The Association of Autobiographical Memory with Visual Imagery Strength

The association between visual imagery and autobiographical memory (AM), or personal memory, was investigated in a multi-national representative sample from Qatar (N=551). Participants who reported more vivid visual imagery experiences also reported better AM on four AM subscales: future (r=.41), episodic (r=.32), semantic (r=.20) and spatial AM memory (r=.16) (all p’s <.01). In line with previous research, visual imagery correlated most strongly with future and episodic AM memory and weakest with spatial AM. Only the spatial AM revealed differences between participants: Older participants (ages 31-51+) and males reported lower spatial AM than younger (ages 18-25, p<.001; p=.008; p=0.001) and male (p<.001) participants. No cultural differences were found for AM reports.