Introduction

Imagine the school where you attended fourth grade. Now imagine walking from your fourth grade classroom to the library in the school. Try to ‘see’ as many features of the school as possible. Now imagine walking from the library to the gym, again trying to ‘see’ details. Chances are you had no problem imagining this walk, and many details probably came to mind, such as murals, fire hoses, doorways, and stairs, but how did you go about doing the task? Different individuals report different types of imagery when asked this question. Some describe vivid scenes that are ‘picturelike’ in their mind’s eye. Others report that images are vague and ‘distant’ or ‘blurry’. One question that arises is whether these differences in vividness of visual imagery between individuals represent real differences in the extent to which different people use images, or whether they are merely the result of a difference in reporting style. Psychologists can test this question by looking at a task that can measure the use of mental imagery in a more objective fashion, such as by using the mental rotation paradigm that you will try in this experiment.