Department or Program
Psychology
Abstract
The present study aims to determine the order in which object trimming and synesthetic associations occur during visual processing and examines the way that these two phenomena may influence each other. The first two experiments used grapheme-color synesthetes and flashed a numeral with an adjacent two-dot mask on a screen. Participants were asked to identify the synesthetic color triggered by the target (Experiments 1 and 2) as well as the number they saw during each trial (Experiment 2). Results showed strong evidence that trimming occurs before synesthetic associations in the processing pathway, as participants responded with the color of the trimmed number in all trials where trimming occurred. A third experiment, similar in design to the first experiments but allowing for the addition of non-synesthete control participants, used colored two-dot masks and asked participants to identify the color of the dots as well as the number that they saw. Findings suggest that object trimming has the ability to alter the speed of visual processing, and even modify the way that different streams of visual processing interact with each other.
Level of Access
Restricted: Embargoed [Open Access After Expiration]
First Advisor
Mathis, Katherine
Date of Graduation
5-2025
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Recommended Citation
McKerley, Rosemary J., "Effects of synesthetic photisms on visual cognition: Investigating the temporal organization of grapheme-color synesthesia and object trimming in the visual processing pathway" (2025). Honors Theses. 497.
https://scarab.bates.edu/honorstheses/497
Number of Pages
63
Components of Thesis
1 pdf file
