Synaesthesia and Individual Differences

Description

Synaesthesia is a fascinating cognitive phenomenon where one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another. For example, synaesthetes might perceive colours when listening to music, or tastes in the mouth when reading words. This book provides an insight into the idiosyncraticnature of synaesthesia by exploring its relationships with other dimensions of individual differences. Many characteristics of linguistic-colour synaesthetes are covered including personality, temperament, intelligence, creativity, emotionality, attention, memory, imagination, colourperception, body lateralization and gender. Aleksandra MariaRogowska proposes that linguistic-colour synaesthesia can be considered as an abstract form of a continuous variable in the broader context of cross- and intra-modal associations. There has been a resurgence of interest in synaesthesia and this book will appeal to students and scientists of psychology, cognitive science and social science, and to those who are fascinated by unusual states of mind.

• Reviews the studies of synaesthesia from the perspective of many scientific fields, complementing biological explanations with psychological approaches
• Proposes a new view of linguistic-colour association as a continuous variable
• Introduces a new view on synaesthesia from the perspective of the general human ability to create associations
• Reconciles objective and subjective insights into synaesthesia among a random sample of students

Contents

Introduction: is synaesthesia normal?
1. Exploring the structure and distribution of linguistic-colour associations in the concrete-abstract and strong-weak dimensions
2. Reconciling objective and subjective assessments of linguistic-colour associations: exploring the relationships between linguistic-colour synaesthesia and self-related sensing, body lateralization and gender
3. Cognitive determinants of linguistic-colour associations
4. Relationships between linguistic-colour synaesthesia and individual differences in absorption, creative thinking, types of mind and intelligence
5. Exploring the relationships between linguistic-colour associations and self-reported traits of personality and temperament
General conclusions
Appendices.

Author

Aleksandra Maria Rogowska, Politechnika Opolska
Aleksandra Maria Rogowska is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy at Politechnika Opolska, Poland. Her research centres on synaesthesia but also includes the psychology of sport, art and addiction. Her work focuses on developmental pathsfor young adults, in particular undergraduate students.