title: Red, green, blue equals 1, 2, 3: Digit-color synesthetes can use structured digit information to boost recall of color sequences.
abstract: Digit-color synesthetes report experiencing colors when perceiving letters and digits. The conscious experience is typically unidirectional (e.g., digits elicit colors but not vice versa) but recent evidence shows subtle bidirectional effects. We examined whether short-term memory for colors could be affected by the order of presentation reflecting more or less structure in the associated digits. We presented a stream of colored squares and asked participants to report the colors in order. The colors matched each synesthete's colors for digits 1-9 and the order of the colors corresponded either to a sequence of numbers (e.g., [red, green, blue] if 1 = red, 2 = green, 3 = blue) or no systematic sequence. The results showed that synesthetes recalled sequential color sequences more accurately than pseudo-randomized colors, whereas no such effect was found for the non-synesthetic controls. Synesthetes did not differ from non-synesthetic controls in recall of color sequences overall, providing no evidence of a general advantage in memory for serial recall of colors.
authors.affiliation: a Perception in Action Research Centre & Department of Cognitive Science , Macquarie University , Sydney , Australia.
authors.forename: A Lina
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Teichmann
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Nieuwenstein
authors.forename: Anina N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Rich
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003116:Color; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Bidirectional; Color memory; Digits; Sequences; Serial recall; Short-term memory; Synesthesia