The construct, “fantasy-proneness” [1], has important implications for theories of mental imagery and personality. The present study used a procedure with minimal experimental demand to compare the characteristics of mental images in subjects who differed in fantasy-proneness and vividness of visual imagery. Results revealed that high fantasizers, even those who reported vivid imagery, were no more likely than other subjects to perform in a fashion indicative of “picture-like” visual images. Implications of these findings for the construct of fantasy-proneness and interpretations of self-report measures of imagination and visual imagery are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
WilsonS. C.BarberT. X., The Fantasy-Prone Personality: Implications for Understanding Imagery, Hypnosis, and Parapsychological Phenomena, in Imagery: Current Theory, Research, and Application, SheikhA. A. (ed.), John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1983.
2.
WilsonS. C.BarberT. X., Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings, The Medfield Foundation, Framingham, 1983.
3.
LynnS. J.RhueJ., Fantasy Proneness: Hypnosis, Developmental Antecedents and Psychopathology, American Psychologist, 43, pp. 35–44, 1988.
4.
ChambersD.ReisbergD., Can Mental Images Be Ambiguous?, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 11, pp. 317–328, 1985.
5.
MarksD. F., Visual Imagery Differences in the Recall of Pictures, British Journal of Psychology, 64, pp. 17–24, 1973.
6.
FinkeR., Levels of Equivalence in Imagery and Perception, Psychological Review, 87, pp. 113–132, 1980.
7.
SleeJ., Individual Differences in Imagery Ability and the Retrieval of Visual Appearances, Journal of Mental Imagery, 10, pp. 51–74, 1980.
8.
ErnestC. H., Imagery Ability and Cognition: A Critical Review, Journal of Mental Imagery, 2, pp. 181–216, 1977.
9.
WhiteK.AshtonR., Visual Imagery Control: One Dimension or Four?, Journal of Mental Imagery, 1, pp. 245–252, 1977.
10.
ReisbergD.CulverC.HeuerF.FischmanD., Visual Memory: When Imagery Vividness Makes a Difference, Journal of Mental Imagery, 4, pp. 93–113, 1986.
11.
HymanI.NeisserU., Mental Images of Reversible Figures: A New Look, Paper presented at meeting of the American Psychological Association, Atlanta, Georgia, August 1988.
