The forces of the imagination: exploring dimensions of mental imagery using the ReaderBank Imagination Quiz

Abstract

Reading stories can evoke vivid experiences of people, places, and scenes, but despite growing interest in the diversity of mental imagery, few studies have systematically explored individual differences in the reading imagination. ReaderBank – a collaboration between Durham University and Edinburgh International Book Festival—is an attempt to chart the dynamics of the reading imagination via literary festivals and similar settings. Here we present a new scale, the ReaderBank Imagination Quiz, which was developed by an interdisciplinary team across two festivals and a replication sample in 2023–2024 (total n = 867). Factor analysis was used to identify a 16-item scale with four subscales: space and vision, voice and language, people models, and perspective. The factors showed strong and specific relationships with measures of mental imagery, immersion, daydreaming and intrusive cognitions. Such findings highlight the complexity of the reading mind as well as the radical diversity of imagination skills, with implications for the understanding and treatment of mental ill health.