Bibliography of Research Utilizing the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire

Guidelines for Judging Psychometric Properties of Imagery Questionnaires as Research Instruments: A Quantitative Proposal

To aid researchers in evaluating the construct validity of self-report imagery questionnaires in the context of their use as research instruments, standards are proposed for correlation coefficients under the headings of reliability, criterion validity, and content validity. Guidelines for deciding whether relationships are acceptable are also recommended.

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.

To discard or not to discard: the neural basis of hoarding symptoms in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Preliminary neuroimaging studies suggest that patients with the 'compulsive hoarding syndrome' may be a neurobiologically distinct variant of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) but further research is needed. A total of 29 OCD patients (13 with and 16 without prominent hoarding symptoms) and 21 healthy controls of both sexes participated in two functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments consisting of the provocation of hoarding-related and symptom-unrelated (aversive control) anxiety. In response to the hoarding-related (but not symptom-unrelated) anxiety provocation, OCD patients with prominent hoarding symptoms showed greater activation in bilateral anterior ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) than patients without hoarding symptoms and healthy controls. In the entire patient group (n=29), provoked anxiety was positively correlated with activation in a frontolimbic network that included the anterior VMPFC, medial temporal structures, thalamus and sensorimotor cortex. Negative correlations were observed in the left dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus, bilateral temporal cortex, bilateral dorsolateral/medial prefrontal regions, basal ganglia and parieto-occipital regions. These results were independent from the effects of age, sex, level of education, state anxiety, depression, comorbidity and use of medication. The findings are consistent with the animal and lesion literature and several landmark clinical features of compulsive hoarding, particularly decision-making difficulties. Whether the results are generalizable to hoarders who do not meet criteria for OCD remains to be investigated.

Odorant-specific patterns of sniffing during imagery distinguish 'bad' and 'good' olfactory imagers

There are large individual differences in the self-reported ability to form vivid olfactory mental imagery. Based on such self-reports, subjects have been classified as 'bad' or 'good' imagers. The present study examined whether a differential strategy in re-enacting the olfactomotor response during imagery may explain the dissociation between 'bad' and 'good' olfactory imagers. As previously reported, odor imagery was accompanied by sniffing. Although 'bad' and 'good' olfactory imagers did not differ in their overall sniffing volume, they used different strategies when re-enacting the motor component of olfaction during imagery. Particularly, as in real perception, 'good' but not 'bad' imagers generated bigger sniffs when imagining a pleasant smell compared with an unpleasant smell (P<0.02). Furthermore, preventing sniffing significantly hampered mental imagery of pleasant odors in 'good' but not 'bad' imagers (P<0.03). Taken together, these results suggest (i) the validity of the dissociation between 'bad' and 'good' olfactory imagers as revealed by self-report; (ii) that sniffing may be a causal factor in the creation of olfactory imagery; and (iii) that sniff measurements may serve as a reliable non-verbal tool in exploring individual differences in odor imagery.

Relations of imagery, creativity, and socioeconomic status with performance on a stock-market E-trading game

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine how measures of imagery, creativity, and socioeconomic status relate to performance in a stock-market trading game. The 368 participants were students enrolled in an administration studies curriculum. A multiple regression analysis showed imaging scores to be a predictor of stock-trading performance as were creativity and socioeconomic status to a lesser extent. High imagers and high scorers on creativity and socioeconomic status made several times more profit with their portfolios. Results are discussed in terms of imagery having multiple repercussions on learning, e.g., memory and problem-solving. It is concluded that scores on imagery, creativity, and socioeconomic status, being weakly correlated, are interdependent and likely associated with personality traits shaped within a stimulating home or social environment.

Imagix: multimedia software for evaluating the vividness of movement-imagery

This article presents a new software, Imagix, designed for the evaluation of the vividness of movement-imagery. This multimedia test is comprised of 18 movements in six different psychomotor categories whose vividness of imagery is to be appraised. Imagix has the advantage of offering an evaluation of the vividness of imagery in a normative way. The participant chooses among four films displaying a vividness gradient, which includes contrast and luminosity. The participant is first asked to visualize a movement verbally suggested. The participant is then asked to evaluate the vividness of this mental image by choosing on a computer screen the movie that best corresponds to the vividness of the movement-imagery. The first versions of this freeware (in English and French) are currently being validated.

Effects of "parental filter" on reported vividness of imagery

127 undergraduates (66 women, 61 men) completed experimental forms of Ahsen's Adapted Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (AA-VVIQ) in which the 16 items of Marks' Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) are rated separately with either mother or father in mind. When the two ratings were made side-by-side for each item and those for the father filter were given first, there was some evidence of dimmer father- than mother-filtered imagery for women. However, this effect did not appear when the mother-filtered ratings were given first, when all items were rated under one parental filter before being rated with the other, or when the filter instruction was given only before the first four items (which refer to a relative or friend). These results do not support claims that reported imagery is generally dimmer under the father than under the mother filter, but it was suggested that dimmer father- than mother-filtered imagery for women may be an order effect or may appear when raters freely compare their images under the two filters. Because scores were highly correlated (rs > .80) across filters, it was concluded that the choice of a parent for the first four items of Marks' VVIQ does not jeopardize the use of the inventory as a research instrument to classify people as good or poor visualizers.

The Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire: commentary on the Marks-Chara debate

The purpose of this article is to comment on a recent debate between Chara and Marks over the construct validity of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ). Following a description of their positions, it is argued that, although some of Chara's logical criticisms merit attention, much of his empirical work is methodologically unsound. However, in view of the nature of construct validity itself, it is also suggested that Marks ought to specify more clearly his concept of imagery vividness so critical experimental predictions can be made.