Abstract
Mental imagery differs markedly between people, with research tentatively identifying three categories, namely aphantasia, mid-range imagery, and hyperphantasia. Further, aphantasia poses interesting questions as to how people with low imagery experience reading. Accordingly, we used Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) on a sample of adults (n = 287) to see what distinct imagery profiles exist empirically. Second, we tested different imagery profiles for associations with different reading enjoyment and absorption experiences. The online correlational study asked participants to complete measures including the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ-2), the Story World Absorption Scale, and a measure of reading enjoyment. LPAs were run to identify imagery profiles and correlations were run with reading enjoyment and absorption. Results of the LPA validate the existence of three profiles. All groups reported moderate to high enjoyment and absorption, however, significant group differences existed between the lowest and highest imagers. Future research needs to better understand what these experiential differences are and how they may or may not affect reading ability.
What This Study Is About
Researchers wanted to see if people naturally fall into three distinct groups based on their mental imagery—the ability to picture things in your mind. They also investigated whether having a "blind mind's eye" changes how much you enjoy reading or how deeply you get "lost" in a story.
How They Studied It
The researchers surveyed 287 adults online. Participants completed the "Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire," which asks you to rate how clearly you can visualize certain scenes. They also answered questions about their reading habits, specifically focusing on "absorption" (the feeling of being transported into a story) and general enjoyment. The group included people with aphantasia (who cannot visualize at all), mid-range imagers, and hyperphantasics (who have "HD" mental imagery).
What They Found
The study confirmed that people generally fall into three "profiles": low, middle, and high imagers.
The most interesting discovery was about the reading experience. People with aphantasia reported feeling significantly less "absorbed" in stories. Using an analogy, if reading a book is like watching a movie, aphantasics are less likely to feel like they are standing on the set or feeling the characters' heartbeats. However, there was a surprise: reading enjoyment was high across all groups. Even if you can’t see the "movie" in your head, you are just as likely to love a good book as someone with a vivid imagination.
What This Might Mean
This suggests that while aphantasia changes the *flavor* of the reading experience, it doesn’t take away the magic of a story. You don't need a mental projector to be a bookworm!
We should be careful, though; this was a relatively small study (under 300 people) and relied on people describing their own experiences. While it *suggests* that imagery and "getting lost in a book" are linked, it doesn't prove that aphantasia makes you a "worse" reader—just a different kind of reader.
One Interesting Detail
For most people, closing your eyes helps you "see" a mental image more clearly. But for people with hyperphantasia, their mental images are so powerful that it doesn't matter if their eyes are open or shut—the "screen" in their head stays just as bright!