Alfredo Campos

Mental Imagery and Creative Thinking

Abstract Relationships between imagery and creative thinking were evaluated in a sample of 560 high school students. The Spatial Test of Primary Mental Abilities (Thurstone & Thurstone, 1989) was used to evaluate imaging ability; the Gordon Test of Visual Imagery Control (Richardson, 1969) was used to evaluate image control; and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (Torrance & Ball, 1992) was used to evaluate creativity. Significant correlations were detected between imaging ability and creative thinking. Fluencey, originality, and resistance to premature closure correlations were stronger for students with high IQs than for those with low IQs. Analyses of variance indicated that imaging ability had significant effects on fluency, originality, elaboration, and resistance to premature closure.

THE SPANISH VERSION OF THE VIVIDNESS OF VISUAL IMAGERY QUESTIONNAIRE: FACTOR STRUCTURE AND INTERNAL CONSISTENCY RELIABILITY

We examined the factor structure and internal consistency reliability of the Spanish version of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire which was applied to a sample of 850 secondary school students. Factor structure investigated by principal components analysis, followed by varimax orthogonal rotation, indicated that a single factor explained 37% of the variance. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was good (Cronbach α = 88) We conclude that the Spanish version of the questionnaire, like the English version, has a single factor and high internal consistency reliability.

Concreteness, imagery, emotionality, and interest values of words when meaning is controlled.

All previous studies yielded negative correlations between concreteness and emotionality and also emotionality and imagery. A positive correlation between concreteness, emotionality, imagery, and interest of words was hypothesized when concrete and abstract words have the same meaning. 112 subjects rated (1 to 7) 122 pairs of words (244 words) on concreteness, emotionality, imagery, and interest scales. There were positive correlations among all variables. The values were significant between concreteness and imagery, emotionality and imagery, and emotionality and interest.

The Importance of the Keyword-Generation Method in Keyword Mnemonics

Keyword mnemonics is under certain conditions an effective approach for learning foreign-language vocabulary. It appears to be effective for words with high image vividness but not for words with low image vividness. In this study, two experiments were performed to assess the efficacy of a new keyword-generation procedure (peer generation). In Experiment 1, a sample of 363 high-school students was randomly into four groups. The subjects were required to learn L1 equivalents of a list of 16 Latin words (8 with high image vividness, 8 with low image vividness), using a) the rote method, or the keyword method with b) keywords and images generated and supplied by the experimenter, c) keywords and images generated by themselves, or d) keywords and images previously generated by peers (i.e., subjects with similar sociodemographic characteristics). Recall was tested immediately and one week later. For high-vivideness words, recall was significantly better in the keyword groups than the rote method group. For low-vividness words, learning method had no significant effect. Experiment 2 was basically identical, except that the word lists comprised 32 words (16 high-vividness, 16 low-vividness). In this experiment, the peer-generated-keyword group showed significantly better recall of high-vividness words than the rote method groups and the subject generated keyword group; again, however, learning method had no significant effect on recall of low-vividness words.

Alexithymia and mental imagery

One of the defining characteristics of alexithymic patients is their reduced ability to use mental images. In the present study, imaging capacity was evaluated in a total of 69 alexithymic subjects and 64 non-alexithymic subjects (all university students). Alexithymic subjects showed lower imaging capacity than non-alexithymic subjects. New approaches for investigation of the relationship between alexithymia and imagery vividness are proposed.

A Factor Analytic Study of Two Measures of Mental Imagery

To examine the factor structure of the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire and the Visual Elaboration Scale measure, in Study I the former test was given to 133 psychology students and in Study II the latter test to 147 students. Principal components factor analysis yielded one factor for the former and five factors on the latter. The Visual Elaboration Scale has such a complex factor structure that difficulties may arise in interpretation. However, the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire has a simple unitary structure.

Emotional Values of Words: Relations with Concreteness and Vividness of Imagery:

Prior research reports that concrete words are more likely to be associated with specific affective stimuli than abstract words and that the higher the imagery values are the higher will be the emotional values. Four lists of words (concrete-pleasant, concrete-unpleasant, abstract-pleasant, abstract-unpleasant) were presented to 120 students instructed to score each word on three scales: vividness of imagery, concreteness, and emotionality. A correlation of −.60 was obtained between concreteness and emotionality and of −.47 for emotionality with imagery. In addition, a positive correlation obtained between concreteness and emotionality both with concrete (.13) and abstract (.24) words and between vividness of imagery of words and emotionality in concrete words (.34) and abstract words (.61). It is concluded correlations between ratings of concreteness and emotionality and between ratings of vividness and emotionality are positive.

Spatial Imagery: A New Measure of the Visualization Factor

This study proposes a new measure of spatial ability based on the measure of the visualization factor. I assessed the reliability and the validity of the Measure of the Ability to Form Spatial Mental Imagery (MASMI). The test was designed consisting of an unfolded cube that the subjects had to mentally reassemble before replying to 23 questions related to the cube. Each question had 4 multiple choices, 2 true and 2 false, the total score being the sum of all the correct answers and then subtracting the wrong responses. The sample consisted of 138 undergraduate psychology students, with a mean age of 20.1 years. I obtained a Cronbachs α of .93. The MASMI was correlated to different imagery measures—i.e., imagery questionnaires and spatial tests. The results reveal that the new test provides a good measure for the assessment of imagery ability. Fresh lines of research are proposed in relation to these tests.

A Measure of Visual Imaging Capacity: A Preliminary Study

The capacity to form images is generally measured by means of questionnaires based on self-evaluation, despite the limitations of this approach. Here we describe a new performance-based test, the Vividness of Visual Imagery Test, designed for assessing imaging capacity of adults. There are 21 items, each of which requires the subject first to visualize a certain object, then to choose between a correct and an incorrect description of that object. For 351 university students Cronbach α was .58 and validity of the test also requires further work.

Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire: Relations with other Measures of Mental Imagery:

We studied the relation between the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire and other measures of vividness of image, absorption of image, and effort required to form a mental image. Results for 51 men and 82 women indicate that vividness of movement imagery is associated with some, but not other, measures of imagery ability for college students.