Probing the Imaginable: Shared and Distinct Processes Between Imagery and Perception Across Semantic Domains.
Our ability to visualize things outside our field of view often feels similar to visual perception. However, while perception is grounded in real-world sensory inputs, imagery might rely on information stored in long-term memory. This contrast raises key questions about the nature of these processes...
| Published in: | Imagination, Cognition & Personality Vol. 46; no. 1; pp. 6 - 39 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
Sage Publications Inc.
Sep2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=195957956&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 195957956 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 02762366 E6E jtl: Imagination, Cognition & Personality issn: 02762366 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Sep2026 vid: 46 iid: 1 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. place: Thousand Oaks, California artinfo: ui: 195957956 188699874 195957956 195957956 10.1177/02762366251382836 195957956 ppf: 6 ppct: 33 formats: tig: atl: Probing the Imaginable: Shared and Distinct Processes Between Imagery and Perception Across Semantic Domains. aug: au: Liu, Zixin Song, Tengyu Lambert, Chloe Jeanne Chang, Kassey Chuaqui, Kezia Baer, Natalie Frank, Rachel Liu, Jianghao Bartolomeo, Paolo Spagna, Alfredo affil: Department of Human Development, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City, NY, USA sug: subj: Guided Imagery Semantics Visual Perception Brain Physiology Human Color Face Perception Maps Confidence Descriptive Statistics Logistic Regression Cluster Analysis Auditory Cortex Task Performance and Analysis Questionnaires Neural Pathways ab: Our ability to visualize things outside our field of view often feels similar to visual perception. However, while perception is grounded in real-world sensory inputs, imagery might rely on information stored in long-term memory. This contrast raises key questions about the nature of these processes: Do visual mental imagery and visual perception depend on distinct neural mechanisms? Or do they share access to a common representational space, which encodes semantic content in a way capable of supporting both internally generated images and externally driven perception? To what extent are individual differences in imagery vividness related to behavioral performance? To answer these questions, we developed a computerized battery eliciting visual perception and visual mental imagery across five semantic domains: Colors, Faces, Letters, Maps, and Shapes. Seventy-five typical imagers (based on their scores from the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire, VVIQ; 49 in-person, 26 online) completed this battery. On each trial, we recorded two imagery performance measures—accuracy and response times—and two subjective measures: vividness for the imagery and confidence for the perceptual trials. We found performance differences between imagery and perception in the domains of Color, Face, and Map, but not in the domains of Letters or Shapes, suggesting the existence of domain-specific processes that differentiate imagery from perception. Additionally, domain-specific performance was predicted by logistic regression models, further indicating that distinct mechanisms may support imagery and perception depending on the semantic content. Furthermore, unsupervised clustering analysis revealed a latent space of four clusters, fewer than the theoretically possible 10 clusters (2 modalities × 5 domains). This reduction suggests shared features across domains and modalities, pointing to a modality-independent semantic code, likely stored in higher-order cortical regions, that supports common high-level conceptual representations engaged by both imagery and perception. Trial-by-trial vividness ratings were stronger predictors of imagery task performance than the off-task VVIQ, indicating that in-the-moment vividness more accurately reflects individual imagery ability. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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