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Updated: Jan 5, 2026
10:27
Training Synesthetic Letter-color Associations by Reading in Color
Published on: February 20, 2014
23.3K
Exploring the relationship between grapheme colour-picking consistency and mental imagery
Mary Jane Spiller1, Lee Harkry1, Fintan McCullagh1
1School of Psychology, University of East London, London E14 4LZ, UK.
Summary
This study explored the link between mental imagery and synaesthesia in the general population. Enhanced visual mental imagery, not self-report, predicted synaesthesia-like experiences.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Previous research suggests a link between mental imagery and synaesthesia.
- Findings often rely on self-report and self-selected synaesthetes, introducing potential bias.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between mental imagery and synaesthesia-like experiences in a general population sample.
- To mitigate self-selection and demand effects by using objective measures.
Main Methods:
- Recruited participants from the general population, not specifically synaesthetes.
- Assessed synaesthesia-like experience using colour-picking consistency tests for letters and numbers.
- Measured mental imagery and mental rotation abilities via self-report and behavioural tasks.
Main Results:
- Colour-picking consistency for letters (a proxy for grapheme-colour synaesthesia) was predicted by visual mental imagery performance.
- No significant prediction was found from mental rotation tasks or self-report measures.
- These findings held even for participants naive to the research topic.
Conclusions:
- Synaesthetic experiences are associated with enhanced visual mental imagery abilities.
- Objective behavioural measures are crucial for understanding synaesthesia beyond self-report biases.
- This research contributes to understanding the sensory and cognitive underpinnings of synaesthesia.
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