Measurement & Assessment
How do you measure something you can't see? Tools like the VVIQ and other imagery questionnaires let researchers quantify vividness and study it at scale.
How do you measure something you can't see? Tools like the VVIQ and other imagery questionnaires let researchers quantify vividness and study it at scale.
How do you measure something you can't see? Tools like the VVIQ and other imagery questionnaires let researchers quantify vividness and study it at scale.
Researchers found that five days of mental imagery training improved participants' metacognitive accuracy but did not increase imagery strength. This suggests that introspective ability and imagery production rely on distinct neural mechanisms.
Rademaker, R. L., & Pearson, J. (n.d.). Training visual imagery: improvements of metacognition, but not imagery strength. Frontiers in Psychology, 3. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00224
Researchers propose that mental imagery is a modulation of bodily orientation rather than a neural simulation. This suggests aphantasia is a specific inability to willfully conjure sensory-like presence through this bodily imagination.
Deery, J. (2026). Imaginary presence—merleau-ponty and mental imagery. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. doi:10.1007/s11097-026-10184-w
Researchers found that mental imagery and emotion share a common generative substrate in the brain's interoceptive system. This suggests imagery disturbances across various conditions are direct consequences of underlying interoceptive dysfunction.
Kvamme, T. L., Nagai, Y., & Silvanto, J. (2026). Imagery in affective and neurodevelopmental conditions: an insula-based interoceptive framework. Trends Open. doi:10.1016/j.treopn.2026.06.003
Researchers found that higher vividness of mental imagery is often associated with an increased occurrence of visual hallucinations across several clinical conditions. This suggests that hyper-functioning visual associative areas may drive both phenomena.
Panigutti, M., Bechi Gabrielli, G., Conti, D., Accinni, T., Zazzaro, G., Di Vita, A., Guariglia, C., & D’Antonio, F. (2026). Seeing without eyes: relation between visual mental imagery and visual hallucinations. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 184, 106621. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2026.106621
Researchers found that imagining a moral dilemma from a third-person perspective is linked to higher acceptability of harmful actions. This suggests visual perspective, not just vividness, helps shape how we make moral decisions.
Ernst, M., Kronbichler, M., & Meyer, P. (2026). The perspective-simulating mind: internal representations in moral judgment and action. Scientific Reports. doi:10.1038/s41598-026-53224-w
Researchers found that brain areas process mental imagery using modality-invariant properties rather than sensory-specific divisions. This suggests mental imagery and aphantasia are best understood through a supramodal framework.
Calzavarini, F. (2026). Rethinking modality-specificity in mental imagery. Synthese, 207(5). doi:10.1007/s11229-026-05561-6
Researchers found that Akhter Ahsen’s ISM model anticipated modern findings on the embodied and emotional nature of mental imagery. This suggests historical clinical frameworks can help bridge the gap between neuroscience and therapeutic practice.
Syed, A., & Neelofur, S. (n.d.). A narrative review of eidetic imagery and the early architecture of mental imagery research: revisiting akhter ahsen’s foundational contributions. Medical Research Archives. doi:10.18103/mra.v14i4.7364
Weak mental imagery is linked to lower science achievement, but load reduction instruction (LRI) significantly attenuates this negative effect. This suggests teachers can use LRI to support students who struggle with mental representation.
Martin, A. J., Ginns, P., Pearson, J., Kennett, R., & Burns, E. C. (2026). The role of load reduction instruction in assisting students with weak mental imagery. Learning and Individual Differences, 128, 102913. doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2026.102913
Pupil size changes in response to imagined brightness reflected trial-level vividness but not stable trait imagery scores. This suggests pupillometry tracks temporary imagery intensity rather than serving as a marker for overall ability.
Vanbuckhave, C., Eikner, J. S., Laeng, B., Onnis, L., & Mathôt, S. (2026). Pupil size reflects trial‐level variability in imagery vividness during immersive storytelling but not (or hardly) individual differences in trait imagery. Psychophysiology, 63(4). doi:10.1111/psyp.70298
Vividness ratings robustly capture a wide range of subjective experiences, from internal mental depictions to externally projected imagery. This suggests aphantasia should be redefined to distinguish between faint imagery and a total lack of pictorial representation.
Schwarzkopf, D. S., Yu, X. A., Altan, E., Bouyer, L. N., Saurels, B. W., Pellicano, E., & Arnold, D. H. (2026). Vividness of mental imagery reflects a broad range of internally generated visual experiences. Royal Society Open Science, 13(3). doi:10.1098/rsos.251887
Engineered pareidolia functions as externally scaffolded mental imagery where minimal visual cues recruit internal templates. This provides a quantifiable bridge between creative perception, imagination, and clinical neuropsychology.
Demas, A. (2026). Engineering pareidolia: mental imagery, perceptual scaffolding, and visual creativity. Brain Sciences, 16(3), 321. doi:10.3390/brainsci16030321
Pupillometry showed that imagined brightness modulates pupil size, but these changes did not correlate with individual self-reported imagery vividness. This suggests a dissociation between subjective reports and objective physiological measures of imagery.
Vanbuckhave, C., Huson, N., Lœvenbruck, H., Guyader, N., & Chauvin, A. (2026). Pupil changes to voluntary and involuntary visual imagery: a unified paradigm with implications for aphantasia research. Neuropsychologia, 223, 109378. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2026.109378
Mental imagery likely evolved from interoceptive processing to provide affectively-grounded simulations for decision-making. This suggests that aphantasia may stem from a decoupling of sensory information and internal bodily signals.
Silvanto, J. (2026). The interoceptive origins of mental imagery: an evolutionary account. Frontiers in Psychology, 17. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1807114
Researchers found that mental imagery of people, but not buildings, significantly primed subsequent perception in a binocular rivalry task. This suggests that the functional impact of imagery on perception is category-specific rather than a universal effect.
Tomastikova, J., & Silson, E. H. (2026). From imagining to seeing: the influence of visual mental imagery of people and buildings on perception during binocular rivalry. Cortex. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2026.03.001
AI-generated inspiration attenuated the link between visual imagery vividness and user experience during design tasks. This suggests external visual aids may help bridge the gap for those with low imagery when performing creative work.
Lebron Flores, M. O., & Moacdieh, N. M. (2026). Ai-generated inspiration for the design process: effects across the vividness of visual imagery spectrum. International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation, 1–19. doi:10.1080/21650349.2026.2629810
Bilateral temporal cortex stimulation significantly reduced the volitional control of auditory imagery while leaving vividness largely unaffected. This suggests that the ability to manipulate internal sounds relies on specific temporal-cortical dynamics distinct from those supporting image clarity.
Rollo, B., Malatesta, G., D’Anselmo, A., Lucafò, C., & Tommasi, L. (2026). Disturbing the sound of silence: bilateral temporal cortex stimulation and auditory mental imagery. Brain and Cognition, 192, 106378. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2025.106378
Researchers found that while imagining dark versus bright scenes modulates the pupillary response, this physiological change does not correlate with subjective imagery vividness ratings. This suggests pupillometry is not a reliable objective index for individual differences in imagery strength.
Gardner, D., Saurels, B. W., & Arnold, D. H. (2026). Imagery modulates the pupillary response, but this does not reliably index differences in imagery vividness.. Cortex. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2025.11.018
Vivid mental imagery is linked to an inwardly focused cognitive style involving interoceptive awareness and mindful presence. This suggests that imagery ability influences mental health by mediating emotional processing and memory.
Kvamme, T. L., Rutiku, R., Wierzchoń, M., Griskova-Bulanova, I., Fardo, F., Barzykowski, K., Sandberg, K., & Silvanto, J. (2026). An inwardly focused cognitive style links mental imagery and mental health. Heliyon, 12(2), e44433. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e44433
Our course turns your VVIQ result into a profile of your own mind, the words to explain it to the people in your life, and the evidence to hand anyone who says you are not trying. The first two modules are free.