Visual imagery vividness declines across the lifespan

Gulyás, Erzsébet; Gombos, Ferenc; Sutori, Sara; Lovas, Andrea; Ziman, Gergo; Kovács, Ilona

doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2022.06.011

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Our results suggest that promoting positive future mental imagery may be important in those approaching young adulthood—which is also a juncture associated with transitions—to further education or employment. While previous research in young people and adults shows that females have more vivid mental images than males (Campos & Sueiro, 1993 ; Gulyás et al, 2022 ; Isaac & Marks, 1994 ), we found that these differences depend on the valence of the images. Females reported less vivid imagery for positive future events and more vivid imagery for negative future events than males.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 96%

“…Positive future images were more vivid in younger adolescents than “emerging adults”, but there were no age differences for negative future imagery. Gulyás et al ( 2022 ) recently found that vividness of mental imagery declines as a function of biological age, and here, we found that this was true for positive future imagery only. Our results suggest that promoting positive future mental imagery may be important in those approaching young adulthood—which is also a juncture associated with transitions—to further education or employment.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

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Is Future Mental Imagery Associated with Reduced Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Negative Affect and Anhedonic Symptoms in Young People?

et al. 2023

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Background Difficulties with prospective mental images are associated with adolescent depression. Current treatments mainly focus on verbal techniques to reduce negative affect (e.g. low mood) rather than enhancing positive affect, despite anhedonia being present in adolescents. We investigated the concurrent relationships between the vividness of negative and positive prospective mental imagery and negative affect and positive affect; and examined whether negative and positive prospective mental imagery moderated the impact of recent stress (COVID-19-linked stress) on negative and positive affect. Methods 2602 young people (12–25 years) completed the Prospective Imagery Task and self-reported on symptoms of negative affect, anhedonia and COVID-19 linked stress. Results Elevated vividness of negative future mental imagery and reduced vividness of positive future mental imagery were associated with increased negative affect, whereas only reduced vividness of positive future imagery was associated with increased symptoms of anhedonia. Elevated vividness of negative future images amplified the association between COVID-19 linked stress and negative affect, while elevated vividness of positive future images attenuated the association between COVID-19 linked stress and anhedonia. Conclusions Future mental imagery may be differentially associated with negative and positive affect, but this needs to be replicated in clinical populations to support novel adolescent psychological treatments.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 96%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Is Future Mental Imagery Associated with Reduced Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Negative Affect and Anhedonic Symptoms in Young People?

et al. 2023

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“…In previous studies, young adults associated similar emotions with colour terms and colour patches (Jonauskaite et al., 2021; Jonauskaite, Parraga, et al., 2020), supporting the idea that using colour terms is a valid approach. However, older individuals (on a group level) might have lower vividness of mental visual imagery (Gulyás et al., 2022), which might in turn affect imagery of colours when presented with colour terms. It is unclear whether vivid mental imagery of colours is necessary to associate colour terms with emotions (perhaps not, as even colour‐blind individuals produce similar associations; Jonauskaite et al., 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative analysis of colour–emotion associations in 16–88‐year‐old adults from 31 countries

Jonauskaite,

Epicoco,

Al‐rasheed

et al. 2023

British J of Psychology

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As people age, they tend to spend more time indoors, and the colours in their surroundings may significantly impact their mood and overall well‐being. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence to provide informed guidance on colour choices, irrespective of age group. To work towards informed choices, we investigated whether the associations between colours and emotions observed in younger individuals also apply to older adults. We recruited 7393 participants, aged between 16 and 88 years and coming from 31 countries. Each participant associated 12 colour terms with 20 emotion concepts and rated the intensity of each associated emotion. Different age groups exhibited highly similar patterns of colour–emotion associations (average similarity coefficient of .97), with subtle yet meaningful age‐related differences. Adolescents associated the greatest number but the least positively biased emotions with colours. Older participants associated a smaller number but more intense and more positive emotions with all colour terms, displaying a positivity effect. Age also predicted arousal and power biases, varying by colour. Findings suggest parallels in colour–emotion associations between younger and older adults, with subtle but significant age‐related variations. Future studies should next assess whether colour–emotion associations reflect what people actually feel when exposed to colour.

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“…An example of an item is: “Think of the front of a shop which you often go to… Consider the overall appearance of the shop from the opposite side of the road.” Although participants were provided with the original scale, scores were inverted at the time of statistical analysis in order to facilitate result understanding. The scale included the following response options: 1: “No image at all, you only “know” that you are thinking of the object”; 2: “Vague and dim”; 3: “Moderately clear and vivid”; 4: “Clear and reasonably vivid”; 5: “Perfectly clear and lively as real seeing” (see Gulyás et al, 2022; Zeman et al, 2015, 2020). At a later stage, the total score mean was calculated.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of the ability to form mental images in Müller-Lyer optical illusions

Pérez-Fabello

Campos

2023

Perception

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The purpose of this study was to establish whether wing length and the ability to form spatial mental images and vivid images affected optical illusions obtained in the Müller-Lyer figures, both real and imagined. The study involved a group of 137 fine arts college students who were shown two forms of the Müller-Lyer figures with different wing length (15 and 45 mm). In the imagined situation, a plain horizontal line was presented, and participants were expected to imagine the arrowheads aligned in the same way as in the real situation. Discrepancies in the perception of the horizontal lines in the Müller-Lyer illusion (“Point of Subjective Equality”) were measured both in the real and imagined situation. Participants were then asked to complete the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire and the Measure of the Ability to Form Spatial Mental Imagery. It emerged that, in the condition of 45 mm wing length, participants were significantly more susceptible to the illusion than those in the condition of 15 mm wing length. Additionally, in the real situation, participants scoring high in spatial image were significantly more resistant to the illusion than those scoring low.

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Visual imagery vividness declines across the lifespan

Cited by 17 publications

References 43 publications

Is Future Mental Imagery Associated with Reduced Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Negative Affect and Anhedonic Symptoms in Young People?

Is Future Mental Imagery Associated with Reduced Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Negative Affect and Anhedonic Symptoms in Young People?

A comparative analysis of colour–emotion associations in 16–88‐year‐old adults from 31 countries

Effectiveness of the ability to form mental images in Müller-Lyer optical illusions

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