Imagery Vividness and Arousal Responses to Prospective Imagery

Research has shown that mental imagery appears to carry emotion better than verbal communication. One way this can be noted is that emotional mental imagery trigger physiological arousal responses. These may be important for treatment techniques using mental imagery, such as imaginal exposure and imagery re-scripting. However, as the development of clinical applications increasingly considers the use of flashpoint imagery, i.e. mental imagery of short duration, it is of interest to examine whether also flashpoint imagery trigger arousal responses. This study examines the arousal response to flashpoint imagery of different valence (positive, negative, and neutral). Moreover, emerging evidence suggest that depressed individuals find it more difficult to produce mental imagery of positive future events (less accessible and vivid) than healthy controls. In addition, individuals with clinical anxiety appear to be able to produce imagery of negative future events more easily than healthy controls. This study explores whether these results can be noted also in sub-clinical symptoms of depression and anxiety, and if so, if they are accompanied with corresponding changes in arousal responses.