ɔːlðˈoʊ, vˈɪʒuːəl ænd ˈɔːdɪtˌoːɹi mˈɛntəl ˈɪmɪdʒᵻz ɑːɹ ɹᵻpˈoːɹɾᵻd æz bˌiːɪŋ ðə mˈoʊst fɹˈiːkwəntli ɛkspˈiəɹɪənst baɪ pˈiːpəl ænd ˈiːvən wɪð vˈɪʒuːəl ˈɪmɪdʒᵻz ɹᵻmˈeɪnɪŋ ðə mˈoʊst ɛkstˈɛnsɪvli ɹᵻsˈɜːtʃt ænd dˈɑːkjuːməntᵻd ɪn saɪəntˈɪfɪk lˈɪɾɚɹᵻtʃɚ, ðə tˈɜːm kɹiːˈeɪɾɪv vˌɪʒuːəlᵻzˈeɪʃən ɐpˈɪɹz fˈɑːɹ lˈɛs fɹˈiːkwəntli ɪn saɪəntˈɪfɪk, pˈɪɹᵻvjˈuːd, ænd skˈɑːlɚli pˌʌblɪkˈeɪʃənz ðɐn ðə tˈɜːm ɡˈaɪdᵻd ˈɪmɪdʒɹi, wˌɪtʃ ɹᵻsˈɜːtʃ ˈɔːθɚz kˈɑːmənli jˈuːs tʊ ˈɪndᵻkˌeɪt ðə dʒˌɛnɚɹˈeɪʃən, mˈeɪntənəns, ɪnspˈɛkʃən, ænd tɹænsfoːɹmˈeɪʃən ʌv mˈɛntəl ˈɪmɪdʒɹi əkɹˌɑːs ˈɔːl moʊdˈælᵻɾiz, ænd tə ɹᵻfˈɜːɹ ɛksklˈuːsɪvli ænd spəsˈɪfɪkli tə ðə pɹˈɑːsɛsɪŋ ʌv vˈɪʒuːəl ˈɪmɪdʒɹi.
Although, visual and auditory mental images are reported as being the most frequently experienced by people and even with visual images remaining the most extensively researched and documented in scientific literature, the term creative visualization appears far less frequently in scientific, peer-reviewed, and scholarly publications than the term guided imagery, which research authors commonly use to indicate the generation, maintenance, inspection, and transformation of mental imagery across all modalities, and to refer exclusively and specifically to the processing of visual imagery.