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 alpha was .58 and validity of the test also requires further work.