Derek Arnold

This line of thought inspired this project. If you think that mental rotation (MR) tasks are a reliable metric of people's propensity to visualise, you might draw the conclusion you outline. Instead, our data suggest MR tasks are not a reliable metric of people's propensity to visualise.

New Publication: Mental rotation is a weak measure of people’s propensity to visualise

This was a fun project : )

Turns out that the main task used to measure the capacity of people to visualize for many decades isn't really fit for that purpose!

authors.elsevier.com/a/1lS9S_NzVj...

New Paper: The vividness of visualisations & autistic trait expression are not strongly associated

Our evidence suggests Autism / Aphantasia links have been overstated by a circular logic (as the most popular Autistic trait measure has questions about imagery).
authors.elsevier.com/c/1kYhW3lcz4...

That looks a bit like a drop bear

Thanks mate 😀

#Aphantasia #Imagery

New Paper: Objective priming from pre-imagining inputs before binocular rivalry does not predict individual differences in the subjective intensity of imagined experiences

We think imagery binocular rivalry priming is an unreliable subjective measure of imagery

authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

First, huge respect. Thank you for doing what you do.

Second, I suspect you’re right. With that said, we’ll need more research to confirm or disconfirm on a group basis. But the outcome of that research will not speak against an individual being resilient because they don’t visualise.

‘A blind and deaf mind’: what it’s like to have no visual imagination or inner voice People with aphantasia can’t imagine seeing things in their mind. People with ‘deep aphantasia’ may have no inner voice, either, and different real-world visual experiences.

Yes - I am the lead author on the Pink Elephant study. The only work I know of on Development is from a colleague in N.Z. We will be looking to build on that.

My Phd student Loren and I described our experiences of Aphantasia in this popular media piece.
theconversation.com/a-blind-and-...

Great conversation. There has not been enough work Aphantasia development. That’s one of the things I plan on looking into over the next few years. I too can’t ever remember being able to visualise, and that seems like something you’d remember, but it would be better not to rely on memory

That's an open question. Its a popular suggestion, but some Aphants do have PTSD - so PTSD may just manifest differently in Aphants. Or we might have a level of resistance, as there is growing evidence that we experience less re-iterative processing from input cues. More research needed : )

Our evidence shows that people low in imagery have brain activity on Don't Imagine trials that is more similar to rest trials, whereas people with vivid visual imaginations have activity that is more similar to Imagine trials. So low imagery people do not seem to be dwelling on pink elephants : )

New Paper: Don't think of a pink elephant: Individual differences in visualisation predict involuntary imagery and its neural correlates

People with vivid visual imaginations are less able to suppress involuntary visualisations.

doi.org/10.1016/j.co...

#Aphantasia #Imagery

It's an open question.

Certainly the idea that it is protective is one that people are interested in, and our data are broadly consistent with that. But we are a long way off an adequate test of that hypothesis.

It could just be natural variation that is not selected against, as you say.

La prueba del elefante rosa: así predice la imaginación visual nuestra capacidad para controlar los pensamientos ¿Es malo carecer de fantasía? Puede que no. Las investigaciones demuestran que las personas con una imaginación visual más vívida también pueden ser más propensas a ciertos tipos de pensamientos intru...

In a surprising turn of events, given my inability to read or write in Spanish, this piece is now available in.... Spanish

theconversation.com/la-prueba-de...

Not sure. I’m thinking about dinner.

The pink elephant test: what your visual imagination predicts about your ability to control your thoughts Research shows people with more vivid visual imaginations may also be more prone to certain kinds of intrusive thoughts.

A report on our New Study: Don’t think of a Pink Elephant!

Aphants, and people with low vividness imagery, may be resistant to intrusive visualisations!

#Aphantasia #Imagery

@sampendu.bsky.social

theconversation.com/the-pink-ele...

The title page of the special issue, which reads "Introduction to the special issue on visual cognition and visuomotor control: A tribute to Mel Goodale" The authors of the Intro are: Jody C. Culham, Gavin Buckingham, Monika Harvey, Irene Sperandio, Ingrid S. Johnsrude

I feel so honored by the publication of this special issue of Neuropsychologia. Thanks so much to my friends and colleagues who put this together. And thanks to all the contributors. There are so many wonderful articles. I can't tell you how delighted I am. 🧪🧠 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

New preprint! Work led by Alexis Kidder (@lexkidder.bsky.social) during a visiting scholarship at @marcsinstitute.bsky.social with @drquekles.bsky.social & @tgro.bsky.social

"Mapping object space dimensions: new insights from temporal dynamics"

🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2024...

1/ Summary: 🧵👇

As frustrating as it is that unnecessary work is being done by so many people, there is a bigger issue. A lot of people will be put out of work by these decisions (Postdocs, RAs). Each day of delay is a day less these people have to make other plans for next year.

We are excited to announce that Professor Ben Newell will be giving the Ross Day Plenary at EPC/APCV 2025. Ben Newell is Professor of Behavioural Science in the School of Psychology at UNSW Sydney, and Director of the UNSW Institute for Climate Risk & Response (ICRR).

What makes some people better at recognising faces? Recognising faces is crucial to social interactions, and also in applied settings such as criminal investigations. Research has shown that there are widespread differences in people’s ability to recog...

🚀 New Research! 🚀

🔍 Title: Flexible Use of Facial Features Supports Face Identity Processing
Our study reveals that the key to accurate face recognition lies in the flexibility of using different facial features.

#Research #FaceRecognition #Psychology #Forensics #Security #AcademicResearch

The Australasian Experimental Psychology Conference (EPC) and Asia Pacific Conference on Vision (APCV) are holding a joint meeting in 2025, to be held at UNSW in Sydney, from June 17-20. Abstract and symposium submissions are open!
epc.psy.unsw.edu.au/index.html

Electrophysiological correlates of confidence differ across correct and erroneous perceptual decisions Every decision we make is accompanied by an estimate of the probability that our decision is accurate or appropriate. This probability estimate is ter…

Tracking the neural correlates of decision confidence over time using EEG in perceptual and memory tasks.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The dress is great for teaching colour constancy.

Murakami's jitter illusion is great for teaching people about involuntary eye movements.

The humble Pulfrich illusion is great for teaching people about the fundamentals of stereopsis (and neural latencies).

I might if I could see the conversation and know what you are talking about : )

Viewpoint Changes X Overall Pr. MR

Also, thanks. Your questions prompted me to notice that one of the figure axis labels got scrambled, and have made me realise that we could add an analysis for clarity. Preprint feedback working : )

If you selectively use MR on different viewpoint trials you benefit a lot, but many people use MR on baseline trials with different objects. People with high VVIQ2 scores are more likely to do that

Viewpoint dependent changes in strategy (increased reliance on MR for different viewpoints) are not predicted by VVIQ2 scores.

People with high VVIQ2 scores use MR a lot, including on baseline trials when its not helpful. So performance changes don't predict how often people report visualising.