Mental Imagery and Emotion: A Special Relationship?
Abstract
A special association between imagery and emotion is often assumed, despite little supporting evidence. In Experiment 1, participants imagined unpleasant events or listened to the same descriptions while thinking about their verbal meaning. Those in the imagery condition reported more anxiety and rated new descriptions as more emotional than did those in the verbal condition. In Experiment 2, 4 groups listened to either benign or unpleasant descriptions, again with imagery or verbal processing instructions. Anxiety again increased more after unpleasant (but not benign) imagery; however, emotionality ratings did not differ after a 10-min filler task. Results support the hypothesis of a special link between imagery and anxiety but leave open the question of whether this also applies to other emotions.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Imagery is more strongly related to emotion than is verbal material.
“This finding is consistent with evidence that imagery is more strongly related to emotion than is verbal material (Holmes & Mathews, 2005).”
From Episodic memory, perceptual memory, and their interaction: Foundations for a theory of posttraumatic stress disorder. (2014) · cites this paper as Holmes & Mathews, 2005
If patients with anxiety disorders experience intense threat imagery, they might be too anxious or unwilling to confront feared stimuli, which could explain the low attrition rates in exposure therapy.
“If patients with anxiety disorders experience intense threat imagery, they might be too anxious [27, 28] or unwilling to confront feared stimuli [28–30], which could explain the low attrition rates in exposure therapy.”
Cites
(1970) · Cited by 24,983 · see citing works
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. B
Press, H. (1886) · Cited by 10,087 · see citing works
Handbook of Positive Psychology
(2001) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195135336.001.0001 · Cited by 9,149 · see citing works
Psychotherapy by reciprocal inhibition
Wolpe, J. (1968) · Pavlovian Journal of Biological Science · doi:10.1007/bf03000093 · Cited by 3,389 · see citing works
Fears, phobias, and preparedness: toward an evolved module of fear and fear learning
Öhman, A., & Mineka, S. (2001) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.108.3.483 · Cited by 3,147 · see citing works
Psychotherapy by Reciprocal Inhibition
Masserman, J. H. (1958) · Archives of Neurology And Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archneurpsyc.1958.02340090135025 · Cited by 3,087 · see citing works
Image And Brain: The Resolution of the Imagery Debate
Kosslyn, S. M. (1994) · doi:10.7551/mitpress/3653.001.0001 · Cited by 1,977 · see citing works
Kosslyn, S. M., Ganis, G., & Thompson, W. L. (2001) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/35090055 · Cited by 1,894 · see citing works
Cognitive Psychology and Emotional Disorders
Williams, J. M. G. (1988) · UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) · Cited by 1,871 · see citing works
VISUAL IMAGERY DIFFERENCES IN THE RECALL OF PICTURES
MARKS, D. F. (1973) · British Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.1973.tb01322.x · Cited by 1,778 · see citing works
A Bio‐Informational Theory of Emotional Imagery
Lang, P. J. (1979) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1979.tb01511.x · Cited by 1,750 · see citing works
Image and Brain: The Resolution of the Imagery Debate
Kosslyn, S. M. (1994) · Cited by 1,352 · see citing works
Psychological theories of posttraumatic stress disorder
Brewin, C. R., & Holmes, E. A. (2003) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/s0272-7358(03)00033-3 · Cited by 1,132 · see citing works
Self-citationCognitive Psychology and Emotional Disorders
Wilhelm, S. A. (1998) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · Cited by 1,108 · see citing works
Induced emotional interpretation bias and anxiety.
Mathews, A., & Mackintosh, B. (2000) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.109.4.602 · Cited by 739 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Finally, a new task, which was based on that used by Mathews and Mackintosh (2000) to assess the interpretation of emotional ambiguity, was added to check whether the valenced experimental conditions resulted in a congruent interpretation bias for new material.”
MethodSelf-citationImagination inflation: Imagining a childhood event inflates confidence that it occurred
Garry, M., Manning, C. G., Loftus, E. F., & Sherman, S. J. (1996) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/bf03212420 · Cited by 648 · see citing works
Sensory–perceptual episodic memory and its context: autobiographical memory
Conway, M. A. (2001) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2001.0940 · Cited by 640 · see citing works
Induced processing biases have causal effects on anxiety
Mathews, A., & MacLeod, C. (2002) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699930143000518 · Cited by 619 · see citing works
Self-citationWorking memory and the vividness of imagery
Baddeley, A. D., & Andrade, J. (2000) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/0096-3445.129.1.126 · Cited by 568 · see citing works
Recurrent images and early memories in social phobia
Hackmann, A., Clark, D. M., & McManus, F. (2000) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(99)00161-8 · Cited by 489 · see citing works
Carroll, J. S. (1978) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/0022-1031(78)90062-8 · Cited by 482 · see citing works
The Role of Mental Imagery in the Creation of False Childhood Memories
Hyman, I. E., & Pentland, J. (1996) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1006/jmla.1996.0006 · Cited by 442 · see citing works
The nature of intrusive memories after trauma: the warning signal hypothesis
Ehlers, A., Hackmann, A., Steil, R., Clohessy, S., Wenninger, K., & Winter, H. (2002) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(01)00077-8 · Cited by 392 · see citing works
Imagining Can Heighten or Lower the Perceived Likelihood of Contracting a Disease
Sherman, S., Cialdini, R., Schwartzman, D. F., & Reynolds, K. (1985) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167285111011 · Cited by 310 · see citing works
Reality monitoring: An experimental phenomenological approach.
Johnson, M. K. (1988) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037/0096-3445.117.4.390 · Cited by 287 · see citing works
Self-images play a causal role in social phobia
Hirsch, C. R., Clark, D. M., Mathews, A., & Williams, R. (2003) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(02)00103-1 · Cited by 265 · see citing works
Self-citationIndividual differences in imagery and the psychophysiology of emotion
Miller, G. A., Levin, D. N., Kozak, M. J., Cook, E. W., McLean, A., & Lang, P. J. (1987) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699938708408058 · Cited by 239 · see citing works
Fear imagery and text processing
Vrana, S. R., Cuthbert, B. N., & Lang, P. J. (1986) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1986.tb00626.x · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Imagination can create false autobiographical memories
Mazzoni, G., & Memon, A. (2002) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1046/j.1432-1327.2000.01821.x · Cited by 209 · see citing works
The role of worrisome thinking in the suppression of cardiovascular response to phobic imagery
Borkovec, T. D., Lyonfields, J. D., Wiser, S. L., & Deihl, L. M. (1993) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(93)90031-o · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Lullien‐Pellerin, V., Popineau, Y., Meersman, F., Morel, M., Heremans, K., Lange, R., & Balny, C. (2001) · PubMed · Cited by 193 · see citing works
A factor-analytic study of word attributes and verbal learning
Paivio, A. (1968) · Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior · doi:10.1016/s0022-5371(68)80161-6 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Electrophysiological brain activity and memory source monitoring
Johnson, M. K., Kounios, J., & Nolde, S. F. (1996) · Neuroreport · doi:10.1097/00001756-199611250-00025 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Effects of Training on Interpretation of Emotional Ambiguity
Grey, S. J., & Mathews, A. (2000) · The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A · doi:10.1080/713755937 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Self-citationEnduring consequences of experimentally induced biases in interpretation
Yiend, J., Mackintosh, B., & Mathews, A. (2005) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2004.06.007 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Self-citationIndividual Differences in Imaging: Their Measurement, Origins, and Consequences
Richardson, A. (1994) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Imagery versus meaningfulness of nouns in paired-associate learning.
Paivio, A., Smythe, P. C., & Yuille, J. C. (1968) · Canadian Journal of Psychology/Revue Canadienne de Psychologie · doi:10.1037/h0082782 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Electrophysiological brain activity and memory source monitoring
Johnson, M. K., Kounios, J., & Nolde, S. F. (1997) · Neuroreport · doi:10.1097/00001756-199703240-00051 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Holmes, E. A., & Hackmann, A. (2004) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658210444000124 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Self-citationUncovering properties of visual imagery and verbal association: A comparative study.
Reyher, J., & Smeltzer, W. (1968) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0025863 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
The psychophysiology of affective verbal and visual information processing in dysphoria
Baker, L. L., & Jessup, B. A. (1980) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/bf01173645 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Mental Imagery and Memory in Psychopathology
Holmes, E. A., & Hackmann, A. (2004) · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Brewin, C. R., Gregory, J. D., Lipton, M., & Burgess, N. (2010) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/a0018113 · Cited by 1,226 · see citing works
Mental Imagery: Functional Mechanisms and Clinical Applications
Pearson, J., Naselaris, T., Holmes, E. A., & Kosslyn, S. M. (2015) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2015.08.003 · Cited by 1,087 · see citing works
Self-citationGarland, E. L., Fredrickson, B., Kring, A. M., Johnson, D. P., Meyer, P. S., & Penn, D. L. (2010) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.002 · Cited by 1,035 · see citing works
Mental imagery in emotion and emotional disorders
Holmes, E. A., & Mathews, A. (2010) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2010.01.001 · Cited by 976 · see citing works
Self-citationImaginary Relish and Exquisite Torture: The Elaborated Intrusion Theory of Desire.
Kavanagh, D. J., Andrade, J., & May, J. (2005) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.112.2.446 · Cited by 956 · see citing works
A meta-analysis of the effect of cognitive bias modification on anxiety and depression
Hallion, L. S., & Ruscio, A. M. (2011) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0024355 · Cited by 891 · see citing works
The human imagination: the cognitive neuroscience of visual mental imagery
Pearson, J. (2019) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/s41583-019-0202-9 · Cited by 820 · see citing works
Efficacy of cognitive bias modification interventions in anxiety and depression: Meta-analysis
Cristea, I. A., Kok, R. N., & Cuijpers, P. (2015) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.114.146761 · Cited by 553 · see citing works
Brewin, C. R. (2014) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0033722 · Cited by 492 · see citing works
Inducing and modulating intrusive emotional memories: A review of the trauma film paradigm
Holmes, E. A., & Bourne, C. (2008) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.11.002 · Cited by 410 · see citing works
Self-citationPositive Interpretation Training: Effects of Mental Imagery Versus Verbal Training on Positive Mood
Holmes, E. A., Mathews, A., Dalgleish, T., & Mackintosh, B. (2006) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2006.02.002 · Cited by 391 · see citing works
Self-citationMental Imagery in Depression: Phenomenology, Potential Mechanisms, and Treatment Implications
Holmes, E. A., Blackwell, S. E., Burnett Heyes, S., Renner, F., & Raes, F. (2016) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-021815-092925 · Cited by 325 · see citing works
Self-citationImagery about suicide in depression–“Flash-forwards”?
Holmes, E. A., Crane, C., Fennell, M. J. V., & Williams, J. M. G. (2007) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2007.10.004 · Cited by 259 · see citing works
Self-citationEmotional Mental Imagery as Simulation of Reality: Fear and Beyond—A Tribute to Peter Lang
Ji, J. L., Heyes, S. B., MacLeod, C., & Holmes, E. A. (2016) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2015.11.004 · Cited by 234 · see citing works
Self-citationBlackwell, S. E., & Holmes, E. A. (2010) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.1680 · Cited by 196 · see citing works
Looking on the bright side: Accessing benign meanings reduces worry
Hirsch, C. R., Hayes, S., & Mathews, A. (2009) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0013473 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Lang, T. J., Blackwell, S. E., Harmer, C. J., Davison, P., & Holmes, E. A. (2012) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.855 · Cited by 171 · see citing works
Self-citationGrafton, B., MacLeod, C., Rudaizky, D., Holmes, E. A., Salemink, E., Fox, E., & Notebaert, L. (2017) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.115.176123 · Cited by 160 · see citing works
Self-citationCognitions in bipolar affective disorder and unipolar depression: imagining suicide
Hales, S. A., Deeprose, C., Goodwin, G. M., & Holmes, E. A. (2011) · Bipolar Disorders · doi:10.1111/j.1399-5618.2011.00954.x · Cited by 157 · see citing works
Self-citationDistributed affective space represents multiple emotion categories across the human brain
Saarimäki, H., Ejtehadian, L. F., Glerean, E., Jääskeläinen, I. P., Vuilleumier, P., Sams, M., & Nummenmaa, L. (2018) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsy018 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Johnson, D. R., Cushman, G. K., Borden, L. A., & McCune, M. S. (2013) · Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts · doi:10.1037/a0033261 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Mackintosh, B., Mathews, A., Yiend, J., Ridgeway, V., & Cook, E. (2006) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2006.03.001 · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Wetherall, K., Cleare, S., Eschle, S., Ferguson, E., O'Connor, D. B., O'Carroll, R. E., & O'Connor, R. C. (2018) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2018.07.074 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Suicidal imagery in a previously depressed community sample.
Crane, C., Shah, D., Barnhofer, T., & Holmes, E. A. (2012) · Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy · doi:10.1002/cpp.741 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Self-citationHirsch, C. R., Krahé, C., Whyte, J., Loizou, S., Bridge, L., Norton, S., & Mathews, A. (2018) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/ccp0000310 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Self-citationVisuospatial working memory interference with recollections of trauma
Lilley, S. A., Andrade, J., Turpin, G., Sabin‐Farrell, R., & Holmes, E. A. (2009) · British Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1348/014466508x398943 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Self-citationEpisodic future thinking in generalized anxiety disorder
Wu, J. Q., Szpunar, K. K., Godovich, S. A., Schacter, D. L., & Hofmann, S. G. (2015) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2015.09.005 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Makkar, S. R., & Grisham, J. R. (2011) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2011.07.004 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
An Exploration of Prospective Imagery: The Impact of Future Events Scale
Deeprose, C., & Holmes, E. A. (2010) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s1352465809990671 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Self-citationStokes, C., & Hirsch, C. R. (2010) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2009.12.011 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Cognitive mechanisms underlying the emotional effects of bias modification
Hoppitt, L., Mathews, A., Yiend, J., & Mackintosh, B. (2010) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.1678 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Self-citationCoughtrey, A. E., Shafran, R., Lee, M., & Rachman, S. J. (2012) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s1352465811000658 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Delineating the Role of Negative Verbal Thinking in Promoting Worry, Perceived Threat, and Anxiety
Hirsch, C. R., Perman, G., Hayes, S., Eagleson, C., & Mathews, A. (2015) · Clinical Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/2167702615577349 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Self-citationPsychometric properties of the anticipatory social behaviours questionnaire
Mills, A. C., Grant, D. M., Lechner, W. V., & Judah, M. R. (2013) · Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10862-013-9339-4 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Thoughts, images, and appraisals associated with acting and not acting on the urge to self-injure.
McEvoy, P. M., Hayes, S., Hasking, P. A., & Rees, C. S. (2017) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2017.05.010 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Comparing visual and auditory presentation for the modification of interpretation bias
Standage, H., Ashwin, C., & Fox, E. (2009) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2009.07.006 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Future-Oriented Positive Mental Imagery Reduces Anxiety for Exposure to Public Speaking
Landkroon, E., van Dis, E. A. M., Meyerbröker, K., Salemink, E., Hagenaars, M. A., & Engelhard, I. M. (2022) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2021.06.005 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Eyewitness or earwitness: The role of mental imagery in intrusion development
Krans, J., Näring, G., Speckens, A., & Becker, E. S. (2011) · International Journal of Cognitive Therapy · doi:10.1521/ijct.2011.4.2.154 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
Newman, M. G., Zainal, N. H., & Hoyer, J. (2020) · Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Worrying · doi:10.1002/9781119189909.ch10 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Slofstra, C., Nauta, M. H., Holmes, E. A., Bos, E. H., Wichers, M., Batalas, N., Klein, N. S., & Bockting, C. L. H. (2018) · Cognition and Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699931.2017.1365047 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Self-citationMa, O. Y. T., & Lo, B. C. Y. (2022) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2021.101721 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Endhoven, B., De Cort, K., Matthijssen, S. J. M. A., de Jongh, A., van Minnen, A., Duits, P., Schruers, K. R. J., van Dis, E. A. M., Krypotos, A. M., Gerritsen, L., et al. (2023) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-022-04320-4 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Mental imagery and anxiety toward death in adolescents
López-Pérez, M. E., Pino-Juste, M., & Campos, A. (2022) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481187.2020.1864683 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Holmes, E. A., & Mathews, A.
- Affiliations
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (GB)
- ORCID
- Holmes, Emily A.
- Venue
- Emotion
- Published
- 2005
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 489-497
- ISSN
- 1528-3542 (ISSN-L)
- 1931-1516
- OpenAlex
- W2072698214
- Cited by
- 612
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 56 · 2018: 37 · 2017: 38 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 30 · 2012: 19
- FWCI
- 17.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Emotion (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Language, Metaphor, and Cognition
- Keywords
- mental imagery, anxiety, verbal processing, emotional memory
- MeSH terms
- Affect, Anxiety, Female, Humans, Imagination, Male, Middle Aged, Psychology, Clinical, Speech Perception
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
