A Descriptive Analysis of Imagination Content

Although there has been significant research on imagination's effects and capabilities, there is relatively little exploration of the content of imagination. This qualitative, exploratory study explored the content of mental imagery and imagination in 23 undergraduates. Participants described what they imagined in response to five scene prompts, such as “food court” and “office.” The imaginings’ high prevalence of colour (96%), scene-relevant objects (83%), movement (64%), and clarity (81%) suggested real-world resemblance, aligning with episodic memory's role in imagination. On the other hand, half of the imaginings were described as realistic, and some realistic traits, such as first-person perspective (35%) and three-dimensionality (30%), were relatively rare. Cartoon-like (8%) and two-dimensional (10%) imagery was less common. Because little prior research has quantified imagination content, these percentages represent initial descriptive estimates rather than comparisons to established norms.