Colors of Hearings: A Subjective Experience of Synesthesia Among Six Siblings

Year 2023, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 124 - 144, 31.01.2023

Leyla Alma , Sami Çoksan , Müjde Koca-atabey

https://doi.org/10.31682/ayna.1144465

Cited By: 1

Abstract

The current research aimed to explore, understand and describe the subjective experiences of synesthesia among six self-reported synesthete siblings. For this purpose, we conducted one quantitative and one qualitative study. The first study aimed to measure whether six siblings actually had synesthesia experiences. Six synesthete siblings and their eighteen non-synesthete peers participated in Study 1. First, participants filled out the Eagleman Synesthesia Test Battery - Synesthesia Type Scale. Then, we asked the participants to match some words we randomly selected from the Turkish dictionary with colors on a color scale. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons showed that six siblings statistically and consistently matched words with specific colors compared to their non-synesthete peers, and these colors hardly changed over time. In study 2, we interviewed these siblings and aimed to investigate their synesthetic experiences using an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach. We verbatim transcribed the interviews, and the results showed that three main themes emerged, which were: (1) The nature of the synesthesia experience; (2) Aspects of the synesthesia experience; (3) Time and experience: It may change inter and intraparticipant. We discussed the findings in the context of the persistence and changeability of the synesthetic experience and the uniqueness seen among siblings, even when raised in a similar environment.

Keywords

synesthesia, synesthetic experience, grapheme-color synesthesia, interpretative phenomenological analysis

Thanks

We thank Canan Erdugan, Serpil Yıldız Çoksan, and Savaş Kurt for their assistance in data collection.

Seslerin Renkleri: Altı Kardeşin Öznel Sinestezi Deneyimleri

Abstract

Bu çalışma sinestezik deneyimleri olduğunu ifade eden altı kardeşin deneyimlerini keşfetmeyi, anlamayı ve betimlemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu amaç bir nicel ve bir nitel araştırma yürütülmüştür. Birinci araştırma, altı kardeşin sinestezik deneyimlerini görgül olarak sınamayı amaçlamaktadır. Bunun için sinestezi deneyimlediğini belirten 6 katılımcı ile bu deneyimi belirtmeyen 18 akran araştırmaya katılmıştır. Katılımcılar ilk olarak Eagleman Sinestezi Test Bataryası – Sinestezi Tipi Ölçeği’ni doldurmuşlardır. Ardından tüm katılımcılardan, araştırmacılar tarafından güncel Türkçe sözlükten seçkisiz olarak seçilmiş çeşitli kelimeleri bir renk yelpazesindeki renklerle ilişkilendirmeleri istenmiştir. Hem kesitsel hem de boylamsal karşılaştırmalar, sinestezik deneyim belirten altı kardeşin akranlarına kıyasla kelimeleri tutarlı ve istatistiksel olarak anlamlı biçimde, belirli renklerle eşleştirdiklerini ve bu eşleştirmelerin zaman içerisinde neredeyse hiç değişmediğine göstermiştir. İkinci çalışmada öznel sinestezik deneyimlerini ortaya koymak adına bu altı kardeş ile yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler gerçekleştirilmiş ve veriler yorumlayıcı fenomenolojik analiz ile irdelenmiştir. Bulgular, kardeşlerin yanıtlarının üç temel tema etrafında kümelendiğini göstermiştir: (1) Sinestezi deneyiminin doğası; (2) Sinestezi deneyiminin özellikleri; (3) Zaman ve deneyim: Deneyim katılımcılar arası ve katılımcı içi değişebilir. Bulgular, benzer bir ortamda yetiştirilse bile kardeşler arasında görülen sinestezik deneyimin kalıcılığı ve değişebilirliği bağlamında tartışılmıştır.

Keywords

sinestezi, sinestetik deneyim, grafem-renk sinestezisi, yorumlayıcı fenomenolojik analiz

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