Visualizing in the Mind's Eye: Icon Design Shapes Mental Imagery of Fire Risks

@InProceedings{Xu2026VisualizingMind'sEye,
  author    = {Wen Xu, Anjana Arunkumar, Lace Padilla},
  VENUE     = {Proc. IEEE Visualization Conference—VIS},
  title     = {Visualizing in the Mind's Eye: Icon Design Shapes Mental Imagery of Fire Risks},
  year      = {2026},
  note      = {Preprint at \url{}. Supplemental material at \url{https://osf.io/ugwmh/}.},
  number    = {},
  pages     = {},
  volume    = {},
  abstract  = {We introduce mental imagery, or seeing images in the "mind's eye," as a cognitive process that can be shaped by data visualization design and in turn impact decisions. We found in a preregistered study (n = 400) that abstract geometric icons visualizing fire risk data evoked more mental images than concrete house-on-fire icons, and also produced more diverse and personalized mental images. Mediation analysis showed that increased mental imagery subsequently led to risk-averse decisions through evoking negative affect. These findings reveal a nuanced mechanism through which visualization concreteness influences decisions: concrete designs may actually suppress affect-driven behavior by restricting mental imagery. },
  articleno = {},
  doi       = {},
  series   = {VIS},
}