Vivid imagery is reported faster than weak imagery

TL;DR

People take longer to report weak mental images, suggesting a shared process between perception and imagery.

Contribution

A novel inverse correlation between imagery vividness and reaction time is identified across multiple datasets.

Findings

Participants report weak mental images more slowly than vivid ones.

Individual differences in detection asymmetry and trait imagery predict the vividness-response time relationship.

The results suggest a shared mechanism for evaluating visual experience in perception and imagery.

Abstract

Visual imagery and external perception rely on similar representations. However, whether the same processes underpin the subjective appraisal of both percepts and mental images is not yet known. One well-known effect in perceptual detection tasks is that people take longer to report perceptions of absence compared to presence. Vividness reports are detection-like in that participants report the presence or absence of a mental image. We therefore asked whether reports of low vividness share commonalities with reports of target absence. Across five pre-existing datasets, we report a robust inverse correlation between imagery vividness ratings and reaction times: participants take longer to report the vividness of mental images when they are weak. In addition, in one of the two datasets that included detection tasks and trait imagery questionnaires we find that individual differences in detection asymmetries (slower responses for absence versus presence in detection tasks) and trait imagery can predict the strength of this vividness-response time relationship. Our results may be suggestive of a shared mechanism employed across both perception and imagery that evaluates the strength of visual experience. Future research is necessary to fully characterize the mechanisms driving this effect.

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