eprintid: 10205390
rev_number: 7
eprint_status: archive
userid: 699
dir: disk0/10/20/53/90
datestamp: 2025-02-28 14:39:06
lastmod: 2025-02-28 14:39:06
status_changed: 2025-02-28 14:39:06
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
sword_depositor: 699
creators_name: Bouyer, LN
creators_name: Pellicano, E
creators_name: Saurels, BW
creators_name: Schwarzkopf, DS
creators_name: Arnold, DH
title: The vividness of visualisations and autistic trait expression are not strongly associated
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B02
divisions: C07
divisions: D05
divisions: F66
keywords: Autism, 
Aphantasia, 
Hyper-phantasia, 
Autism Quotient, 
Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire, 
Comprehensive Autism Trait Inventory, 
Imagination
note: © 2025 Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
abstract: A minority of people (Aphantasics) report an inability to visualise. Aphantasia has been linked to Autism – a neurodevelopmental condition affecting social interactions. There is a risk of a circular logic informing proposed links, as the most popular metric of autistic traits, the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), has an Imagination subscale with items relating directly and indirectly to imagery. We tested for inter-relationships between imagery vividness ratings and the expression of autistic traits, using metrics that do and do not encompass an Imagination subscale. We also conducted hierarchical linear regression analyses to assess the contributions of different AQ subscale scores to imagery inter-relationships. Only in our highest-powered study (N = 308) were we able to detect a weak inter-relationship between AQ scores and imagery, independent of the Imagination subscale. We suggest that only a weak inter-relationship should exist, as many autistic people describe themselves as visual thinkers who have strong imagery.
date: 2025-03
date_type: published
publisher: Elsevier BV
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2025.103821
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 2364283
doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2025.103821
lyricists_name: Pellicano, Elizabeth
lyricists_id: LPELL25
actors_name: Pellicano, Elizabeth
actors_id: LPELL25
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Consciousness and Cognition
volume: 129
article_number: 103821
issn: 1053-8100
citation:        Bouyer, LN;    Pellicano, E;    Saurels, BW;    Schwarzkopf, DS;    Arnold, DH;      (2025)    The vividness of visualisations and autistic trait expression are not strongly associated.                   Consciousness and Cognition , 129     , Article 103821.  10.1016/j.concog.2025.103821 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2025.103821>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10205390/1/Bouyer%20et%20al%202025.pdf