Imaginal extinction and the vividness of mental imagery: Exploring the reduction of fear within the mind’s eye

Patients are encouraged to produce vivid mental imagery during imaginal exposure, as it is assumed to promote fear reduction. Nevertheless, the link between fear reduction and imagery vividness is unclear. We investigated the impact of vividness on fear responses using an experimental analogue of imaginal exposure - imaginal extinction - in which conditioned fear, measured with skin conductance, is reduced through exposure to mental imagery of the conditioned stimulus. We examined (1) if task-specific vividness (high vs low) of the conditioned stimulus during imaginal extinction moderated the reduction of fear responses, and (2) if task-specific vividness influenced remaining fear responses 24 h later. Findings suggest that high vividness may be advantageous for fear reduction during imaginal extinction, but it may not influence fear responses in the longer term. A possible clinical implication is that high imagery vividness during imaginal exposure may not be vital for overall treatment outcome. As high vividness is associated with increased levels of distress, a future direction would be to explore whether similar fear reduction can be obtained with less vivid imaginal exposure and thereby make treatment tolerable for more patients •Imaginal extinction of conditioned fear depends on the mental representation of the CS+.•High imagery vividness may promote fear reduction during imaginal extinction.•Imagery vividness does not influence fear responses in the longer term.•High vividness during imaginal exposure may not be vital for treatment success.