construction of facial composites. Evidence from Aphantasia. Cortex 2023; 167:318-334. [PMID: 37597266 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.06.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Revised: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/21/2023]
Abstract
People with aphantasia have a markedly impaired ability to form visual images in the mind's eye. Here, by testing people with and without aphantasia, we examine the relationship between visual imagery and face processing. We show that aphantasics have weaker face recognition than people with visual imagery, using both self-report (Prosopagnosia Index) and behavioural measures (Cambridge Face Memory Test). However, aphantasics nonetheless have a fully intact ability to construct facial composites from memory (i.e., composites produced using EFIT6 by aphantasics and imagers were rated as equally accurate in terms of their resemblance to a target face). Additionally, we show that aphantasics were less able than imagers to see the resemblance between composites and a target face, suggestive of potential issues with face matching (perception). Finally, we show that holistic and featural methods of composite construction using EFIT6 produce equally accurate composites. Our results suggest that face recognition, but not face composite construction, is facilitated by the ability to represent visual properties as 'pictures in the mind'. Our findings have implications for the study of aphantasia, and also for forensic settings, where face composite systems are commonly used to aid criminal investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carla J Dance
- School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, UK.
| | - Graham Hole
- School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, UK
| | - Julia Simner
- School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, UK
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Monzel M, Vetterlein A, Hogeterp SA, Reuter M. No increased prevalence of prosopagnosia in aphantasia: Visual recognition deficits are small and not restricted to faces. Perception 2023; 52:629-644. [PMID: 37321679 DOI: 10.1177/03010066231180712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Aphantasia and prosopagnosia are both rare conditions with impairments in visual cognition. While prosopagnosia refers to a face recognition deficit, aphantasics exhibit a lack of mental imagery. Current object recognition theories propose an interplay of perception and mental representations, making an association between recognition performance and visual imagery plausible. While the literature assumes a link between aphantasia and prosopagnosia, other impairments in aphantasia have been shown to be rather global. Therefore, we assumed that aphantasics do not solely exhibit impairments in face recognition but rather in general visual recognition performance, probably moderated by stimulus complexity. To test this hypothesis, 65 aphantasics were compared to 55 controls in a face recognition task, the Cambridge Face Memory Test, and a corresponding object recognition task, the Cambridge Car Memory Test. In both tasks, aphantasics performed worse than controls, indicating mild recognition deficits without face-specificity. Additional correlations between imagery vividness and performance in both tasks were found, suggesting that visual imagery influences visual recognition not only in imagery extremes. Stimulus complexity produced the expected moderation effect but only for the whole imagery-spectrum and only with face stimuli. Overall, the results imply that aphantasia is linked to a general but mild deficit in visual recognition.
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Beran MJ, James BT, French K, Haseltine EL, Kleider-Offutt HM. Assessing aphantasia prevalence and the relation of self-reported imagery abilities and memory task performance. Conscious Cogn 2023; 113:103548. [PMID: 37451040 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2023.103548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Revised: 06/04/2023] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Aphantasia is the experience of having little to no visual imagery. We assessed the prevalence rate of aphantasia in 5,010 people from the general population of adults in the United States through self-report and responses to two visual imagery scales. The self-reported prevalence rate of aphantasia was 8.9% in this sample. However, not all participants who reported themselves as aphantasic showed low-imagery profiles on the questionnaire scales, and scale prevalence was much lower (1.5%). Self-reported aphantasic individuals reported lower dream frequencies and self-talk and showed poorer memory performance compared to individuals who reported average and high mental imagery. Self-reported aphantasic individuals showed a greater preference for written instruction compared to video instruction for learning a hypothetical new task although there were differences for men and women in this regard. Categorizing aphantasia using a scale measure and relying on self-identification may provide a more consistent picture of who lacks visual imagery.
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Takahashi J, Saito G, Omura K, Yasunaga D, Sugimura S, Sakamoto S, Horikawa T, Gyoba J. Diversity of aphantasia revealed by multiple assessments of visual imagery, multisensory imagery, and cognitive style. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1174873. [PMID: 37546458 PMCID: PMC10403065 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1174873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Aphantasia-a condition wherein individuals have a reduced or absent construction of voluntary visual imagery-is diagnosed using either the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) or self-identification. However, a significant discrepancy exists between the proportions of aphantasia in the populations assessed using these two criteria. It is unclear why the reported proportions differ excessively and what percentage of people cannot form visual imagery. We investigated the replicability of the proportion of people with aphantasia using both criteria in the same population of participants. Therefore, we explored the potential causes of the discrepancy and characteristics of putative aphantasia in terms of multisensory imagery, cognitive style, and face recognition ability. First, we conducted an online sampling study (Study 1: N = 2,871) using the VVIQ, self-identification of a reduction in visual imagery, Questionnaire upon Mental Imagery (QMI), and Verbalizer-Visualizer Questionnaire (VVQ). We found that 3.7 and 12.1% fulfilled the VVIQ and self-identification criteria, respectively, roughly replicating the proportions reported in previous studies. The self-identification criterion-but not the VVIQ criterion-contains items related to face recognition; hence, we suspected that face recognition ability was factor contributing to this discrepancy and conducted another online sampling study (Study 2: N = 774). We found a significant correlation between VVIQ and face recognition ability in the control group with self-identification, but not in the group defined by low VVIQ (VVIQ ≤32). As the participants in the control group with self-identification tended to exhibit moderately high VVIQ scores but low face recognition ability, we reason that the discrepancy can be partially explained by the contamination of individual differences in face recognition ability. Additional analyses of Study 1 revealed that the aphantasia group included participants who lacked all types of sensory imagery or only visual imagery in multisensory imagery and exhibited a non-specific cognitive style. This study indicates that the VVIQ alone may be insufficient to diagnose individuals who report an inability to form visual imagery. Furthermore, we highlight the importance of multiple assessments-along with the VVIQ-to better understand the diversity of imagery in aphantasia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junichi Takahashi
- Faculty of Human Development and Culture, Fukushima University, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Godai Saito
- Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Kazufumi Omura
- Faculty of Education, Art and Science, Yamagata University, Yamagata, Japan
| | - Daichi Yasunaga
- Faculty of Letters, College of Human and Social Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
| | | | - Shuichi Sakamoto
- Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Tomoyasu Horikawa
- NTT Communication Science Laboratories, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Atsugi, Japan
| | - Jiro Gyoba
- Department of Psychology, College of Psychology and Education, Shokei Gakuin University, Natori, Japan
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Monzel M, Keidel K, Reuter M. Is it really empathy? The potentially confounding role of mental imagery in self-reports of empathy. JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2023.104354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
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Bazgir B, Shamseddini A, Hogg JA, Ghadiri F, Bahmani M, Diekfuss JA. Is cognitive control of perception and action via attentional focus moderated by motor imagery? BMC Psychol 2023; 11:12. [PMID: 36647147 PMCID: PMC9841651 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-023-01047-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Motor imagery (MI) has emerged as an individual factor that may modulate the effects of attentional focus on motor skill performance. In this study, we investigated whether global MI, as well as its components (i.e., kinesthetic MI, internal visual MI, and external visual MI) moderate the effect of attentional focus on performance in a group of ninety-two young adult novice air-pistol shooters (age: M = 21.87, SD = 2.54). After completing the movement imagery questionnaire-3 (MIQ-3), participants were asked to complete a pistol shooting experiment in three different attentional focus conditions: (1) No focus instruction condition (control condition with no verbal instruction) (2) an internal focus instruction condition, and (3) an external focus condition. Shot accuracy, performance time, and aiming trace speed (i.e., stability of hold or weapon stability) were measured as the performance variables. Results revealed that shot accuracy was significantly poorer during internal relative to control focus condition. In addition, performance time was significantly higher during external relative to both control and internal condition. However, neither global MI, nor its subscales, moderated the effects of attentional focus on performance. This study supports the importance of attentional focus for perceptual and motor performance, yet global MI and its modalities/perspectives did not moderate pistol shooting performance. This study suggests that perception and action are cognitively controlled by attentional mechanisms, but not motor imagery. Future research with complementary assessment modalities is warranted to extend the present findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Behzad Bazgir
- grid.411521.20000 0000 9975 294XExercise Physiology Research Center, Life Style Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Alireza Shamseddini
- grid.411521.20000 0000 9975 294XExercise Physiology Research Center, Life Style Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Jennifer A. Hogg
- grid.267303.30000 0000 9338 1949Department of Health and Human Performance, The University of Tennessee Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN USA
| | - Farhad Ghadiri
- grid.412265.60000 0004 0406 5813Department of Motor Behavior, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Moslem Bahmani
- grid.411521.20000 0000 9975 294XExercise Physiology Research Center, Life Style Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ,grid.412265.60000 0004 0406 5813Department of Motor Behavior, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Jed A. Diekfuss
- Emory Sports Performance And Research Center (SPARC), Flowery Branch, GA USA ,grid.462222.20000 0004 0382 6932Emory Sports Medicine Center, Atlanta, GA USA ,grid.189967.80000 0001 0941 6502Department of Orthopaedics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA USA
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Wittmann BC, Şatırer Y. Decreased associative processing and memory confidence in aphantasia. Learn Mem 2022; 29:412-420. [PMID: 36253008 PMCID: PMC9578376 DOI: 10.1101/lm.053610.122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Visual imagery and mental reconstruction of scenes are considered core components of episodic memory retrieval. Individuals with absent visual imagery (aphantasia) score lower on tests of autobiographical memory, suggesting that aphantasia may be associated with differences in episodic and associative processing. In this online study, we tested aphantasic participants and controls on associative recognition and memory confidence for three types of associations encoded incidentally: associations between visual-visual and audio-visual stimulus pairs, associations between an object and its location on the screen, and intraitem associations. Aphantasic participants had a lower rate of high-confidence hits in all associative memory tests compared with controls. Performance on auditory-visual associations was correlated with individual differences in a measure of object imagery in the aphantasic group but not in controls. No overall group difference in memory performance was found, indicating that visual imagery selectively contributes to memory confidence. Analysis of the encoding task revealed that aphantasics made fewer associative links between the stimuli, suggesting a role for visual imagery in associative processing of visual and auditory input. These data enhance our understanding of visual imagery contributions to associative memory and further characterize the cognitive profile of aphantasia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bianca C Wittmann
- Department of Psychology, Justus Liebig University, 35394 Giessen, Germany
| | - Yılmaz Şatırer
- Department of Psychology, Justus Liebig University, 35394 Giessen, Germany
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Pounder Z, Jacob J, Evans S, Loveday C, Eardley AF, Silvanto J. Only minimal differences between individuals with congenital aphantasia and those with typical imagery on neuropsychological tasks that involve imagery. Cortex 2022; 148:180-192. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Revised: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Monzel M, Vetterlein A, Reuter M. Memory deficits in aphantasics are not restricted to autobiographical memory - Perspectives from the Dual Coding Approach. J Neuropsychol 2021; 16:444-461. [PMID: 34719857 DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Scene Construction Theory suggests similar neural mechanisms for visual imagery and autobiographical memory, supporting the seeming scientific consensus that a loss of visual imagery affects autobiographical memory. Based on the Dual Coding Theory and the Reverse Hierarchy Model, we also assumed influences of visual imagery on recent visual memory and even verbal memory, although little evidence has been provided so far. Thus, in a sample of 67 congenital aphantasics (= persons without mental imagery) and 32 demographically matched controls, it was investigated whether deficits in visual imagery are associated with deficits in visual as well as verbal short-term and long-term memory. The memory tasks were theoretically selected based on task difficulty, retrieval condition, and subcategories of stimuli, as previous null findings were attributed to insensitive tasks that were solvable by aphantasics by means of non-visual alternative strategies. Significant group differences were found in all memory components, with aphantasics performing worse than non-aphantasics. Therefore, evidence was obtained for the influence of visual imagery on all memory components beyond autobiographical memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Merlin Monzel
- Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Germany
| | | | - Martin Reuter
- Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Germany.,Center for Economics and Neuroscience (CENs), Laboratory of Neurogenetics, University of Bonn, Germany
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