The Spanish version of Betts' Questionnaire Upon Mental Imagery

Sheehan's shortened form of Betts' Questionnaire Upon Mental Imagery is one of the most widely used inventories for measuring imaging. Participants were 562 undergraduate students (414 women and 148 men), with a mean age of 20.2 yr. In a principal components analysis followed by varimax orthogonal rotation for the Spanish version, eight factors were identified, six of which coincide with those of the original English version. Internal consistency was .92 (Cronbach alpha). Scores on the Betts Questionnaire Upon Mental Imagery correlated -.34 with those on the Gordon Test of Visual Imagery Control, .58 with those on the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire, and .02 with the Verbalizer-Visualizer Questionnaire.     

Internal consistency and construct validity of two versions of the Revised Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire

The Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ; Marks, 1973) is the questionnaire most extensively used to measure imagery vividness, but two newer versions have been developed. In this study, the reliability and construct validity of these two measures were assessed: the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire-2 (VVIQ-2) and the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Version (VVIQ-RV). A total of 206 undergraduate psychology students completed both questionnaires, and to assess construct validity, they also completed the Object-Spatial Imagery and Verbal Questionnaire (OSIVQ), Betts' Questionnaire Upon Mental Imagery (Betts' QMI), and the Measure of Ability to Form Spatial Mental Imagery (MASMI). Internal consistency reliability for both was high, with the VVIQ-RV having a Cronbach's alpha of .96, and the VVIQ-2 an alpha of .91. The construct validity of the VVIQ-RV and the VVIQ-2 was supported by the high correlations they had with the other three measures of imagery, which were all close to .50, and the very small correlations (.06-.07) they had with the Verbal scale of the OSIVQ, indicating that they validly measured the imagery construct. Thus, the findings support the two versions as equally valid psychometric instruments for measuring image vividness.     

Dissociative Experiences and Vividness of Auditory Imagery

The relationship between dissociation and auditory imagery were assessed, 2 variables that sometime influence on artistic creativity. A total of 170 fine arts undergraduates (94 women and 76 men) received 2 dissociation questionnaires—the Dissociative Ability Scale (DAS), and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES)—and 2 auditory imagery questionnaires—the Auditory Imagery Questionnaire (AIQ) and the Clarity of Auditory Imagery Scale (CAIS). Significant differences on the auditory imagery (CAIS) have been found between individuals scoring high or low on the DES and DAS. In this study, however, significant differences were only observed on the Auditory Imagery Questionnaire (AIQ) between individuals scoring high or low on the DAS. Moreover, conflicting results have been obtained on the influence of dissociative experiences on dissociative skills in 2 auditory imagery tests. The discrepancies in the results only lead to more questions being asked than answered. Several lines of research are proposed.     

Development of a new Clarity of Auditory Imagery Scale

In the psychological study of auditory imagery, instruments for measuring vividness or clarity have existed for some time. The present article argues that existing scales are ambiguous, in that clarity and vividness of auditory imagery are addressed simultaneously, and that empirical validations of those scales suffer from inadequate methods. The aim of the present study was to develop a new psychometric scale, the Clarity of Auditory Imagery Scale, measuring individual differences in clarity of auditory imagery. Drawing on previous literature, 16 items were generated, forming an initial item pool that was presented to 212 respondents. The hypothesized single dimensionality inherent in the data was confirmed using Velicer’s (1976) minimum average partial test and parallel analysis. Also, data were factor analyzed, extracting a stable one-factor solution including all 16 items. The internal consistency of the final scale was satisfactory (coefficient alpha = .88). Other properties of the questionnaire, such as test-retest reliability, remain to be established.     

Auditory imagery and the poor-pitch singer

The vocal imitation of pitch by singing requires one to plan laryngeal movements on the basis of anticipated target pitch events. This process may rely on auditory imagery, which has been shown to activate motor planning areas. As such, we hypothesized that poor-pitch singing, although not typically associated with deficient pitch perception, may be associated with deficient auditory imagery. Participants vocally imitated simple pitch sequences by singing, discriminated pitch pairs on the basis of pitch height, and completed an auditory imagery self-report questionnaire (the Bucknell Auditory Imagery Scale). The percentage of trials participants sung in tune correlated significantly with self-reports of vividness for auditory imagery, although not with the ability to control auditory imagery. Pitch discrimination was not predicted by auditory imagery scores. The results thus support a link between auditory imagery and vocal imitation.     

Assessing vividness of mental imagery: The Plymouth Sensory Imagery Questionnaire

Mental imagery may occur in any sensory modality, although visual imagery has been most studied. A sensitive measure of the vividness of imagery across a range of modalities is needed: the shorter version of Bett's Questionnaire upon Mental Imagery (Sheehan, 1967 , J. Clin. Psychology, 23, 386) uses outdated items and has an unreliable factor structure. We report the development and initial validation of the Plymouth Sensory Imagery Questionnaire (Psi‐Q) comprising items for each of the following modalities: Vision, Sound, Smell, Taste, Touch, Bodily Sensation, and Emotional Feeling. An exploratory factor analysis on a 35‐item form indicated that these modalities formed separate factors, rather than a single imagery factor, and this was replicated by confirmatory factor analysis. The Psi‐Q was validated against the Spontaneous Use of Imagery Scale (Reisberg et al., 2003 , Appl. Cogn. Psychology, 17, 147) and Marks' ( 1995 , J. Mental Imagery, 19, 153) Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire‐2 (VVIQ‐2). A short 21‐item form comprising the best three items from the seven factors correlated with the total score and subscales of the full form, and with the VVIQ‐2. Inspection of the data shows that while visual and sound imagery is most often rated as vivid, individuals who rate one modality as strong and the other as weak are not uncommon. Findings are interpreted within a working memory framework and point to the need for further research to identify the specific cognitive processes underlying the vividness of imagery across sensory modalities.     

An fMRI investigation on image generation in different sensory modalities: The influence of vividness

In the present fMRI study the issue of the specific cortices activation during imagery generation in different sensory modalities is addressed. In particular, we tested whether the vividness variability of imagery was reflected in the BOLD signal within specific sensory cortices. Subjects were asked to generate a mental image for each auditory presented sentence. Each imagery modality was contrasted with an abstract sentence condition. In addition, subjects were asked to fill the Italian version of the Questionnaire Upon Mental Imagery (QMI) prior to each neuroimaging session. In general, greater involvement of sensory specific cortices in high-vivid versus low-vivid subjects was found for visual (occipital), gustatory (anterior insula), kinaesthetic (pre-motor), and tactile and for somatic (post-central parietal) imagery modalities. These results support the hypothesis that vividness is related to image format: high-vivid subjects would create more analogical representations relying on the same specific neural substrates active during perception with respect to low-vivid subjects. Results are also discussed according to the simulation perspective.     

表象测量方法述评

表象测量在训练领域广泛应用,也是训练成败的关键环节.表象测量方法可分为口头报告纸笔法、实验操作法,以及神经科学技术共三种方法.其中纸笔报告法以量表测量为主,包括Betts量表、视觉表象清晰度量表及其修订版和运动表象清晰度量表及其修订版;实验操作法以心理旋转为基本范式;神经科学技术主要以经颅磁刺激和功能磁共振成像为主,测量多种表象过程中不同脑区兴奋性.三者各有优劣,均有待提高和改进.     

Adaptation to Spanish of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Version (VVIQRV)

Adaptation to Spanish of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Version (VVIQRV). The main goal of this paper was to adapt to Spanish language and to examine the psychometric properties of the "Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Version" (VVIQRV), an instrument that can be used to assess vividness of visual imagery. The adaptation was carried out starting from the Spanish version of VVIQ and taking into consideration improvement proposals suggested in other studies. The questionnaire was then administered to a sample of 414 Spanish university students and the psychometric characteristics were estimated on the basis of the classic theory and the Rasch rating scale model (RSM). The results were convergent with previous studies and indicated that the Spanish VVIQRV has good internal consistency and can be characterized by a single main factor structure. Also, the RSM analysis showed that the increment in the number of response categories, a proposal to improve the instrument, was not appropriate.     

Multidimensionality of the content of female sexual fantasy

A Female Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire (FSFQ) was developed from factor analysis of ratings through which women indicated the erotic potency of fantasies depicting nominated sexual activities. Five dimensions of sexual fantasy (genital, sensual, sexual power, sexual suffering, forbidden sexual-activity themes) are assessed by FSFQ. The extent to which themes within FSFQ were rated as sexually arousing correlated with the levels of physiological response recorded by vaginal photoplethysmography while women engaged in fantasy employing these themes. Sexual fantasy as assessed by the FSFQ correlated only moderately with scores on measures of non-sexual cognition such as the Imaginal Processes Inventory and the Betts Questionnaire Upon Mental Imagery, and women with high and low scores on FSFQ were not readily differentiated by biographic and demographic variables. Contexts in which the FSFQ can be used are discussed.     

The Spanish version of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire: factor structure and internal consistency reliability

We examined the factor structure and internal consistency reliability of the Spanish version of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire which was applied to a sample of 850 secondary school students. Factor structure investigated by principal components analysis, followed by varimax orthogonal rotation, indicated that a single factor explained 37% of the variance. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was good (Cronbach alpha=.88). We conclude that the Spanish version of the questionnaire, like the English version, has a single factor and high internal consistency reliability.     

The development of the orthographic consistency effect in speech recognition: from sublexical to lexical involvement

The influence of orthography on children's on-line auditory word recognition was studied from the end of Grade 2 to the end of Grade 4, by examining the orthographic consistency effect [Ziegler, J. C., & Ferrand, L. (1998). Orthography shapes the perception of speech: The consistency effect in auditory recognition. Psychonomic Bulletin &Review, 5, 683-689.] in auditory lexical decision and shadowing tasks. Words with rhymes that can be spelled in two different ways (inconsistent) produced longer auditory lexical decision and shadowing times and more errors than did consistent words. A similar consistency effect was also observed on pseudowords. The observation of a general consistency effect, both for words and pseudowords, in lexical decision and in shadowing suggests a widespread influence of orthography in the children's spoken word recognition system. On exactly the same material, with adult listeners we replicated the usual pattern of an orthographic consistency effect restricted to words in lexical decision [Ventura, P., Morais, J., Pattamadilok, C., & Kolinsky, R. (2004). The locus of the orthographic consistency effect in auditory word recognition. Language and Cognitive Processes, 19, 57-95; Ziegler, J. C., & Ferrand, L. (1998). Orthography shapes the perception of speech: The consistency effect in auditory recognition. Psychonomic Bulletin &Review, 5, 683-689]. A reanalysis of the lexical decision and shadowing results of Ventura et al. [Ventura, P., Morais, J., Pattamadilok, C., & Kolinsky, R. (2004). The locus of the orthographic consistency effect in auditory word recognition. Language and Cognitive Processes, 19, 57-95.] confirmed the discrepancy between the effects of orthographic consistency in child readers and adults. A further control experiment showed that orthographic consistency effects were not present in pre-readers. Results are interpreted considering the coexistence in children's reading of a mechanism of automatic access to well-specified orthographic representations of words and the persistence of grapho-phonological decoding procedures.     

Male sexual fantasy: multidimensionality in content

Sixty-six men provided ratings of the extent to which they regarded fantasies depicting nominated sexual activities as sexually arousing. A Male Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire (MSFQ) with five subscales was constructed following factor analysis of these ratings. The subscales yield separate scores for fantasies representing sensual, genital, public sex, sexual dominance-submission, and sexual aggression themes. Levels of penile tumescence recorded while men engaged in fantasies depicting content represented in the MSFQ correlated with the extent to which these men earlier had rated these same fantasies as sexually arousing. Since ratings on the MSFQ did not correlate substantially or consistently with scores on the Betts Questionnaire Upon Mental Imagery, the Imaginal Processes Inventory, and the Gordon Test of Visual Imagery Control, sexual fantasy may be mediated by processes different from those involved in non-sexual imagery and daydreaming. The need to validate use of the MSFQ in several clinical contexts is noted.     

Reliability and factor structure of the Finnish version of the Sport Imagery Questionnaire

The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and factor structure of the Finnish version of the Sport Imagery Questionnaire, a measure which examines cognitive and motivational functions of imagery. The final sample comprised 231 participants drawn from 34 sports and ranging in age from 14 to 49 years (M = 20.9, SD = 5.8). Internal consistency and confirmatory factor analyses were undertaken to evaluate the reliability and factorial validity of the scale. Fit indices and modification data generated from examining the 30-item five-factor model were equivocal, suggesting minor amendment and recategorization of several items rather than major adjustment to the proposed latent factor structure. Cronbach coefficients alpha indicated the scale is reliable. Overall, these results provide positive additional support for the claim that the Sport Imagery Questionnaire has a reproducible factor structure and is a reliable test for measuring imagery use in Finnish athletes.     

Olfactory imagery: is exactly what it smells like

Philosophical Studies - Mental Imagery, whereby we experience aspect of a perceptual scene or perceptual object in the absence of direct sensory stimulation is ubiquitous. Often the existence of...     

Intelligence and imagery in personality.

One hundred college undergraduates were administered the Richardson revision of the Gordon Test of Visual Imagery Control, the Betts-Sheehan Questionnaire Upon Mental Imagery, and the Shipley-Hartford Institute of Living Scale. The latter provided a conceptual quotient (CQ) score of intellectual impairment based upon a ratio between vocabulary and abstraction scores. Subjects with CQs above 100 had significantly higher control scores (p less than .02). High control subjects had significantly higher total IQ scores than did low control subjects (p less than .04). Subjects with high and medium range control had higher vocabulary scores than those with low control. This suggests possible assessment of proneness toward introverted and extraverted neuroticism based upon a combination type of imagery score and the ratio between abstract or vocabulary scores. The connection of imagery with dimensions of IQ may be a start toward a more refined measure of this aspect of personality. Problems and implications are discussed.     

Vividness of visual imagery and social desirable responding: correlations of the vividness of visual imagery questionnaire with the balanced inventory of desirable responding and the Marlowe–Crowne scale

Correlational research investigating the relationship between scores on self-report imagery questionnaires and measures of social desirable responding has shown only a weak association. However, researchers have argued that this research may have underestimated the size of the relationship because it relied primarily on the Marlowe-Crowne scale (MC; Crowne & Marlowe, Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24, 349-354, 1960), which loads primarily on the least relevant form of social desirable responding for this particular context, the moralistic bias. Here we report the analysis of data correlating the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ; Marks, Journal of Mental Imagery, 19, 153-166, 1973) with the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR; Paulhus, 2002) and the MC scale under anonymous testing conditions. The VVIQ correlated significantly with the Self-Deceptive Enhancement (SDE) and Agency Management (AM) BIDR subscales and with the MC. The largest correlation was with SDE. The ability of SDE to predict VVIQ scores was not significantly enhanced by adding either AM or MC. Correlations between the VVIQ and BIDR egoistic scales were larger when the BIDR was continuously rather than dichotomously scored. This analysis indicates that the relationship between self-reported imagery and social desirable responding is likely to be stronger than previously thought.     

Imagery ability and exposure in vivo in spider phobia

The present study deals with the effect of imagery ability on treatment outcome in spider phobias. Thirty-eight spider phobics completed the Questionnaire on Mental Imagery (QMI) and the Spider Questionnaire (SPQ). Subjects also went through a behavioral approach task (BAT) during which heart rate and avoidance behavior were measured. Each subject was then given one-session treatment as described by Ost. Immediately after treatment, SPQ and BAT data were again obtained. On the basis of their QMI scores, subjects were assigned to a 'good', 'moderate', or 'poor' imagers group. Neither pre-treatment nor post-treatment measures were found to vary as a function of imagery ability. Thus it appears that, at least for specific phobias such as spider fear, imagery ability is not a relevant variable for predicting the effects of in vivo exposure.     

An alternate-form instrument to assess vividness and controllability of mental imagery in seven modalities

A review of the literature concerning assessment of the ability to produce mental images demonstrated that in both the clinical and research areas new instruments were needed. The problem was to produce an alternate-form measure that would enable simultaneous measurement of controllability and vividness on the same test items in seven modalities. The results seem to suggest that for the Survey of Mental Imagery alternate forms are strictly comparable, reliable, have a known factor structure, and combine simultaneous measurement of controllability and vividness in at least six sensory modalities.     

The developmental turnpoint of orthographic consistency effects in speech recognition

The influence of orthography on children's online auditory word recognition was studied from the end of Grade 4 to the end of Grade 9 by examining the orthographic consistency effect in auditory lexical decision. Fourth-graders showed evidence of a widespread influence of orthography in their spoken word recognition system; words with rimes that can be spelled in two different ways (inconsistent) produced longer auditory lexical decision times and more errors than did consistent words. A similar consistency effect was also observed on pseudowords. With adult listeners, on exactly the same material, we replicated the usual pattern of an orthographic consistency effect restricted to words in lexical decision. From Grade 6 onward, this adult pattern of orthographic effect on spoken recognition is already observable.