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Uncharted features and dynamics of reading: Voices, characters, and crossing of experiences

Alderson-Day, B.; Bernini, M.; Fernyhough, C.

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Abstract

Readers often describe vivid experiences of voices and characters in a manner that has been likened to hallucination. Little is known, however, of how common such experiences are, nor the individual differences they may reflect. Here we present the results of a 2014 survey conducted in collaboration with a national UK newspaper and an international book festival. Participants (n = 1566) completed measures of reading imagery, inner speech, and hallucination-proneness, including 413 participants who provided detailed free-text descriptions of their reading experiences. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that reading imagery was related to phenomenological characteristics of inner speech and proneness to hallucination-like experiences. However, qualitative analysis of reader’s accounts suggested that vivid reading experiences were marked not just by auditory phenomenology, but also their tendency to cross over into non-reading contexts. This supports social-cognitive accounts of reading while highlighting a role for involuntary and uncontrolled personality models in the experience of fictional characters.

Citation

Alderson-Day, B., Bernini, M., & Fernyhough, C. (2017). Uncharted features and dynamics of reading: Voices, characters, and crossing of experiences. Consciousness and Cognition, 49, 98-109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2017.01.003

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 22, 2017
Online Publication Date Feb 3, 2017
Publication Date Mar 1, 2017
Deposit Date Dec 31, 2016
Publicly Available Date Feb 1, 2017
Journal Consciousness and Cognition
Print ISSN 1053-8100
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 49
Pages 98-109
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2017.01.003

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