Abstract
A. Richardson's 12-item version of the Gordon TVIC is the most frequently used measure of the control of mental imagery [1]. Although the TVIC is normally treated as a continuous variable, many studies have reported a negatively skewed response leniency. In the present study, 161 participants' responses to the TVIC were evaluated for skew and kurtosis. Transformation to z scores showed significant skew on 11 items and kurtosis on five of the items (z > 3.10, p < 0.001). Attempts to transform the items were not successful and the overall item average was also skewed and kurtoic. These findings question the validity of performing multivariate analyses on the TVIC. They also show that the measure should not be used as a continuous variable in individual differences research. Although methods for resolving some of these problems are discussed it is concluded that a new test of imagery control needs to be developed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.