Dynamics of mental imagery.
Ishan Singhal, Nisheeth Srivastava
Consciousness and Cognition May 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2025.103865 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 827 |
| Population | Large cohort of participants |
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Mental imagery Temporal dynamics Time-consciousness |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key findings | Temporal features of imagination unfold at distinct timescales, accounted for by two factors (temporal ability and stability), and imagined contents are sluggish but more stable than perception, with both sharing a common constraint of identically sized temporal windows of conscious experience. |
Abstract
Phenomenology of mental imagery can reveal the structure of underlying mental representations, yet progress has been limited because of its private nature. Through a phenomenology-recreation task we elucidate the dynamics of mental imagery. Specifically, the temporal grain, speed of object manipulation, smoothness of contents unfolding, and temporal extent of stability of imagined contents. To gauge these properties, we asked a large cohort of participants (N = 827) to recreate these aspects of their imagination in six tasks. Results showed that temporal features of imagination unfold at distinct timescales, though a factor analysis showed that variance in these tasks could be accounted for via two factors; temporal ability and stability of mental imagery. Additionally, we contrast these regularities with those documented for visual perception, showing that imagined contents are sluggish but more stable than perception. However, both imagination and perception share a common constraint; maintaining identically sized temporal windows of conscious experience.