Vividness, Clarity, and Control in Auditory Imagery

Abstract

Previous studies of auditory imagery have often confounded vividness and clarity, and the differences between these constructs are not clear. Additionally, it has been suggested that clarity is a more useful construct than is vividness in understanding auditory imagery. The Clarity of Auditory Imagery Scale and the Bucknell Auditory Imagery Scale were administered to participants, and ratings of the clarity, vividness, and control over auditory imagery were collected. All three measures were highly positively correlated. The magnitudes of these correlations were not influenced by participants’ sex, age, ethnic group, handedness, years of participation in a band or choir, or years of formal instruction in music, and possible reasons for the lack of individual differences are discussed. Three analogies for understanding differences between vividness in auditory imagery and clarity in auditory imagery, and suggestions for potential operational definitions of auditory vividness and auditory clarity in future studies, are provided.