King, R., Buxton, H. and Tyndall, I. (2024) Aphantasia and autism: an investigation of mental imagery vividness. Consciousness and Cognition, 125. pp. 1-14. ISSN 1053-8100
Accepted Autism Aphantasia ConCog.docx - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 4.0.
Download (1MB)
Abstract
Objective: The present study investigated whether autistic adults report different levels of mental imagery vividness than non-autistic adults, and, moreover, if autism is associated with aphantasia which is defined as a condition of reduced or absent voluntary imagery. Design and Methods: Clinically diagnosed and self-identifying autistic participants were compared with non-autistic participants in their mental imagery vividness (vision, sound, smell, taste, touch, bodily sensation and emotional feeling) and autistic traits using an online survey (N = 121). Results: The autistic group scored significantly lower than the non-autistic group on imagery vividness (d = -0.44), in addition to having a higher proportion of participants scoring at cut-off for aphantasia. Moreover, a similar difference was observed for the emotional feel (η2 = .11). Conclusion: The vividness of visual and emotional mental imagery was on average lower for autistic individuals, with a higher proportion presenting at cut-off to be considered an aphantasic.
Publication Type: | Articles |
---|---|
Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). |
Uncontrolled Keywords: | Autism, Aphantasia, Mental Imagery Vividness, Visual Imagery, Emotional Imagery, Sensory Modalities. |
Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology |
Divisions: | Academic Areas > Institute of Education, Social and Life Sciences > Psychology Research Entities > POWER Centre |
Related URLs: | |
Depositing User: | Ian Tyndall |
Date Deposited: | 18 Sep 2024 08:46 |
Last Modified: | 18 Sep 2024 08:46 |
URI: | https://eprints.chi.ac.uk/id/eprint/7705 |