Hypophantasia
Vague, dim mental images – between aphantasia and typical imagery
Contents
Hypophantasia is a proposed term for people who can form mental images, but only vague and dim ones. In the largest analysis to date, with 9,063 respondents, 3.3% fell into this range, more than the 0.9% for aphantasia (Wright et al. 2024).
What is hypophantasia?
Imagine a sunrise. Some people see it almost as if it were real, others not at all. In between are people who do get an image, but only a faint, shadowy one. The term hypophantasia has been proposed for them: it describes people who report being able to generate only vague and dim visual imagery (Wright et al. 2024).
Who first used the term is not clearly established. Wright and colleagues cite Reeder and Figueroa (2022) for it; we were not able to check that work ourselves.
- Term: proposed (Wright et al. 2024)
- VVIQ 17–32
- Prevalence: 3.3% (Wright et al. 2024)
At what score does hypophantasia begin?
It is usually measured with the VVIQ, a questionnaire on the vividness of mental images. The lowest possible score is 16, the highest 80. Wright et al. (2024) grouped the scores as follows:
| Category | VVIQ score | Share (Wright et al. 2024) |
|---|---|---|
| Aphantasia | 16 | 0.9% |
| Hypophantasia | 17–32 | 3.3% |
| Typical imagery | 33–74 | 89.7% |
| Hyperphantasia | 75–80 | 6.1% |
Why 32? A total score of 32 is equivalent to answering “vague and dim” on every single item. Weak visual imagery is therefore typically defined in research as a VVIQ score of 32 or less (Dawes et al. 2020).
The cut-offs are not uniform
Not every study draws the line in the same place. Zeman et al. (2020) counted VVIQ scores of 16–23 as aphantasia (16 extreme, 17–23 moderate). A score between 17 and 23 therefore counts as hypophantasia or as moderate aphantasia, depending on the study. Wright et al. (2024) themselves note that comparisons remain difficult because studies use different and often seemingly arbitrary score ranges.
How common is hypophantasia?
- Hypophantasia
- 3.3%
- 9,063 respondents, 95% confidence interval 3.0–3.7%
- in Study 1
- 3%
- 3,049 respondents
- middle VVIQ score
- 57
- median of all 9,063; the middle half scored between 49 and 65
The 9,063 respondents come from three data sets: 3,049 from Wright et al.’s own study, 1,004 from Dance et al. (2022) and 5,010 from Beran et al. (2023). All shares apply only to the VVIQ score bands shown above (Wright et al. 2024).
A review summarises it in a similar way: about 1% of the population has profound aphantasia with the lowest VVIQ score (16/80), whereas 2–6% have imagery that is at best “vague and dim”, with VVIQ scores of 32/80 or less (Zeman 2024).
Hypophantasia and aphantasia: what is the difference?
Aphantasia
In the classification by Wright et al. (2024), only the lowest possible score. Practically no mental images arise at will.
Hypophantasia
Mental images do arise, but on average they are at best “vague and dim”.
The boundary between the two is a research convention, not a sharp dividing line in experience. Some studies group aphantasia and weak imagery together (Dance et al. 2022). Hypophantasia describes questionnaire scores; it is not a diagnosis. Lifelong aphantasia is not considered a disorder either (Zeman et al. 2020).
Limits of the research
- All shares are based on self-reports in a questionnaire (Wright et al. 2024).
- The boundaries between aphantasia, hypophantasia and typical imagery vary from study to study.
- Who coined the term hypophantasia is not clearly established.
Frequently asked questions about hypophantasia
What is hypophantasia and how does it differ from aphantasia?
Hypophantasia is a proposed term for people who can only generate vague and dim mental images. With aphantasia, practically no images arise at will. In the classification by Wright et al. (2024), aphantasia corresponds to a VVIQ score of 16, hypophantasia to 17–32.
At what VVIQ score does hypophantasia begin?
According to Wright et al. (2024), at 17–32 out of 80 points. 32 equals answering “vague and dim” on every item (Dawes et al. 2020). Other studies draw the lines differently, for example Zeman et al. (2020), who still count 17–23 as moderate aphantasia.
How common is hypophantasia?
In the combined sample of 9,063 people the share was 3.3%, and in Study 1 with 3,049 people it was 3% (Wright et al. 2024).
What is an average VVIQ score?
The median of all 9,063 respondents was 57 points; the middle half scored between 49 and 65 (Wright et al. 2024).
Why do some studies report 3.9% aphantasia and others 0.9%?
Because they count different things. Dance et al. (2022) arrived at 3.9%, but grouped together people whose imagery was entirely absent or markedly impaired, i.e. aphantasia and weak imagery. Wright et al. (2024) counted only the lowest VVIQ score of 16 as aphantasia and so arrived at 0.9%.
Scientific Sources
- Wright, D. J., Scott, M. W., Kraeutner, S. N. et al. (2024). An international estimate of the prevalence of differing visual imagery abilities. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1454107. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1454107
- Zeman, A. (2024). Aphantasia and hyperphantasia: exploring imagery vividness extremes. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 28(5), 467–480. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2024.02.007
- Dawes, A. J., Keogh, R., Andrillon, T. & Pearson, J. (2020). A cognitive profile of multi-sensory imagery, memory and dreaming in aphantasia. Scientific Reports, 10, 10022. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-65705-7
- Dance, C. J., Ipser, A. & Simner, J. (2022). The prevalence of aphantasia (imagery weakness) in the general population. Consciousness and Cognition, 97, 103243. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2021.103243
- Zeman, A., Milton, F., Della Sala, S. et al. (2020). Phantasia – The psychological significance of lifelong visual imagery vividness extremes. Cortex, 130, 426–440. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2020.04.003
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How vivid are your mental images?
The VST-16 follows the VVIQ methodology and shows you where you fall on the spectrum. It is meant for orientation and is not a diagnosis.