University of Sussex
Browse
__smbhome.uscs.susx.ac.uk_ellenaj_Desktop_SRO_Mankin_Simner_2017.pdf (1.43 MB)

A is for apple: the role of letter-word associations in the development of grapheme-colour synaesthesia

Download (1.43 MB)
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 06:15 authored by Jennifer MankinJennifer Mankin, Julia SimnerJulia Simner
This study investigates the origins of specific letter-colour associations experienced by people with grapheme-colour synaesthesia. We present novel evidence that frequently observed trends in synaesthesia (e.g. A is typically red) can be tied to orthographic associations between letters and words (e.g., “A is for apple”), which are typically formed during literacy acquisition. In our experiments, we first tested members of the general population to show that certain words are consistently associated with letters of the alphabet (e.g. A is for apple), which we named index words. Sampling from the same population, we then elicited the typical colour associations of these index words (e.g. apples are red) and used the letter ? index word ? colour connections to predict which colours and letters would be paired together based on these orthographic-semantic influences. We then looked at direct letter-colour associations (e.g., A ? red, B ? blue…) from both synaesthetes and non-synaesthetes. In both populations, we show statistically that the colour predicted by index words matches significantly with the letter-colour mappings: that is, A ? red because A is for apple and apples are prototypically red. We therefore conclude that letter-colour associations in both synaesthetes and non-synaesthetes are tied to early-learned letter-word associations.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Multisensory Research

ISSN

2213-4794

Publisher

Brill

Issue

3-5

Volume

30

Page range

409-446

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-05-11

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2018-04-14

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2017-05-11

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC