<p> The present collection of studies examines how sensory information is interrelated, and how that changes with age and experience. The hypotheses motivating the research were based on the sensory associations of adults who experience concrete inter/intra-sensory linkage, known as synesthesia. Adult synesthesia can inform the study of perceptual development, and even of language, because it appears to represent one way in which normal developmental mechanisms can play out. Using insights gained from adults with synesthesia, we derived novel hypotheses about cross-modal and cross-dimensional links likely to
be present in early childhood and to persist in muted form in non-synesthetic adults.</p> <p> The research reported in Chapters 2 and 3 was an examination of the learned and
naturally biased influences on the development of one type of intermodal sensory
association. Specifically, it investigated whether colour-letter associations found
in adults reflect learned versus naturally-biased influences between shape and
colour. Results from these two studies suggest that pre-literate children (2.5-3
years old) show natural biases to associate certain shapes to certain colours, which
can be manifest as colour associations to letters. Naturally-biased associations
between shape and colour appear to be based, in part, on the angularity of the
shape. In addition to the same naturally biased colour letter associations found in
toddlers, older children (7-9 years old) and adults showed colour letter
associations that appear to be based in literacy, since they were not present in preliterate
toddlers. The research reported in Chapter 4 was an examination of crossmodal
associations between sound and shape. Specifically, it investigated the
influences of consonant and vowel sound on the mapping of words to shape in
toddlers. Results from this study suggest that the vowel sound of a nonsense word
can reliably predict its association to a shape with specific characteristics
(rounded versus jagged). Such natural biases may help bootstrap language
learning. The research reported in Chapter 5 was an examination of cross-modal
associations to odour. Specifically, it investigated whether there any consistent
cross-modal associations between odour and either colour or texture. Results from
this study suggest that there are consistent colour and texture associations to
odours, some of which do not appear to be based in experience. Across studies,
pre-literate toddlers, older children, and/or adults provide evidence that stimulus
characteristics reliably relate to one another cross-dimensionally and crossmodally.
Further, sensory associations in adulthood appear to result from an
interplay of learning and natural biases, and non-synesthetic adults and toddlers
show consistent, naturally-biased sensory associations similar to those seen in
synesthesia.</p> <p> The work presented in this thesis reveals the value of deriving hypotheses from the phenomenon of adult synesthesia about the interplay of learning and natural biases in the formation of sensory associations.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/17735 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | Spector, Ferrinne |
| Contributors | Maurer, Daphne, Psychology |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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