title: The sensitivity and specificity of a diagnostic test of sequence-space synesthesia.
abstract: People with sequence-space synesthesia (SSS) report stable visuo-spatial forms corresponding to numbers, days, and months (amongst others). This type of synesthesia has intrigued scientists for over 130 years but the lack of an agreed upon tool for assessing it has held back research on this phenomenon. The present study builds on previous tests by measuring the consistency of spatial locations that is known to discriminate controls from synesthetes. We document, for the first time, the sensitivity and specificity of such a test and suggest a diagnostic cut-off point for discriminating between the groups based on the area bounded by different placement attempts with the same item.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rothen
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jünemann
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
authors.forename: Andy D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Mealor
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Burckhardt
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK. jamiew@sussex.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ward
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D000080311:Synesthesia; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Imagery; Numbers; Space; Synesthesia/synaesthesia; Time