Language
English
Publication Date
3-4-2015
Journal
PLoS One
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0118996
PMID
25739095
PMCID
PMC4349591
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
March 2015
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Abstract
In this paper we estimate the minimum prevalence of grapheme-color synesthetes with letter-color matches learned from an external stimulus, by analyzing a large sample of English-speaking grapheme-color synesthetes. We find that at least 6% (400/6588 participants) of the total sample learned many of their matches from a widely available colored letter toy. Among those born in the decade after the toy began to be manufactured, the proportion of synesthetes with learned letter-color pairings approaches 15% for some 5-year periods. Among those born 5 years or more before it was manufactured, none have colors learned from the toy. Analysis of the letter-color matching data suggests the only difference between synesthetes with matches to the toy and those without is exposure to the stimulus. These data indicate learning of letter-color pairings from external contingencies can occur in a substantial fraction of synesthetes, and are consistent with the hypothesis that grapheme-color synesthesia is a kind of conditioned mental imagery.
Keywords
synaesthesia; synesthesia; synesthete; grapheme
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
, "Prevalence of Learned Grapheme-Color Pairings in a Large Online Sample of Synesthetes" (2015). Faculty, Staff and Students Publications. 12.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/12