Abstract
Sequence-space synesthesia (SSS) is a common condition in which ordinal sequences such as months, numbers or the letters of the alphabet are perceived to occupy spatial locations in the mind's eye or peripersonal or extrapersonal space (e.g., Price and Mentzoni, 2008; Jonas and Jarick, 2013). For example, thinking about a month may elicit the visuospatial impression of a circular arrangement of the months, or hearing a numeral may elicit a specifically shaped number line. These “spatial forms” are typically thought to be consistent over time within an individual (e.g., Smilek et al., 2007), though they can actually evolve (Price and Pearson, 2013; Gould et al., 2014; Price, 2014; see also Simner, 2012; Meier et al., 2014). They are also idiosyncratic, with synesthetes reporting many different shapes of varying complexity (Galton, 1880; Phillips, 1897) that are experienced outside the body (i.e., projected) or in the mind's eye (i.e., associated; Dixon et al., 2004; Smilek et al., 2007; Ward et al., 2007). SSS can vary along several dimensions, including the projector-associator distinction, automaticity, visual salience, and type of spatial transformation that can be applied to the spatial form (e.g., Price, 2013; Price and Mattingley, 2013). Since SSS could be considered a variety of visuospatial mental imagery, these individual differences may reflect known fractionation of imagery processes and skills (Price, 2013; Price and Pearson, 2013). However, a thorough and empirically grounded taxonomy for individual differences in SSS is missing (Price, 2014). We explore here a possible systematization for one area of these individual differences—the visual and spatial qualities of SSS. We further suggest this can help to classify synesthetes as experimental participants and perhaps explain some inconsistencies in published data.
Highlights
Jonas and PriceSynesthesia: spatial and visual dimensions introspective access to the relative positions of sequence members
THE VARIABILITY OF SEQUENCE-SPACE SYNESTHESIA Sequence-space synesthesia (SSS) is a common condition in which ordinal sequences such as months, numbers or the letters of the alphabet are perceived to occupy spatial locations in the mind’s eye or peripersonal or extrapersonal space (e.g., Price and Mentzoni, 2008; Jonas and Jarick, 2013)
SSS can vary along several dimensions, including the projector-associator distinction, automaticity, visual salience, and type of spatial transformation that can be applied to the spatial form (e.g., Price, 2013; Price and Mattingley, 2013)
Summary
Synesthesia: spatial and visual dimensions introspective access to the relative positions of sequence members. The spatial representation may have vague sketch-like visual qualities but, as spatial sensation is created multi-modally, it could occur without them One example of this distinction is seen in SSS for months, where some synesthetes report that their form is always located in the same space, while others report movement of the calendar or the self in relation to it over the year (Smilek et al, 2007). More stringent methods have since been developed, including Brang et al (2010) within-session technique of asking participants with SSS for months to “project” their form onto a computer screen and indicate month location with mouse-clicks (each month was tested five times) This yielded a prevalence estimate of 2.2%, defined as the proportion of participants (N = 183) whose consistency was > 1.96 SD above the mean. There is a vague non-visual feeling of approximate fixed positions for months (i.e., little depictive visual quality, little detailed introspective access and/or transformational flexibility as a spatial model)
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