A MULTIVARIATE MODEL OF SYNESTHESIA

Synesthesia is defined in this paper as a sensory phenomenon in which a stimulus in one sense mode is interpreted in terms appropriate to some other sense mode. The paper deals explicitly with auditory-visual synesthesia or chromesthesia. The model proposes two cognitive spaces for the two sense modes, differing from each other only in terms of what is called a modal axis. Two separate sub-populations of individuals are hypothesized, one made up of persons who can collapse their cognitive space along the modal axis. These people are assumed to be those who regularly experience synesthesia. Persons who do not regularly experience synesthesia axe assumed either (a) to be unable to collapse their cognitive space, or (b) to do so in a different way. Subjeats in the study rated colors and adjectives as to their appropriate- ness in describing musical selections. Estimates of color and adjective spaces were computed by cluster analyses based upon the ratings. The color space closely resembled the three-dimensional color solid, and fit well with the adjective space. Subsamples selected as extreme groups on the basis of synesthesia experience showed identical adjective spaces but different color spaces, as would be predicted from the model.