Metacognition in Aphantasia: Taking the "conscious" view seriously.

People with aphantasia report lacking voluntary conscious visual imagery, yet they often use visual strategies to complete tasks, leading some researchers to propose that their visual imagery is unconscious. This paper argues instead that it is conscious. Consciousness research distinguishes visibility from confidence; the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ), used to recruit aphantasics, resembles a visibility measure. To determine whether aphantasics' task-relevant imagery is truly unconscious, their confidence in first-order task performance should also be examined. The few studies that have done so suggest they exhibit good metacognition, supporting the conscious interpretation.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Whereas aphantasics report lacking voluntary conscious visual imagery, empirical findings indicate that they employ visual strategies to complete tasks. The discrepancy has led some researchers to propose that aphantasics rely on unconscious visual imagery. This paper instead motivates and defends a "conscious" view. Consciousness research uses both visibility and confidence measures. Participants in aphantasia studies are recruited based on their scores on the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ), which closely resembles a visibility measure. To assess whether aphantasics' task-relevant visual imagery is truly unconscious, we should also investigate their confidence in their first-order task performance. The few studies that have explored this suggest that they exhibit good metacognition. These findings therefore support the conscious interpretation.