An interesting word came my way recently (I “collect” interesting words) and, while I understood the concept outside of the actual word, I didn’t know what it was called.
That word is “aphantasia”, a condition in which a person cannot visualize mental images, and it impacts up to an estimated 5% of the population. When you say “tree” they cannot conjure up a mental image of a tree when they close their eyes.
There is actually a spectrum of how well people can mentally visualize things:
- Aphantasia (The “Blind” Mind’s Eye): The complete or near-complete inability to voluntarily visualize mental images. Individuals with aphantasia cannot “see” a person’s face or an object in their mind, often relying on conceptual or fact-based memory instead. Usually lacks in all five senses.
- Phantasia (“Typical” Imagery): The standard ability to voluntarily conjure mental images. For most, these images are somewhat clear but distinguishable from reality and exist in a “mental space” rather than in front of the eyes. Usually visual only.
- Hyperphantasia (Extreme Vividness): Imagery that is exceptionally vivid, often described as being “as clear as real seeing”. Hyperphantasics can often manipulate complex 3D objects or revisit memories with photographic or cinematic detail. May involve as many as all five senses.
- Prophantasia (Projected Imagery): The rarest form, where mental images are projected into the physical field of vision rather than just being seen in the mind. This can occur with eyes open—like seeing “built-in CGI” over the real world—or with eyes closed, where images appear on the back of the eyelids. Is usually just visual.
While there are guided tests out there to help you understand where you might be on the spectrum, those online are suspiciously not set up as blind tests and it is easy to bias the test in favor of your personal preferences, if you so wish (anything with an obvious scaling factor is not very scientific). Rather than take the test to “prove” where you stand, it is just as valid to skip the test and give yourself an assessment by looking at the descriptions above to determine where you sit.
I personally probably sit solidly in the hyperphantasic end of the spectrum, with the occasional brief foray into prophantasia. The hyper- leanings are probably due to the fact that I find visualization easier with my eyes closed; I might lean more pro- if I were to keep my eyes open when I am visualizing things, but I can’t say that for certain until I try it out. But I have had visualized experiences with eyes wide open, although they tend to be fuzzy and unrefined.
That said, I don’t think anyone should strive to be one group or another. I think it just explains fairly well why I am able to do visualization exercises easily and why my dreams might be more vivid than those that other people might have (when I talk with folks, I’m often surprised at just how vivid my dreams are compared to others’).
Where do you find yourself sitting on this spectrum? Are you surprised to discover that others’ experiences are different than your own (vivid, less vivid)? Do you think it helps or hinders someone to be on one extreme of the spectrum or the other? Do you think that doing visualization exercises can change your position on the spectrum? Do you need visual queues to trigger the images, or can you create approximations of the visuals based on external inputs?
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