Individual Differences in Preferred Thought Formats Predict Features of Narrative Recall

Humans differ in how they experience their own thoughts. Some say they hear sentences in their “mind's ear”, others report seeing images in their “mind’s eye”, and many struggle to describe their inner worlds. Here, we tested whether individual differences in thought formats predict accuracy and properties of verbal recall after listening to short podcasts about science. To assess the accuracy of recall, we measured the semantic similarity between embeddings of participant recall statements and the original podcasts. To characterize the properties of participants’ recall language, we measured the perceptual strength of content words in their responses. Individual differences in thought formats were not associated with differences in the accuracy of verbal recall. By contrast, recall statements high in perceptual strength were more likely among participants who reported vivid visual imagery, while statements low in perceptual strength were more likely among those with higher verbal scores. Results highlight an intriguing connection between subjective reports about thought format and the attributes of naturalistic verbal memory recall.