Examining the relation between visual imagery and spatial ability tests

Abstract

Research evidence indicates that self-report imagery ability is psychometrically distinct from objective, spatial test measures. One hypothesis put forward in the literature to explain this finding is that the nature of the stimulus is important. The aim of this paper was to examine the relationship between spatial abilities and measures of visual imagery obtained using different types of stimulus material. The main finding was that imagery tasks that required the mental synthesis and/or transformation of visual forms such as alphanumeric characters and simple geometric shapes correlated strongly with tests of spatial ability. In contrast, images of familiar items retrieved from long-term memory did not correlate with spatial test performance. It is argued that tasks that better control the stimuli imagined and the standards used to rate the quality of the image provide more objective measures of imagery ability. The implications of these findings are discussed.