Validation of the Hispanic American Version of the Plymouth Sensory Imagery Questionnaire (psi-q): A Culturally Adapted Measure of Multisensory Mental Imagery

Abstract

Mental imagery is increasingly recognized to play a key role in psychotherapy, education, and other domains. The Plymouth Sensory Imagery Questionnaire (psi-q) measures the vividness of mental imagery in seven modalities: vision, sound, smell, taste, touch, bodily sensations, and feelings. This study adapted the psi-q for Hispanic-American respondents in Colombia and explored moderators of imagery vividness. Study 1 validated the original psi-q (short version) in a sample of 292 Colombian university students. Study 2 developed and validated a cultural adaptation of the psi-q with 508 Colombian adults from the general population. The Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire-2 (vviq-2) was used to analyze convergent validity in both samples. Thus we propose a new 29-item Hispanic-American version of the psi-q, adapted to cultural differences in the region, that displays good reliability and convergent validity. Imagery vividness was higher in females and at higher education levels. Higher cross-loadings between senses occurred in this sample, which may reflect cultural differences in somatization.