Hallucinatory predisposition and vividness of auditory imagery: self-report and behavioral indices

Abstract

This study examined the relation between a subjective and a behavioral measure of the vividness of auditory imagery as well as the disposition towards hallucination in normal subjects. In addition to the Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale, subjects (57 university students) completed the Betts questionnaire in which they rated the vividness of their experienced mental images and performed a behavioral task aimed at measuring auditory imagery. The task consisted of a perception and an imagery condition in which subjects had to indicate the odd one of three everyday sounds. Performance on the behavioral task did not correlate with the auditory or scores on the Visual subscale of the Betts. In addition, neither scores on the behavioral measure nor the Auditory subscale of the Betts correlated significantly with hallucinatory predisposition as rated on the Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale. In contrast, the Visual subscale of the Betts did correlate with scores on the Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale, consistent with previous research. We conclude that there is no straightforward relationship between imagery vividness and hallucinatory experiences and that subjective and objective indices of imagery vividness measure different aspects of mental function.