Talk:Grapheme-color synesthesia

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[edit] Just a random thought on associations

Regarding the idea that some synesthetic colors are are based on associative learning, like refridgerator magnets, and noting the slight correlation of synesthetic colors to magnet colors, do you think that the opposite conclusion might be true? That its not that synesthetes are learning from magnets, but that the magents were created originally by a synesthete who was just making magnets the same colors that they perceived the letters? Maybe there is a neurological basis for 'average' color associations, of which both the 'associative learners' and the 'magnet makers' both belong?

Anyway, just a random thought. Phidauex 22:31, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, it's possible, but at this point, we just can't tell. In her study, Anina Rich looked at a bunch of children's books (in Australia), and found that many of them don't contain colored letters and numbers. Similarly, Nabokov notes that the colors of the blocks he played with when he was a child were "wrong" (this is how his synesthesia came to his mother's attention, see Speak Memory). One useful piece of data, which is just starting to appear (but not yet citable) is data similar to the Simner et al. data in German. Other languages would also be needed to really round this out, but it's something people are looking into. Edhubbard 22:38, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

In another line of thinking, what is your "vision" or outline for this page? I was thinking about some of the stuff on the main page, but it would be redundant. On the other hand, much of the stuff on the main page is about grapheme-color synesthesia. Edhubbard 22:38, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, the Synesthesia page is about 33kb right now. Its not too long, but it shouldn't get a whole lot longer. If everything were on that page, it would be too long, so it makes sense to use 'summary style', where we have headings that briefly summarize a topic and then direct readers to the main article on the topic, like we've done with the history of synesthesia research article. My eventual thought is that the synesthesia article will have subheadings describing various forms of synesthesia, and a summary of research and individual reports. In the case of obscure or rare ones, like color -> taste, the summary may be all there is, but for better researched, or more famous types, like grapheme -> color, there would be a sub-article.

In the specific case of this article, my outline idea was something like:

• Lead
• History as it relates to grapheme -> color synesthesia
• Subjective or notable reports
• Grapheme -> color specific research (like the computer interface research, and your work)

It won't be a long article, and eventually, a summary of it will appear in the main synesthesia article along with a link to the subarticle. Of course, any of this could change at any time, this is just my general thought. Phidauex 00:21, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I like that idea. When I added yet another link in the lead, concerning yet another form of synesthesia (personifications), I was starting to feel like that was also in danger of getting unwieldy. Perhaps a little more, and we'll have to make a list so that people can see the different forms. Edhubbard 01:04, 16 August 2006 (UTC)