scholarly journals Auditory and Visual Mental Imagery in Musicians and Nonmusicians

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Talamini ◽  
Julia Vigl ◽  
Elizabeth Doerr ◽  
Massimo Grassi ◽  
Barbara Carretti
Keyword(s):  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Visual Imagery ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
Auditory Imagery ◽  
Visual Mental Imagery ◽  
Formally Trained

The present research investigated auditory and visual mental imagery and how this ability differs in people with and without musical training. In a first part, the characteristics of a new auditory imagery self-report questionnaire (the Vividness of Auditory Imagery Questionnaire, VAIQ) were reported. The questionnaire was composed of 16 items assessing mental vividness of auditory everyday sounds and it was administered to 147 participants, demonstrating good psychometric properties. In a second part, self-reported vividness of auditory and visual images was assessed in people with and without music expertise. Thirty-six formally trained musicians, 33 self-taught musicians, and 33 nonmusicians completed the questionnaires. The newly built questionnaire VAIQ and the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ, Marks, 1973) were administered. Music aptitude and general cognitive abilities were also assessed in all participants as control measures. We observed that both groups of musicians self-reported greater vividness of mental imagery for auditory nonmusical sounds than nonmusicians, but not for visual images. The study confirmed that music expertise is linked to enhanced self-reported auditory mental imagery for everyday sounds, illustrating that such advantage is selective for auditory imagery; no difference concerning visual imagery between the groups of musicians and nonmusicians emerged.

Self-Report Imagery Questionnaire Scores and Subtypes of Social-Desirable Responding

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 181-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Allbutt ◽  
Jonathan Ling ◽  
Thomas M. Heffernan ◽  
Mohammed Shafiullah
Keyword(s):  
Visual Imagery ◽  
Correlational Analysis ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Auditory Imagery ◽  
Auditory Modality ◽  
Visual Thinking ◽  
Thinking Style ◽  
Social Desirable Responding

Allbutt, Ling, and Shafiullah (2006) and Allbutt, Shafiullah, and Ling (2006) found that scores on self-report measures of visual imagery experience correlate primarily with the egoistic form of social-desirable responding. Here, three studies are reported which investigated whether this pattern of findings generalized to the ratings of imagery vividness in the auditory modality, a new version of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire ( Marks, 1995 ), and reports of visual thinking style. The measure of social-desirable responding used was the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR; Paulhus, 2002 ). Correlational analysis replicated the pattern seen in our earlier work and of the correlations with the egoistic bias, the correlation with vividness of visual imagery was largest and significant, the correlation with visual thinking style next largest and approached significance, and the correlation with vividness of auditory imagery was the smallest and not significant. The size of these correlations mirrored the extent to which the three aspects of imagery were valued by participants.

Failures to Imagine

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 270-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reed Maxwell ◽  
Steven Jay Lynn ◽  
Scott Lilienfeld
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Emotional Regulation ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Visual Mental Imagery

Although interest in the relationship between mental imagery and psychopathology has increased greatly over the last decade, few publications to date have examined relationships between personality-related psychopathology and mental imagery use, abilities, or both. However, we have reason to expect that substantive relationships may exist. For example, studies have consistently linked psychopathy and borderline personality disorder to problems in emotion experience and emotion regulation, and a growing number of studies indicate that deficits in visual mental imagery use and ability in particular may contribute to such problems. Using correlational data from multiple self-report measures of normal and pathological personality functioning and visual mental imagery, our study presents preliminary evidence for lower levels of self-reported visual mental imagery use, abilities, or both among noncriminal individuals with higher levels of self-reported psychopathy and individuals with greater emotional regulation difficulties, a core feature of borderline personality disorder. We also found significant relationships among self-reported visual mental imagery use, ability, or both, and personality variables shown to strongly predict psychopathy and emotional regulation difficulties. Limitations of the study, especially its reliance on a correlational, cross-sectional design, are discussed, and implications for future research are explored.

scholarly journals Transient Activity in the Human Calcarine Cortex During Visual-Mental Imagery: An Event-Related fMRI Study

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (supplement 2) ◽  
pp. 15-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Klein ◽  
Anne-Lise Paradis ◽  
Jean-Baptiste Poline ◽  
Stephen M. Kosslyn ◽  
Denis Le Bihan
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Primary Visual Cortex ◽  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Visual Imagery ◽  
Mental Image ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Visual Mental Imagery ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Transient Activity ◽  
Imagery Processing

Although it is largely accepted that visual-mental imagery and perception draw on many of the same neural structures, the existence and nature of neural processing in the primary visual cortex (or area V1) during visual imagery remains controversial. We tested two general hypotheses: The first was that V1 is activated only when images with many details are formed and used, and the second was that V1 is activated whenever images are formed, even if they are not necessarily used to perform a task. We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (ER-fMRI) to detect and characterize the activity in the calcarine sulcus (which contains the primary visual cortex) during single instances of mental imagery. The results revealed reproducible transient activity in this area whenever participants generated or evaluated a mental image. This transient activity was strongly enhanced when participants evaluated characteristics of objects, whether or not details actually needed to be extracted from the image to perform the task. These results show that visual imagery processing commonly involves the earliest stages of the visual system.

Exploring synaesthetes’ mental imagery abilities across multiple sensory modalities

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (0) ◽  
pp. 219
Author(s):  
Mary Jane Spiller
Keyword(s):  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Visual Imagery ◽  
Perceptual Processing ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Questionnaire Study ◽  
Imagery Ability ◽  
Spatial Imagery ◽  
Everyday Activities ◽  
Sensory Modalities

Previous research on the mental imagery abilities of synaesthetes has concentrated on visual and spatial imagery in synaesthetes with spatial forms (Price, 2009, 2010; Simner et al., 2008) and letter-colour synaesthesia (Spiller and Jansari, 2008). Though Barnett and Newell (2008) asked synaesthetes of all types to fill out a questionnaire on visual imagery, most of their synaesthetes reported some form of linguistic–colour synaesthesia. We extend the investigation of mental imagery to a wider variety of synaesthesia types and a wider variety of sensory modalities using a questionnaire study and several tests of visual and auditory mental imagery ability. Our results indicate that, as a group, synaesthetes report making greater use of mental imagery than non-synaesthetes, in everyday activities. Furthermore, they self-report greater vividness of visual, auditory, tactile, and taste imagery than do non-synaesthetes. However, as a group the synaesthetes are not seen to do significantly better at the mental imagery tasks, in either the visual or auditory modalities. These results have important implications for our understanding of synaesthesia, in relation to potential fundamental differences in perceptual processing of synaesthetes and non-synaesthetes.

scholarly journals Saccadic Eye-Movements Suppress Visual Mental Imagery and Partly Reduce Emotional Response During Music Listening

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 205920432095958
Author(s):  
Sarah Hashim ◽  
Lauren Stewart ◽  
Mats B. Küssner
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Visual Imagery ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Music Listening ◽  
Visual Mental Imagery ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Distraction Task

Visual mental imagery has been proposed to be an underlying mechanism of music-induced emotion, yet very little is known about the phenomenon due to its ephemeral nature. The present study utilised a saccadic eye-movement task designed to suppress visual imagery during music listening. Thirty-five participants took part in Distractor (eye-movement) and Control (blank screen) conditions, and reported the prevalence, control, and vividness of their visual imagery, and felt emotion ratings using the GEMS-9 in response to short excerpts of film music. The results show that the eye-movement task was highly effective in reducing ratings for prevalence and vividness of visual imagery, and for one GEMS item, Nostalgia, but was not successful in reducing control of imagery or the remaining GEMS items in response to the music. This represents a novel approach to understanding the potentially causal role of visual imagery on music-induced emotion, on which future research can build by considering the attentional mechanisms that a distraction task may pose during music-induced visual imagery formation.

scholarly journals Individual Differences in Mental Imagery in Different Modalities and Levels of Intentionality

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgia Floridou ◽  
Kaya Peerdeman ◽  
Rebecca Schaefer
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Auditory Imagery ◽  
Musical Imagery ◽  
Online Study ◽  
Growing Domain ◽  
Substantial Progress ◽  
Human Function

Mental imagery is a highly common aspect of everyday cognitive functioning. While substantial progress is being made in clarifying this fundamental human function, much is still unclear or unknown. Examining individual differences in age, sex, and background experience in an activity in relation to the sensory and motor modality and intentionality level of imagery as well as the relation between them will contribute to a more comprehensive account of this mental function. The current online study combined multiple imagery self-report measures in a sample (n=279) with a substantial age range (18-65), aiming to identify whether age, sex, or background experience in sports, music, or video games were associated with aspects of imagery in the visual, auditory, or motor stimulus modality and voluntary or involuntary intentionality level. The findings show weak associations between age and auditory imagery aspects, weak associations between sex and visual imagery, and relations of music and video game experience with involuntary musical imagery. Moreover, all imagery stimulus modalities were associated to each other, for both intentionality levels, except involuntary musical imagery, which was only related to voluntary auditory imagery. These results replicate previous research but also contribute new insights, showing that individual differences in age, sex, and background experience can make modest contributions to various aspects of imagery. The findings can inform the growing domain of applications of mental imagery to clinical and pedagogical settings.

“Imageless” Spatial and Temporal Rules Can Be Tested and Refined by Constructing Vivid Visual and Auditory Images

2012 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert G. Kunzendorf ◽  
Scott S. Lyman ◽  
Brenda Sousa ◽  
Emily Hilly
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Visual Imagery ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
Auditory Imagery ◽  
Study Research ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Specific Support

In this computerized study, research participants completed both Marks' (1973) Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire and Kunzendorf's (1979) Vividness of Auditory Imagery Questionnaire and, immediately thereafter, completed either a visuo-spatial rule-development exercise or an audio-temporal rule-development exercise. During the visuo-spatial exercise, participants were administered 20 four-alternative quizzes regarding the schematic rules of 3-point perspective (3PP) and, between quizzes, were instructed to figure out the rules by constructing visual images that serve to test their developing schema. During the audio-temporal exercise, participants were administered 24 two-alternative quizzes regarding artificial grammatical rules and, between quizzes, were instructed to figure out the rules by generating auditory images that serve to test their developing grammar. Across 83 participants in the visuo-spatial rule-development exercise, greater development of 3PP rules correlated significantly with greater vividness of visual imagery, but not auditory imagery. Conversely, across 94 participants in the audio-temporal rule-development exercise, greater development of grammatical rules correlated significantly with greater vividness of auditory imagery, but not visual imagery. In the historical context of null correlations between image vividness and problem-solving success, the current correlational findings provide modality-specific support for Kunzendorf and Reynold's (2004-2005) and Kunzendorf and Buker's (2008-2009) thesis that the vivid imager's construction of sensory images from imageless rules facilitates the testing and refinement of newly hypothesized rules, but does not facilitate the application of previously developed rules to new problems.

scholarly journals Investigating the influence of music training on verbal memory

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 814-820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra C. Taylor ◽  
Stephen A. Dewhurst
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Visual Imagery ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Word List ◽  
Auditory Imagery ◽  
Music Training ◽  
Word Lists ◽  
Neural Factors

Previous research has shown that musical training is associated with enhanced verbal memory. The current study investigated the generality of this association by presenting undergraduates who had received musical training ( n = 20) and undergraduates with no formal music training ( n = 20) with four types of word list; high visual imagery, high auditory imagery, high tactile imagery, and abstract. Those who had received music training showed enhanced memory for all word lists, suggesting that music training leads to a general enhancement in verbal memory that is not restricted to specific types of words (e.g., those invoking auditory imagery). The findings support previous research in showing that music training enhances cognitive skills beyond those that are specific to the domain of music. The possible cognitive and neural factors underpinning this effect are discussed.

Music education in junior high school: Perception of emotions conveyed by music and mental imagery in students who attend the standard or musical curriculum

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 824-835
Author(s):  
Elena Commodari ◽  
Jasmine Sole
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Junior High School ◽  
Visual Imagery ◽  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Junior High ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Mixed Emotions ◽  
Perception Of Emotions

The ability to perceive emotions conveyed by music and recognize multiple and mixed emotions improves with age. Several studies have found that mental imagery is one of the mechanisms that underlie emotional reactivity to music, and music has a facilitating effect on mental imagery. In particular, researchers have hypothesized a relationship between the perception of emotions expressed by music, visual imagery, and musical training. However, the results of previous studies are not homogenous. This study investigated the ability to perceive emotions in music in 130 students in their final year of junior high school and analyzed the contribution of musical training in visual imagery performances. Each student listened to one of two musical tracks, which were arranged to convey positive and negative emotions, respectively. After listening, the students reported the emotions they perceived and completed a visual imagery test. The results showed that the students could recognize simple, multiple and mixed emotions conveyed by the music. Moreover, the musically-trained students showed higher visual imagery ability.

Preserved Visual Imagery and Categorization in a Case of Associative Visual Agnosia

1992 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Jankowiak ◽  
Marcel Kinsbourne ◽  
Ruth S. Shalev ◽  
David L. Bachman
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Lateral Inhibition ◽  
Visual Imagery ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
Complex Objects ◽  
Visual Agnosia ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Object Decision ◽  
Actual Stimulus

A patient with associative visual agnosia secondary to a penetrating bitemporooccipital lesion remained able to draw complex objects from memory but could not subsequently recognize his sketches. His retained ability to copy and draw briefly exposed objects indicates that this is not a problem of visual perception. On tasks of categorization, mental imagery, drawing, and object decision, he demonstrates many instances of preserved visual semantic memories and imagery despite a sense of unfamiliarity with the visual stimuli. We infer a preserved ability to derive internal visual images from semantic memory. Cues may help him visualize the named object, which then serves as a model for comparison with the actual stimulus. However, his adequate visual perception and mental visual imagery, even when assisted by cues, are still insufficient to correct fully his difficulty in recognizing objects. Unique to his case is an inability to match the representation of stimulus objects with his intact internal image of the same object. Deficient lateral inhibition between neural representations of similar objects may be responsible.

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