Theoretical and Clinical Applications

When discussion began four years aga about launehing the American Association for the Study of Mental Imagery there was still a great deal of skepticism on the part of many academic and clinical psychologists. They held to the gradually diminishing view that mental imagery was too idiosyncratic a subject for intensive study. However, there were sufficient visionaries to recognize the undeniable importance of imagery for the functioning of life in memory and the transmission of information. Through the valiant efforts of these pioneers in psychology, art and movement therapy, and others in the field of human relations the organization has grown and flourished. Even more important is the burgeoning of knowledge about the ubiquitous nature of imagery and its impact on life. The third annual meeting of AASMI was held in 1981 at Yale University under the sponsorship of president-elect Jerome L. Singer. Sixty-five persons presented papers, workshops and theoretical studies. This volume represents the broad array of topics and approaches offered at the conference. While it is informative and stimulating to read and study the articles in this volume they can convey only a fraction of the excitement and the knowledge available to those who attended the conference. The reader will reap a two-fold benefit from this volume, for not only does it cover a vast array of topics related to imagery, but it also offers the strong possibility that the results of these works can be included in ones daily work as a clinician and/or researcher.