Grapheme–colour synaesthesia yields an ordinary rather than extraordinary memory advantage: Evidence from a group study

Abstract

In synaesthesia, the input of one sensory modality automatically triggers an additional experience, not normally triggered by the input of that modality. Therefore, compared to non-synaesthetes, additional experiences exist and these may be used as retrieval cues when memory is tested. Previous case studies have suggested that synaesthesia may yield even extraordinary memory abilities. However, group studies found either a task-specific memory advantage or no performance advantage at all. The aim of the present study was to test whether grapheme-colour synaesthesia gives rise to a general memory benefit using a standardised memory test (Wechsler Memory Scale). The synaesthetes showed a performance advantage in episodic memory tests, but not in short-term memory tests. However, performance was still within the ordinary range. The results support the hypothesis that synaesthesia provides for a richer world of experience and as a consequence additional retrieval cues may be available and beneficial but not to the point of extraordinary memory ability.

Are synesthetes exceptional beyond their synesthetic associations? A systematic comparison of creativity, personality, cognition, and mental imagery in synesthetes and controls

“…Follow‐up analyses on the divergent thinking subfactors, as well as specific cognitive subtests (those previously examined in the literature) for the current study and previous studies (Gross et al ., 2011; Rothen & Meier, 2010b), can be found in Supporting Information. Follow‐up analyses on the three WAIS‐III VCI subtests showed that synesthetes scored higher than controls at a large effect size level for information and a medium effect size level for vocabulary (with possible effects ranging from negligible to large).…”

“…(2013). Our cognitive results showed no association between synesthesia and a working memory index and, consistent with previous literature (Gross et al ., 2011; Rothen & Meier, 2009, 2010b), a subtest level examination revealed no group differences in memory for digits (see Supporting Information). This is corroborated by anecdotal reports from grapheme‐colour synesthetes in our study, many of whom said the numbers were read too quickly (one digit per second) to attend to the synesthetic colour.…”

“…Synesthetes showed a small advantage for associative learning; however, the CIs were too large to be meaningful, likely because fewer participants completed this test. Previous studies have found enhanced memory for word pairs in synesthetes (Gross et al ., 2011; Rothen & Meier, 2010b). This contrast from the null findings for digit span tasks may thus be due to the associative nature of the word‐pair task.…”

Beyond visual imagery: How modality-specific is enhanced mental imagery in synesthesia?

“…recall of color information for color-experiencing synesthetes; Rothen & Meier, 2010;Yaro & Ward, 2007).…”

Synaesthesia: cross activations, high interconnectivity, and a parietal hub

“…Nevertheless, it has been shown that grapheme-colour synaesthetes are, for example, better at recalling names [63]. Rothen and Meier found that grapheme-colour synaesthetes performed better in episodic memory tests but not in short-term memory tests, thus indicating that memory performance is not generally improved but rather is task specific [64]. The reason may be that synaesthetes can use additional cues for recalling information through verbal encoding, since graphemecolour synaesthetes often encode entire words in specific colours, based on the colour of the first stressed syllable [18].…”