A Swedish Version of the Regressive Imagery Dictionary: Effects of Alcohol and Emotional Enhancement on Primary-Secondary Process Relations

Abstract

The Regressive Imagery Dictionary (RID) measures the degree of primary and secondary process content in texts and verbal speech/writing. RID was translated into Swedish and 2 studies were performed to validate it. In Study 1, alcohol was used in a placebo design to induce a shift toward the dominance of primary over secondary process thinking. Surprisingly, the alcohol group showed indications of using more secondary process in written stories than both the control group and the placebo group, although there were no significant differences between the groups in primary and secondary process as measured with the Swedish RID. In Study 2, the participants watched either a neutral film or an action film, whereupon they wrote down an ending of their own choosing. The action film condition produced more primary process than the neutral film condition, as measured by the Swedish RID. These findings underline both alcohol dose relationships in behavioral studies and emotional state in primary-secondary process thinking relationships in creative expression. Above all, in validating the Swedish RID scope for new insights into processes involved creative performance is obtained.

Narrative Triggers of Information Sensitivity

“…Primordial thinking is thought to be free of time, space, real world and social institutions; thus, it is more common during dreams, fantasy and the use of drugs. On the other hand, conceptual or secondary thinking is rational, reality-oriented, problem solving, logical, conceptual and narrowly focused (Svensson, Archer and Norlander, 2006;Granger, 2011;Kopcsó and Láng, 2019). Primary thinking has been associated with creativity (Martindale, 1998).…”