Aphantasia can affect the learning process, but there is more than one way to learn something new. People with aphantasia develop alternative strategies to learn effectively. These resources provide valuable insights into learning with aphantasia.
Aphantasia can affect the learning process, but there is more than one way to learn something new. People with aphantasia develop alternative strategies to learn effectively. These resources provide valuable insights into learning with aphantasia.
In Part 2 of her review, Hollis Robbins explores what Zeman's book means for those who imagine without images. Drawing on her own experiences with chess, psychedelics, and poetry, she argues that aphantasia is not a deficit but a different cognitive architecture—one that models the world through language. She then turns to presidential rhetoric to ask a provocative question: did Ronald Reagan have aphantasia? And what does it mean when the rhetorical patterns of 'the great communicator' look strikingly like those of an LLM?
Low-imagery individuals outperformed high imagers when matching highly concrete words to precise definitions. This suggests that vivid mental imagery can sometimes interfere with the analytical processing required for specific linguistic tasks.
Yavuz, M., & Nazir, T. A. (2026). Do low imagers know more words? examining the association between mental imagery and vocabulary size. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 1–14. doi:10.1080/23273798.2026.2614588
Hollis Robbins reveals how Mississippi's reading revolution validates what people with aphantasia have always known: you don't need mental pictures to decode language. This essay argues that teaching reading as pure pattern-matching and code-breaking—not visualization—prepares all students for an AI-saturated world.
Many assume that everyone can picture scenes in the mind’s eye—but history reveals otherwise. This article explores nineteenth-century writers and scientists who recognized readers without mental imagery—what we now call aphantasia. From George du Maurier to Francis Galton, it traces the surprising origins of today’s understanding of aphantasic readers.
Everything you wish someone had told you about having aphantasia. Understand why you think differently, find your strengths, and learn the strategies built for your brain — not someone else's.
Talk to counselors, coaches, and educators who already understand aphantasia — so you don't have to start by explaining what it is.
