Psychometric evaluation of the Involuntary Musical Imagery Scale (IMIS) in a South African sample

Involuntary musical imagery (INMI) is a common variety of musical imagery (MI) that has been a key research interest in the psychology of music over the last ten years. The Involuntary Musical Imagery Scale (IMIS), a closed-ended self-report instrument that offers a standardized means of assessing different aspects of earworm experience, has previously been evaluated psychometrically in at least two predominantly Euro-American samples. This report extends the study of INMI, and of the IMIS in particular, into a multicultural and multilingual African context. Responses to the IMIS from a South African student sample were subjected to factor analysis, reliability analysis, and a series of correlational analyses in order to assess its robustness and suitability for cross-cultural research. Results suggest the IMIS has a robust factor structure, reliability characteristics, and internal intercorrelation patterns when compared to previous findings, even outside a Global North setting. Item and subscale scores generally converged with other indicators of MI and INMI frequency, as well as INMI pleasantness and levels of disturbance. In contrast to the findings of much previous research, IMIS Negative Valence correlated negatively with earworm frequency, section length, and episode length, providing support for the claim that earworms are generally a positive rather than aversive experience. Although IMIS earworm frequency was strongly and positively correlated with INMI frequency, they shared only 36.8% variance – a result consistent with concerns that MI/INMI definitions have considerable impact on self-reports of these phenomena, and specifically that the earworm experience should not be equated with or considered prototypical of INMI experience.

Individual differences in mental imagery in different modalities and levels of intentionality

Mental imagery is a highly common component of everyday cognitive functioning. While substantial progress is being made in clarifying this fundamental human function, much is still unclear or unknown. A more comprehensive account of mental imagery aspects would be gained by examining individual differences in age, sex, and background experience in an activity and their association with imagery in different modalities and intentionality levels. The current online study combined multiple imagery self-report measures in a sample (n = 279) with a substantial age range (18–65 years), 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 positive associations between age and increased vividness of voluntary auditory imagery and decreased involuntary musical imagery frequency, weak associations between being female and more vivid visual imagery, and relations of greater music and video game experience with higher involuntary musical imagery frequency. Moreover, all imagery stimulus modalities were associated with each other, for both intentionality levels, except involuntary musical imagery frequency, which was only related to higher voluntary auditory imagery vividness. These results replicate previous research but also contribute new insights, showing that individual differences in age, sex, and background experience are associated with various aspects of imagery such as modality, intentionality, vividness, and frequency. The study’s findings can inform the growing domain of applications of mental imagery to clinical and pedagogical settings.

Notes on Musical Imagery in the Poetry of Jāmi

The poet Nur-al-Din ʿAbd-al-Raḥmān Jāmi (1414-92) is known to have been proficient in music theory; he also wrote a Resāla-ye musiqi (Treatise on Music Theory). In his poems he displayed an extensive and precise use of musical terms. To probe further into the elements of musical imagery, I scanned through his maṯnavis Haft awrang (The Seven Thrones) in search of lines dedicated to musical modes, instruments, and performers. Considering that musical imagery had a long-established tradition before his time, I pursued a comparative investigation and commented on some lines by way of examples. Finally, I argue that literary conventions shaped Jāmi’s poetry more than his expertise in music theory did.

Bedtime Music, Involuntary Musical Imagery, and Sleep

Many people listen to music for hours every day, often near bedtime. We investigated whether music listening affects sleep, focusing on a rarely explored mechanism: involuntary musical imagery (earworms). In Study 1 ( N = 199, mean age = 35.9 years), individuals who frequently listen to music reported persistent nighttime earworms, which were associated with worse sleep quality. In Study 2 ( N = 50, mean age = 21.2 years), we randomly assigned each participant to listen to lyrical or instrumental-only versions of popular songs before bed in a laboratory, discovering that instrumental music increased the incidence of nighttime earworms and worsened polysomnography-measured sleep quality. In both studies, earworms were experienced during awakenings, suggesting that the sleeping brain continues to process musical melodies. Study 3 substantiated this possibility by showing a significant increase in frontal slow oscillation activity, a marker of sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Thus, some types of music can disrupt nighttime sleep by inducing long-lasting earworms that are perpetuated by spontaneous memory-reactivation processes.

Developing Musical Imagery

Research into the development of musical imagery ability has remained stagnant in both the fields of aural skills pedagogy and cognitive science. This article integrates scholarship from both disciplines to provide a way forward for both the study and practice of imagery development. Analysis of North American pedagogical practices provides a foundation for the types and functions of activities used to affect imagery ability, while newly designed measurement techniques in the cognitive sciences are shown to have promising implications for assessing change in imagery ability over time. Following consideration of insights from both fields, this article consolidates them by developing a model of imagery development. Framed through the lens of expertise acquisition and skilled memory performance, this model has implications for approaches to imagery in the aural skills classroom and for empirical studies of imagery development in music cognition.

TRUTH AS AN AXIOLOGICAL DOMINANT (V. M. SHUKSHIN IN A RETROSPECTIVE OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE)

The concept of “truth” in Russian literature is historically associated with justice, righteousness, truth and fairness. In the second half of the 19th century, this concept was actualized in the works of F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, and A. P. Chekhov. In Dostoevsky's “ideological novel,” the emphasis is on the hero's finding “truth-verity,” “to live according to the truth” means to live with Christ. Besides the “truth of God”, the “truth of the people” is also of great importance in Dostoevsky's axiology. It is the people who carry the ideal of Christ in their hearts. The writer also discusses the truth of everyday life in his work: in politics, in the relationships among people in society. Leo Tolstoy created a whole gallery of characters who live “according to the truth.” First and foremost, the works of A. P. Chekhov reveal the truth of life; the writer is interested in the character's existential choice. God's truth and the people's truth, as a rule, are revealed to him in the self-awareness of a character "of the people." In 20th century Russian literature, the concept of “truth” plays an important role in the work of V. M. Shukshin and other rustic writers. Shukshin suggests distinguishing between truthfulness and truth, the truth of character and the truth of action. The truth of life involves the problem of the meaning of life. According to Shukshin, “people know the truth,” and this is not rational knowledge, but a way of life. The truth becomes the basis of national existence. Shukshin's Pravda was provocative in relation to the aesthetics of socialist realism with its main principle of partisanship. The writer relied on Russian axiology, rather than on party attitudes. The concept of “truth,” which is associated with the Christian worldview and Christian values, is the foundation of Russian culture and determines the main vectors of its development.