Imagery vividness, hypnotic susceptibility, and the perception of fragmented stimuli

Two experiments were conducted to determine the role of hypnotic susceptibility level (high or low) and imaging ability (vivid or poor) in the performance of gestalt closure tasks. In Experiment 1, subjects were required to identify fragmented stimuli in the Closure Speed Test and in the Street Test. In Experiment 2, subjects reported on fragmented stimuli that were projected to the right eye and subsequently produced an afterimage. Individuals were asked to identify the composite if possible and to report on the duration of the afterimage. In both experiments, hypnotic susceptibility level and imaging ability affected reports of gestalt closure. The greatest number of correct closures was reported by those who were both high in hypnotic susceptibility and vivid in imaging ability. In addition, in the second experiment, this group also reported the longest enduring afterimage. These results are discussed in terms of the processes required to perform in a gestalt closure task.     

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 Psychology, 23, 386) uses outdated items and has an unreliable factor structure.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.     

Sense of reality,reality testing and reality processing in borderline patients1

Although borderline patients are suitable for it, they often undergo repeated testing of phantasies against objective reality without success. A reason for these partial failures is that subjects have not been able to build a solid sense of reality and have found many diffi culties for processing reality demands and possibilities. The author puts forward some thoughts on this question, such as the importance of working through the depressive position and the Oedipus complex in the process of building up a solid sense of reality. A sense of reality also favours continuous reality processing. When reality processing becomes as continuous as life itself, the repetition of individual reality tests becomes less frequent and necessary, and more satisfying. The author also presents some recommendations for the psychoanalytic treatment of such patients, stressing the importance and the diffi culties of the introduction of the borderline patient into the triangular situation because primitive defences‐such as disavowal and denial‐are mobilized.     

Seeing is believing: the reality of hypnotic hallucinations

Two experiments investigated the reality attributed to hypnotic suggestion through subtle projection of a visual image during simultaneous suggestion for a visual hallucination that resembled the projected image. In Experiment 1, high and low hypnotizable participants were administered either a hypnotic induction or wake instructions, given a suggestion to hallucinate a shape, and then the projected image was subsequently introduced. Although highs in both conditions rated the projected image more vividly than lows, highs in the hypnosis (but not wake) condition made comparable reality ratings when the projected image was absent and present. In Experiment 2, high hypnotizable participants were administered a suggestion to see a shape on a wall. For half the participants the suggested image was projected on the wall and then removed, and for half the projection was initially absent and then introduced. Participants who had the projection absent and then present reported comparable reality and vividness ratings when the projection was absent and present. These findings indicate that elevated hypnotizability and hypnosis are associated with attributions of external reality to suggested experiences.     

Figural vividness and persuasion: capturing the "elusive" vividness effect

Despite the widespread belief that the use of vividness in persuasive communications is effective, many laboratory studies have failed to find vividness effects. A possible explanation for this discrepancy is that many laboratory tests have not vivified solely the central thesis of the message but have vivified irrelevant portions of the message as well or instead. Two experiments examined the effect of vivifying the central ("figure") or noncentral ("ground") features of a message on persuasion. In both experiments, the formerly "elusive vividness effect" of superior persuasion was found, but only in vivid-figure communications. A mediation analysis revealed the salutary role of supportive cognitive elaborations, rather than memory for the communication, in mediating the vividness effect. The findings caution against attempts to persuade by increasing overall message vividness because off-thesis vividness has the unintended and undercutting consequence of distracting recipients from the point of the communication.     

The illusion of reality: a review and integration of psychological research on hallucinations

Hallucinations are among the most severe and puzzling forms of psychopathology. Although usually regarded as first-rank symptoms of schizophrenia, they are found in a wide range of medical and psychiatric conditions. Moreover, a substantial minority of otherwise normal individuals report hallucinatory experiences. The purpose of this article is to review the considerable research into the cognitive mechanisms underlying (particularly psychotic) hallucinations that has been carried out and to integrate this research within a general framework. The available evidence suggests that hallucinations result from a failure of the metacognitive skills involved in discriminating between self-generated and external sources of information. It is likely that different aspects of these skills are implicated in different types of hallucinatory experiences. Further research should focus on specific metacognitive deficits associated with different types of hallucinations and on treatment strategies designed to train hallucinators to reattribute thoughts to themselves.     

Self-focused attention in schizophrenic patients with and without auditory hallucinations and normal subjects: A comparative study

Self-focused attention has been implicated in a number of psychiatric disorders, but little research has examined this in schizophrenic subjects. In this study, a sample of schizophrenic patients experiencing auditory hallucinations, schizophrenic patients not experiencing auditory hallucinations and normal controls were asked to complete the private self-consciousness subscale of the Self Consciousness Scale. It was found that patients experiencing auditory hallucinations exhibited significantly higher levels of self-focus than those not experiencing hallucinations, although they did not differ from normal subjects. It was also shown that level of self-focus predicted whether or not subjects experienced hallucinations. These results, and their implications, are discussed with reference to the literature.     

Working memory and the vividness of imagery

The working memory framework was used to investigate the factors determining the phenomenological vividness of images. Participants rated the vividness of visual or auditory images under control conditions or while performing tasks that differentially disrupted the visuospatial sketchpad and phonological loop subsystems of working memory. In Experiments 1, 2, and 6, participants imaged recently presented novel visual patterns and sequences of tones; ratings of vividness showed the predicted interaction between stimulus modality and concurrent task. The images in experiments 3, 4, 5, and 6 were based on long-term memory (LTM). They also showed an image modality by task interaction, with a clear effect of LTM variables (meaningfulness, activity, bizarreness, and stimulus familiarity), implicating both working memory and LTM in the experience of vividness.     

Interrelations of Imagery Use,Imagery Ability,and Performance in Young Athletes

The present study aimed to provide a better understanding of the relationship between imagery use, imagery ability, the interrelation between these two constructs, and athletic performance for young athletes. Participants were 80 gymnasts between 7 and 16 years of age. We assessed 5 different functions of imagery use and imagery ability regarding cognitive and motivational imagery. Cognitive specific imagery use, motivational general-mastery imagery use, and goal imagery ability significantly predicted performance at competition, independent of the athletes’ age. Consequently, it is useful to support young athletes’ imagery use and imagery ability systematically in order to improve their learning processes and sports performance.     

Imagery,expression, and metaphor

Metaphorical utterances are construed as falling into two broad categories, in one of which are cases amenable to analysis in terms of semantic content, speaker meaning, and satisfaction conditions, and where image-construction is permissible but not mandatory. I call these image-permitting metaphors, and contrast them with image-demanding metaphors (IDM’s) comprising a second category and whose understanding mandates the construction of a mental image. This construction, I suggest, is spontaneous, is not restricted to visual imagery, and its result is typically somatically marked sensu Damasio. IDM’s are characteristically used in service of self-expression, and thereby in the elicitation of empathy. Even so, IDM’s may reasonably provoke banter over the aptness of the imagery they evoke.     

Subjective reality, objective reality, modes of relatedness, and therapeutic action

This paper describes a dialectic believed to be at the heart of therapeutic interaction within a relational model. The dialectic consists of the interrelationship of two modes: the dyadic and the triadic. In the dyadic mode, the analyst responds with aspects of his or her self that singularly reflect the patient's subjectivity. This mode of attunement is uniquely suited to bringing the patient's experience into a place where it can then be seen and known. In the triadic mode, realities are recognized that are important to, but still outside of, the subjectivity of the patient. The analyst invites the patient to see him- or herself not only from inside his or her own space, but also from a point outside, through the perspective of others. The analyst is charged with asymmetric but not exclusive responsibility for negotiating and sustaining a fluid and flexible relationship between these modes. Optimally, this occurs through spontaneous and authentic engagement informed by intuition, empathy, and clinical judgment. However, when this dialectic loses its robust and kinetic quality (as frequently occurs in approaches ranging from the classical to the postmodern), an impermeable dyad is formed by extruding potentially triangulating aspects of reality (and subjectivity). This can result in curiosity and the openness of uncertainty being replaced by closed-mindedness and proclamation.