Different dimensions of cognitive style in typical and atypical cognition: new evidence and a new measurement tool

We developed the Sussex Cognitive Styles Questionnaire (SCSQ) to investigate visual and verbal processing preferences and incorporate global/local processing orientations and systemising into a single, comprehensive measure. In Study 1 (N = 1542), factor analysis revealed six reliable subscales to the final 60 item questionnaire: Imagery Ability (relating to the use of visual mental imagery in everyday life); Technical/Spatial (relating to spatial mental imagery, and numerical and technical cognition); Language & Word Forms; Need for Organisation; Global Bias; and Systemising Tendency. Thus, we replicate previous findings that visual and verbal styles are separable, and that types of imagery can be subdivided. We extend previous research by showing that spatial imagery clusters with other abstract cognitive skills, and demonstrate that global/local bias can be separated from systemising. Study 2 validated the Technical/Spatial and Language & Word Forms factors by showing that they affect performance on memory tasks. In Study 3, we validated Imagery Ability, Technical/Spatial, Language & Word Forms, Global Bias, and Systemising Tendency by issuing the SCSQ to a sample of synaesthetes (N = 121) who report atypical cognitive profiles on these subscales. Thus, the SCSQ consolidates research from traditionally disparate areas of cognitive science into a comprehensive cognitive style measure, which can be used in the general population, and special populations

The sensitivity and specificity of a diagnostic test of sequence-space synesthesia

People with sequence-space synaesthesia (SSS) report stable visuo-spatial forms corresponding to numbers, days and months (amongst others). This type of synaesthesia 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 synaesthetes. 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

Unconscious sources of familiarity can be strategically excluded in support of conscious task demands.

What factors contribute to subjective experiences of familiarity, and are these subject to unconscious selection? We investigated the circumstances under which judgments of familiarity are sensitive to task-irrelevant sources using the artificial grammar learning paradigm, a task known to be heavily reliant on familiarity-based responding. In 2 experiments, we manipulated ‘free-floating feelings of familiarity’ by subliminally priming participants with either a subjectively familiar stimulus (their surname) or unfamiliar stimulus (a random letter string). In Experiment 1, after training on an artificial grammar, participants were required to rate the familiarity of a new set of grammar strings where the subliminal priming manipulation preceded each rating. Under these instructions the manipulation significantly altered ratings of familiarity. In Experiment 2, the training, the request for familiarity ratings, and the subliminal manipulation were all unchanged. In addition, however, participants were informed about the presence of rules dictating the structure of the training strings and were required to judge both whether each test-string conformed to those rules and to report the basis for their judgment. This broader decision context eliminated the effect of subliminal primes on ratings of familiarity even when participants’ reported basis for their judgments revealed no conscious knowledge of the rule structure. These results demonstrate that unconscious sources of familiarity can be selected or excluded according to conscious task contexts. The findings are incompatible with theories that equate familiarity with automaticity and those that state people must always be aware of the structural antecedents of metacognition

Synesthetic experiences enhance unconscious learning

Synesthesia  is characterized  by consistent extra perceptual experiences in response to normal sensory input. Recent studies provide evidence for a specific profile of enhanced memory performance in synesthesia, but focus exclusively on explicit memory paradigms for which the learned content is consciously accessible. In this study, for the first time, we demonstrate with an implicit memory paradigm that synesthetic experiences also enhance memory performance relating to unconscious knowledge

Mean factor scores as a function of gender.

<p>Mean factor scores as a function of gender.</p

Rotated factor matrix of factor loadings for the final sixty items of the SCSQ.

<p>Rotated factor matrix of factor loadings for the final sixty items of the SCSQ.</p

Mean factor scores as a function of presence/absence of grapheme-colour and sequence-space synaesthesia.

<p>Mean factor scores as a function of presence/absence of grapheme-colour and sequence-space synaesthesia.</p

Mean proportion of correct responses over blocks for the visual and verbal paired associates tasks.

<p>Mean proportion of correct responses over blocks for the visual and verbal paired associates tasks.</p

Regression weights (unstandardised <i>b</i>, standard error, and standardised β) for each subscale of the SCSQ, as a function of the presence/absence of grapheme-colour synaesthesia, sequence-space synaesthesia, and gender.

<p>Regression weights (unstandardised <i>b</i>, standard error, and standardised β) for each subscale of the SCSQ, as a function of the presence/absence of grapheme-colour synaesthesia, sequence-space synaesthesia, and gender.</p

Correlation coefficients (Pearson’s <i>r</i>) between scores on the scales of the SCSQ.

<p>Correlation coefficients (Pearson’s <i>r</i>) between scores on the scales of the SCSQ.</p