Difference Between Strong And Weak Synesthesia

In the scientific review, Synesthesia: Strong and Weak, scientists Gail Martino and Lawrence E. Marks distinguished the differences between strong and weak forms of synesthesia. Synesthesia means “to perceive together” (Martino and Marks). For example, some people who experience synesthesia, such as Carol in the article, can relate pain with color and sounds. Throughout the article, Martino and Marks discuss the differences between strong synesthesia and weak synesthesia. Instead of classifying all forms of synesthesia the same, this article proves that there are differences between each form of synesthesia because they are not all based on the same underlying mechanisms. The studies described in this review allow scientists to better understand …show more content…
The case studies identifying strong synesthesia prove that there is a relationship between an inducer (pain) and an induced percept (color) (Martino and Marks). Strong synesthesia is distinguished because the inducer and induced percept are distinctive, systematic, and occur at the same time (Martino and Marks). The inducer and induced percept can also be associated with other characteristics such as sounds and shapes, not just pain and color. Induced images are generally visual, whereas the inducing stimuli are generally related to sound, touch, or taste (Martino and Marks). Another study to recognize strong synesthesia is the color-word study. Participants are asked to record the color induced by many words. An hour later, participants with strong synesthesia were 97% accurate in recalling pairs, and the control participants were 13% accurate (Martino and Marks). This proves that synesthesia perception is memorable. Some scientists believe that strong synesthesia occurs because of sensory leakage, where information leaks through different sensory channels. The main distinguisher between strong and weak synesthesia is that cross-modal associations in strong synesthesia are systematic and absolute, whereas in weak synesthesia they are systematic and contextual (Martino and Marks). Strong synesthesia is common among families, making it seem …show more content…
While strong synesthesia is expressed through observable experiences, weak synesthesia is common in cross-modal associations and selective attention. This information of synesthesia is relevant to class lectures when we discussed stimuli relationships and associations. Parts of the semantic-coding hypothesis are also relevant to topics discussed in our lectures, such as the semantic network. The semantic network affects how weak synesthesia associates stimuli and in class we discussed that semantic networks are relationships among different concepts. Synesthesia is very interesting because it is unique among individuals. The article stated that strong synesthesia is common among artists, which is interesting because they are so talented and associate different senses, such as color and sound. This phenomenon can explain why some artists are so talented. Overall, synesthesia can be a complicated topic but is very interesting and can relate to different