Mental imagery skill predicts adults' reading performance - Abstract & keywords

Sep 17, 2026

Mental imagery is treated as a foundational cognitive and reading-related process, yet prior research has not conclusively established its connection to reading ability. Three studies assess adults’ reading and imagery performance using objective tasks and established self-report measures, comparing perceptual versus propositional reading processes, as well as reading speed and comprehension. Results show objective mental imagery measurement correlates with reading performance, while self-reports do not, and comprehension links more strongly to imagery than speed.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Mental imagery

Reading skill

Studies and findings

Study 1: self-report and comparison task

Study 2: speeded processing control

Study 3: reading speed measure

Key results

Objective vs self-report measures

Learning and Instruction 80 (2022) 101633 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Learning and Instruction journal [homepage:](homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/learninstruc)[ www.elsevier.com/locate/learninstruc](homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/learninstruc) | Mental imagery skill predicts adults’ reading performance Sebastian Suggate a, *, Wolfgang Lenhard b
a Department of Educational Science, University of Regensburg, Universita¨tsstraße 31, 93053, Regensburg, Germany b Department of Psychology IV, University of Wuerzburg, Wittelsbacherplatz 1, 97074, Würzburg, Germany | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A R T I C L E I N F O | | A B S T R A C T | | | Keywords:
Mental imagery
Mental simulation Situational models Reading speed
Reading comprehension | | Mental imagery is foundational to human experience, lying at the heart of cognition and reading, however research has failed to conclusively investigate and demonstrate a link. Therefore, we conducted three studies measuring adults’ reading and imagery performance. In Study 1, the mental imagery skills of 155 adults were measured using two established self-report measures, namely the Plymouth Sensory Imagery Questionnaire (PsiQ) and the Spontaneous Use of Imagery Scale (SUIS), and a novel imagery comparison task. In Study 2 (n = 452), a control for speeded processing replaced the SUIS. In Study 3 (n = 236), we added a measure of reading speed. Findings indicate that the objective measurement of mental imagery was associated with reading performance, whereas self-report measures were not. Further, reading comprehension linked more strongly to mental imagery than reading speed did. Findings demonstrate, for the first time, that mental imagery processes are intrinsically linked with reading performance. | | One of the most pleasant goals of leisure reading is to be completely immersed in a captivating story and be transported into a fictitious reality, where we can sympathize with the protagonist, experience dangerous adventures, and gain experiences that are elusive to us in real life (Johnson et al., 2013). Alongside emotional engagement, transportation, and attention, mental imagery appears to be key for immersion (Mak et al., 2020) and simulation of seemingly real experiences from text (Leopold et al., 2019). However, in previous reading research, mental imagery has only played an, at best, minor role, being subservient to decoding and comprehension factors (National Reading Panel, 2000). Therefore, across three studies, we test whether mental imagery and reading skill are linked in adult readers, while examining propositional versus imagery-related reading, reading speed, and reading comprehension. 1. Mental imagery Mental imagery refers to the experience of sensory stimuli in the absence of their physical presence or perception (Kosslyn, 1994). Thus, mental images represent private events of a quasi-perceptual nature (Kosslyn et al., 2010). Because mental images mostly represent perceptual experiences, they can pertain to any of the sensory modalities, namely the visual, tactile, auditory, olfaction, gustation, proprioception, and the vestibular senses (Andrade et al., 2014; Borst, 2013), with vision, followed by hearing, being the most studied (Finke & Slayton, 1988; Malouin et al., 2009). Further, research using fMRI methods has demonstrated that during mental imagery, a similar neural activation to that observed during perception occurs (Ehrsson et al., 2003; Kosslyn et al., 2001). Accordingly, mental imagery can be conceived of as a shadow of perception (Kosslyn et al., 2010). In light of theories of grounded cognition, according to which perception and experience are closely intertwined (Barsalou, 1999), mental imagery takes on a new importance as a fundamental underlying skill for cognition and learning (Martzog & Suggate, 2019; Suggate & Martzog, 2021). Given that mental imagery often involves representing the perceptual world

FAQs

What does the article investigate about mental imagery and reading?

It tests whether mental imagery skill is linked to adult reading performance, examining both imagery-related reading and reading speed and comprehension.

How were mental imagery skills measured across the studies?

Study 1 used two self-report questionnaires and a novel imagery comparison task, while Study 2 replaced one measure with a speeded processing control and Study 3 added a reading speed measure.

What do the findings suggest about objective measurement versus self-report?

Objective mental imagery measurement is associated with reading performance, whereas self-report measures are not.

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Lucas Martin