Reaction Times
Reaction time studies have shown that number-form synesthetes are faster to say which of two numbers is larger when the numbers are arranged in a manner consistent with their number-form, suggesting that number forms are automatically evoked (Sagiv et al. 2006; Piazza, Pinel & Dehaene in press). This can be thought of as a "spatial Stroop" task, in which space is not relevant to the task, but which can hinder performance despite its irrelevance. The fact that synesthetes cannot ignore the spatial arrangement of the numbers on the screen demonstrates that numbers are automatically evoking spatial cues. The reaction times for valid cues are smaller than invalid cues (words and arrows), but in synesthetes the response time differences for months are larger than those of non-synesthetes (Template:Teuscher).
Read more about this topic: Number Form
Famous quotes containing the words reaction and/or times:
“The excessive increase of anything often causes a reaction in the opposite direction.”
—Plato (c. 427–347 B.C.)
“Love is a great thing. It is not by chance that in all times and practically among all cultured peoples love in the general sense and the love of a man for his wife are both called love. If love is often cruel or destructive, the reasons lie not in love itself, but in the inequality between people.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)