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ERIC Number: EJ937311
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Oct
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
Reference Count: 0
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-2626
9 Is Always on Top: Assessing the Automaticity of Synaesthetic Number-Forms
Jarick, Michelle; Dixon, Michael J.; Smilek, Daniel
Brain and Cognition, v77 n1 p96-105 Oct 2011
For number-form synaesthetes, digits occupy idiosyncratic spatial locations. Atypical to the mental number line that extends horizontally, the synaesthete (L) experiences the numbers 1-10 vertically. We used a spatial cueing task to demonstrate that L's attention could be automatically directed to locations within her number-space--being faster to detect targets appearing in synaesthetically cued locations. We sought to eliminate any influence of strategy on L's performance by: (a) shortening the cue-target onset to 150 ms, (b) making the cues counterpredictive, and (c) instructing L to use an opposing strategy. If L's performance was attributable to intentionally using the cue to predict target location, these manipulations should eliminate any cuing effects consistent with her synaesthesia. However, L showed an attentional bias compatible with her number-form, except when explicitly instructed of the opposing strategy and given enough time (800 ms). Therefore, we attribute L's resilient cueing effects to the "automaticity" of her number-form. (Contains 3 figures and 4 tables.)
Elsevier. 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800. Tel: 877-839-7126; Tel: 407-345-4020; Fax: 407-363-1354; e-mail: usjcs@elsevier.com; Web site: http://www.elsevier.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: N/A