The prevalence of synaesthesia depends on early language learning |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada;2. Institute of the Czech Language and Theory of Communication, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic;3. Department of Philosophy, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada;4. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA;5. Department of Biology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;1. School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Pevensey Building, Falmer BN1 9QH, UK;2. Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, EH8 9JZ, UK;3. Clinic of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry, and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Straße 1, D-30625 Hannover, Germany;4. Brain Research Imaging Centre, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, EH4 2XU, UK;5. Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States;6. Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, EH10 5HF, UK;1. Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA;2. University of Hawaii, Department of Psychology, Hilo, HI, USA;3. Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA;4. Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Mansfield, CT, 06269, USA;5. Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA;1. Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus MC, P.O. Box 2040, 3000CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands;2. Institute of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, P.O. Box 1738, 3000DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands;3. Department of Radiology, Erasmus MC, P.O. Box 2040, 3000CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands;1. School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, BN1 9QJ, UK;2. Dept. of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, EH8 9JZ, UK;3. Dept. of Psychology, City University London, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, UK |
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| Abstract: | According to one theory, synaesthesia develops, or is preserved, because it helps children learn. If so, it should be more common among adults who faced greater childhood learning challenges. In the largest survey of synaesthesia to date, the incidence of synaesthesia was compared among native speakers of languages with transparent (easier) and opaque (more difficult) orthographies. Contrary to our prediction, native speakers of Czech (transparent) were more likely to be synaesthetes than native speakers of English (opaque). However, exploratory analyses suggested that this was because more Czechs learned non-native second languages, which was strongly associated with synaesthesia, consistent with the learning hypothesis. Furthermore, the incidence of synaesthesia among speakers of opaque languages was double that among speakers of transparent languages other than Czech, also consistent with the learning hypothesis. These findings contribute to an emerging understanding of synaesthetic development as a complex and lengthy process with multiple causal influences. |
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| Keywords: | Synesthesia Synaesthesia Orthographic depth hypothesis Second language learning Bilingualism |
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