Working memory and the vividness of imagery

The working memory framework was used to investigate the factors determinin g the phenomenological vividness of images. Participants rated the vividnes s of visual or auditory images under control conditions or while performing tasks that differentially disrupted the visuospatial sketchpad and phonolo gical loop subsystems of working memory. In Experiments 1, 2, and 6, partic ipants imaged recently presented novel visual patterns and sequences of ton es; ratings of vividness showed the predicted interaction between stimulus modality and concurrent task. The images in experiments 3, 4, 5, and 6 were based on long-term memory (LTM). They also showed an image modality by tas k interaction, with a clear effect of LTM Variables (meaningfulness, activi ty, bizarreness, and stimulus familiarity), implicating both working memory and LTM in the experience of vividness.