Individual variability in mental imagery vividness does not predict perceptual interference with imagery: A replication study of Cui et al. (2007).
Azañón, E., Pounder, Z., Figueroa, A., & Reeder, R. R. (2025). Individual variability in mental imagery vividness does not predict perceptual interference with imagery: a replication study of cui et al. (2007).. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 154(7), 2043–2057. doi:10.1037/xge0001756
Abstract
Vivid visual mental imagery is thought to influence perceptual processing, but much of the current knowledge on this comes from one highly cited, though underpowered (N = 8) study from 2007, which found that more vivid imagery increases interference between imagined and perceptual content. However, that study has not been repeated since. We therefore conducted a conceptual (Experiment 1) and direct (Experiment 2) replication study. In Experiment 1, we recruited 185 online participants across the mental imagery spectrum, including individuals with self-reported aphantasia (impoverished or absent mental imagery) and hyperphantasia (extremely vivid imagery). In Experiment 2, we recruited 56 participants, 28 with self-reported aphantasia and 28 gender- and age-matched typical imagers. Consistent with the original 2007 study's interpretation, we predicted that those with more vivid imagery would exhibit stronger imagery-perception interference, as measured by decreased performance in a priming task when a color and word were congruent (e.g., red prime, word "RED") compared to incongruent (e.g., blue prime, word "RED"). We were unable to replicate this effect in either experiment. Instead, we observed performance benefits for color-word congruency across the mental imagery spectrum, with no difference in the magnitude of this effect across imagery ability or vividness, even among those with extreme imagery variations (aphantasia, hyperphantasia). Interestingly, we observed a relationship between a measure of mental imagery externalism and the congruency effect, suggesting that individuals with the ability to project their mental images into the external environment (i.e., prophantasia) may exhibit stronger congruency effects. The results of this study challenge our current understanding of the role of mental imagery in perception. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
What This Study Is About
Researchers wanted to know if the "vividness" of your mental imagery—how clearly you can picture things in your mind—actually changes how you see the real world. They were re-testing a famous theory which claimed that people with very clear mental pictures get "distracted" by them when looking at real objects.
How They Studied It
The team studied 241 people, including those with aphantasia (a "blind" mind's eye) and hyperphantasia (imagery as vivid as real life). Participants watched a screen where color words (like "RED") were flashed over different background colors. Sometimes the word and color matched, and sometimes they didn't. By measuring how fast and accurately people reacted, the researchers could see if a person's internal "mind's eye" was interfering with their actual vision.
What They Found
The researchers found that the clarity of your mental images doesn't actually predict how you see the world! Contrary to an older, much smaller study, this research showed that people with aphantasia performed almost exactly like everyone else. Whether your mind’s eye is a 4K movie screen or a blank wall, it didn't change how your brain processed the colors on the computer.
What This Might Mean
This suggests that "seeing" in your mind and "seeing" with your eyes are more separate than scientists previously thought. It’s a great reminder that having aphantasia isn't a "broken" way of seeing; it’s just a different way of processing information. However, because this study focused on one specific color task, it doesn't "prove" that imagery never affects vision—it just suggests that the connection is much more complicated than we once believed.
One Interesting Detail
The researchers highlighted a rare ability called prophantasia. While most people see mental images "inside" their heads, people with prophantasia can project their images onto the real world, almost like a hologram or augmented reality! These "projectors" were the only ones who showed a significant difference in the vision tests.