The time it takes to imagine1

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted dealing with letter processing in visual and speech imagery. The first two experiments indicated that speech imagery is more rapid than visual imagery (about six letters per second for speech vs about two letters per second for vision). Postexperimental scaling of subjective fatigue also revealed differences between imagery modalities, with visual imagery conditions consistently more fatiguing than speech conditions. The third experiment dealt with error rates in learning to classify letters on the basis of visual image properties or on the basis of arbitrary letter names. Results showed much more efficient performance for classification based on visual image properties. It was concluded that visual and speech imagery modes differ fundamentally in the manner in which they process information. © 1970 Psychonomic Journals, Inc., Austin, texas.