This report comprises 3 studies that delineate the development and validation of the Involuntary Musical Imagery Scale (IMIS) based on data from 2,646 individuals. This new self-report inventory measures individual differences in involuntary musical imagery ("INMI," commonly referred to as "earworms"). The first study involved exploratory factor analysis, leading to the identification of a 4-factor scale structure. The 4 factors are conceived as "Negative Valence," "Movement," "Personal Reflections," and "Help." The second study confirmed this factor structure on an independent sample and derived indices of internal validity and test-retest reliability. The third study reports on IMIS correlates with existing measures of thinking style, imagery abilities, and music-related behaviors. Results showed that the IMIS measures a unique construct compared with existing self-report inventories. Furthermore, significant correlations were found with a combination of self-reported musical behaviors on the one hand and tendencies to engage in task-unrelated thoughts on the other. Overall, these findings provide evidence that IMIS constitutes a reliable scale that captures individual differences in INMI and that its first application reveals previously uncaptured associations between INMI and certain cognitive and behavioral traits.

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Involuntary musical imagery (INMI), i.e the internal experience of a repetitive musical fragment, is one of the most ubiquitous forms of spontaneous cognition. Findings regarding the relationship between INMI and cognitive load are conflicting. In the present study, 200 participants watched and evaluated two non-dialogue, music-only film trailers. Subsequently, they either closed their eyes for 5 min (baseline), or engaged in one of three dot tasks of varying challenge and attentional demand (low, medium, and high cognitive load). Finally, they completed a novel “Mind Activity Questionnaire”, which allows for indirect INMI sampling rather than direct questioning. The same questionnaire was completed 24 hours later. Overall, a significant negative linear trend was found. At baseline, 65% of people reported experiencing INMI. This rate decreased to 32.5% in the low load condition with further reductions observed in the medium and high conditions, which did not differ significantly from each other. INMI frequency and duration followed the same pattern as the induction rates. In the 24-hour follow-up, 21% of participants reported INMI experiences. This study supports the hypothesis that INMI occurrence, frequency, and duration relate to spare cognitive capacity and demonstrates an ecologically valid laboratory paradigm for covertly inducing and documenting INMI experiences.

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Mental imagery is a highly common component of everyday cognitive functioning. While substantial progress is being made in clarifying this fundamental human function, much is still unclear or unknown. A more comprehensive account of mental imagery aspects would be gained by examining individual differences in age, sex, and background experience in an activity and their association with imagery in different modalities and intentionality levels. The current online study combined multiple imagery self-report measures in a sample (n = 279) with a substantial age range (18–65 years), aiming to identify whether age, sex, or background experience in sports, music, or video games were associated with aspects of imagery in the visual, auditory, or motor stimulus modality and voluntary or involuntary intentionality level. The findings show weak positive associations between age and increased vividness of voluntary auditory imagery and decreased involuntary musical imagery frequency, weak associations between being female and more vivid visual imagery, and relations of greater music and video game experience with higher involuntary musical imagery frequency. Moreover, all imagery stimulus modalities were associated with each other, for both intentionality levels, except involuntary musical imagery frequency, which was only related to higher voluntary auditory imagery vividness. These results replicate previous research but also contribute new insights, showing that individual differences in age, sex, and background experience are associated with various aspects of imagery such as modality, intentionality, vividness, and frequency. The study’s findings can inform the growing domain of applications of mental imagery to clinical and pedagogical settings.