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

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

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
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1367100