235 \A/56s 7 ro 3> 5 DD 2 3> 2 O Ih 9 THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES LJSRARr 'LOS ANGELES, CALJi-. THE SYNAESTHESIA OF A BLIND SUBJECT WITH COMPARATIVE DATA FROM AN ASYNAESTHETIC BLIND SUBJECT RAYMOND H0LDe4 WHEELER, Ph.D. T THOMAS D. CUTSFORTH PUBUSHED BY THI UNIYBBSITY University Press ' j BUOBNB . ' /f " f *' r 65809 TABLE OF CONTENTS L Qneral Introduction 3 II. Reagents, Method, Material 7 IIL Preliminary Experiments A. Introduction 9 B. Typical Introspective Data on A ' Entoptic Phenomenon 9 C. Conclusions Concerning A 's Entoptic Phenomenon 10 D. The Behavior of A 's Synaesthetic Visual Imagery Compared with the Behavior of His Entoptic Processes 13 E. Summary of Preliminary Experiments 14 IV. Results from Main Experiments ' A. Series 1 j a. Visual Imagery i. Typical Introspective Data 15 i ii. Summary of Introspective Data on Visual Imagery 22 ' iii. Visual Imagery of A and B Compared 27 ( iv. The Significance of A's Synaesthetic Imagery in Processes I of Visualizing 28 | b. Auditory Imagery l i. Typical Introspective Data 31 ii. Summary of Introspective Data on Auditory Imagery 34 ' iii. Auditory Imagery of A and B Compared 36 iv. Significance of A 's Synaesthetic Processes in the Field of | Auditory Imagery 37 . c. Tactual Imagery ' i. Typical Introspective Data 38 i ii. Summary of Introspective Data on Tactual Imagery 42 i iii. Tactual Imagery of A and B Compared 45 iv. Significance of Synaesthetic Imagery in A 's Tactual Pro- i cesses 46 ; d. Kinaesthetic Imagery i. Typical Introspective Data 48 ii. Summary of Introspective Data on Kinaesthetic Imagery . . 52 iii. Kinaesthetic Imagery of A and B Compared 54 j B. Series 2. Early and Recent Memories a. Early Memories i i. Typical Introspective Data 55 | ii. Summary of Introspective Data on Early Memories 58 i iii. Early Memories of A and B Compared .,, 61 ' iv. Significance of Synaesthetic Phenomena in A 's Early Mem- ories 62 b. Recent Memories i i. Typical Introspective Data * 63 ii. Summary of Introspective Data on Recent Memories 66 iii. Our Observers' Recent Memories Compared with Their f Earlier Memories 68 ^* iv. Significance of Synaesthetic Phenomena in A's Recent Mem- ories 69 C. Series 3. Imagery in Constructive Imagination i. Typical Introspective Data 72 .' ii. Summary of Introspective Data on Processes of Imagifiktion 75 ( iii. Observers A and B Comvarei I could not dis- tinguish the color of his ej'es. In every instaHoi the imagery was photographic and lacking in definiteness of form and outline. The only features which ap- proached definiteness were the facial dimensions of the temples. (I notice that every feature which I have been visualizing is one vvliich I have observed tac- tually.) Along with the above imagery I had tactual and kinaesthetic images of the smoothness and texture of his skin, and visual imagery now became confused with this tactual and kinaesthetic awareness. For example, my visual images of his nose and chin were confused with tactual-motor images of running my fingers over these facial features. Then upon further effort I was able to conjure up added vague and flseling visual imagery of a collar and neck-tie, but T am not certain whether this is imagery which over func- tioned in connection with memories of my room mate. The collar is white but it is only a mere suggestion of whiteness in the form of a streak localized under a similarly fleeting chin. I saw no color in the tie, for it was merely a shadow- form, broader at the bottom than at the top. None of this visual imagery ap- peared in a visual setting and while it was localized in space rather close to me the setting was entirely tactual and kinaesthetic." [Instructions: Visualize some familiar scene or lanf darker grey. (This I interpreted as meaning the places in the banks where the frost had broken off some of the rock.) I saw no strata nor any details of individual pieces of rock; I saw no details of gravel or of vegetative growth en the sides of these walls. The entire visual image, so far, was a washed grey, but the scene ajjpeared in its proper perspective, i. e., I saw the road becoming smaller and smaller as it a])j)roached the top of the cut and noticed the walls of the cut coming closer and closer together the farther away I visualized them. The sand of the road and the walls of the cut were the same color a grey, slightly tinged with yellow. Then there developed, on each side of the cut, visual imagery- of scrub oaks with dead autumn leaves hanging from the tips of the branches; there then appeared autumn leaves scatt'-red oser the ground beneath the trees. The ui)permost portions of the trees faded into nothing. I saw no line or skyline. .Vs this iniagory persisted and I found my visual at- tention wandering from one deUiil to another, I nolicotl that it was tri-dimen- tional, i.e., I saw ])arts of trees extending back 'iini bv^hind the trees which were in front. The leaves on some of the nearer trees now developed here and there into relatively clear-cut forms and outlines, but I still visualized the distant loaves as more dashes or 'daubs' of brown. The leaves on the ground remained, throughout, areas of mottled or speckled brown with definite outlines of only one or two individual leaves here and there. In each instance I found that the definitely outlined leaves were those upon which I was directly fixating my visual line of regard. As to the trunks, I visualized their general form and size but was not aware of minute detail of bark or color. (I can, however, construct visual imagery of tree trunks in which there appears a wealth of de- tail even to the nature of the bark and various vegetative growths such as moss and lichens.) " [17 1 The Synaesthesiu of a Blind Subject 9. Observer B. Same instructions. "(I visualized a scene at Cripple Creek, where I lived as a boy before my accident.) I first obtained a very sketchy visual image of the first school which I attended and of the Catholic church which stood behind it. The only distinct features of this imagery con- sisted of the bronze railing around the roof of the school building and the windows of the upper story, in front, as one would view them when standing in the street below. Accompanying this visual imagery was very distinct kin- aesthetic imagery of eye-movement and strain of eye fixation upon the object visualized. There then appeared in very sketchy and fleeting fashion visual imagery of a dark, green mountain range which loomed up in the background beyond the school, and beyond the mountain was a faint suggestion of blue sky. All of this latter imagery was momentary and appeared like a tachisto- scopic flash and was gone again. I found that I could revive it only by con- centrating my visual attention again upon the bronze railing of the school- house. Thereafter further attempts to retain this visual imagery resulted only in masses of kinaesthctic and tactual imagery. (I find that I am totally unable to visualize a neck-tie or other object either in this green or in this blue which momentarily appeared in my visual imagery. The colors have vanished and I cannot reinstate them.) " [Instructions: Visualize a printed word.] 10. Observer A. "(I visualized the word 'the.') I was at once able to construct fairly ratisfactory visual imagery of the three letters, t, h, and e, in print. They were not, however, printed upon any particular material or sur- face; they appeared in a visual setting consisting of that neutral grey back- ground which HO often surrounds my visual imagery. The 't' was a small let- ter, not a capital, the form and outline of which were very distinct, and were colored a reddish brown of only a poor saturation the same reddish brown which always means 't.' The 'h' lay on the same background as the 't' and next to the 't' on its right, but this imagery was so faint as almost to merge into the grey of the visual setting; the form or outline of the *h' was equally as indistinct as the color. Then I very clearly visualized the *e' lying just to the right of the * h ' ; it was the most distinct of all the letters and was like- wise the most brilliantly colored. In fact, the color was the most distinguishing feature of the 'e' and that feature which dominated consciousness when I was attending to the letter. The exact shape of the curved lines which constituted the 'e' was the least clear of any of its features. (The color and brightness of the letters were the same as they always appear whenever I have verbal imagery or perceive these letters in any fashion.) After this imagery appeared I then set about attempting to visualize these letters printed in black ink. I found that I could thus visualize them in the type which is used in ai child's primer; the letters resembled those which are emphasized in heavier print in order to represent the silent letters of a word. These letters appeared at about a reading distance from me. Hovering about the 'E, ' which was the least clear of any of this visual imagery, was a halo of the same bright color which appeared in my previous visual imagery of that letter ; this color identified the letter as ' E ' ; the printed ' E ' looked as if the surface on which it was printed had slipped just as the ' E ' was being stamped upon that surface it was blurred and the outlines of the letter were ragged. The form and outline of the 'T' stood out fairly plainly in this latter visual imagery but were tinged with the same color as appeared in my previous imagery. The 'H' was again very indistinct and tended to merge, as before, into the grey setting. (The color for 'H' closely resembles the grey of the visual setting, which explains why it is not clearly distinguishable from the background.) The setting for this latter imagery was, identical with the previous visual background. The longer the imagery per-,' sisted, the more the form and outline of the letters tended to give way to inj creasing clearness in the colors which aways stand for these letters. I foun ' it impossible to make the letters remain black." [18] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject 11. Observer B. Same instructions. "(After trying for some time to follow the instructions I reported that I could not visualize printed words.) Upon trying for some time to fulfill the instructions I found that my efforts resulted only in obtaining tactual-kinaesthetic imagery with only vague sug- gestions now and then of visual imagery in connection with a visual-kinaesthetic and schematic spacial image. I found myself having a wealth of tactual-motor imagery of writing my name in script, which' I often practice in order not to forget it. If I eliminate this tactual-motor imagery I am able to obtain vague, fleeting schematic visual-manual motor imagery of my name as if it were being written by an invisible hand. I also find imagery with incipient eye-movement of following what I remember, vaguely, to be the general shape of the letters, but I am unable to visualize anything where the invisible pencil has just traversed no pencil, no hand, nothing except the spacial and schematic move- ment of tracing the form of the letters. I found that I could visualize a vague point or spot along the outline of the letter, which moved continuously over the letter, but the space over which the moving point had just traversed disappeared as the point moved on to another position. Thus the letter disappeared as fast as it was formed. All of my imagery was tactual or motor except the spacial representation of a point along the letter as it was being written. Peculiarly, this point did not move upon a visualized surface; it merely moved, that is all. (Thus I fear that my visual imagery of letters is but a visual-kinaesthetic- schema.) " [Instructions: Visualize a cube.] 12. Observer A. " I was able to distinctly visualize a cube, the edges of which were about three inches long; it was localized in space, about at arm's length, and directly in front of me; in this imagery I saw at one glance the surfaces which are ordinarily visible when one corner here an upper corner is directly in front. My line of regard was fixated upon this corner. Extend- ing definitely in three different planes were the upper surface of the cube, a more or less broadside view of the front surface, and the diamond-shaped right side, appearing in perspective. Of these three surfaces the top was the clear- est. From the color of the cube I interpreted that it was a light yellow block of wood which I was visualizing. The surfaces were smooth ; all four edges of the top were visible but the edges of the front and side surfaces were less distinct. The object was of uniform color and brightne.ss throughout except at the juncture of two planes where the edge was represented by a shadowy line of darkened wood color rather than by clear-cut, sharp corners. I noticed that no other form of imagery other than motor imagery of eye-movement tended to appear; I had no tactual or kinaesthetic imagery of handling the cube. (Under instructions to visualize an object which I have not inspected tactual- motor fashion recently, I find my attention almost wholly absorbed in visual and eye-motor experiences and with the shape, form, and color quality of the imagery. ) " 13. Observer B. Same instructions. "I found myself tending to visualize a die. There appeared faint, fleeting and very schematic visual imagery of a small, cube-like form, throe sides of which, including the top, were visible. The sides were light the quality of a very light and dim grey, I think; the edges were darker. There was no visual setting; the object appeared in space before me but with nothing visualized around it, and on the faces of the cube there appeared faint, pencil-like dots which represented the spots on the lie; these spots were mere j)oints of brightness and stood out as specks a little darker than the adjacent surface. I could not count the spots for they were not clear enough nor were they definitely distributed, but together with this visual imagery I found myself saying in verbal imagery, 'one, six, two, five,' etc." [Instructions: "I am going to read you a certain selection of prose. Attend to this reading as if you were going to be called upon later to recall what was read to you and attempt to translate the meaning of the passage as far as [19] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject possible into visual imagery. After I have finished the reading begin at once to introspect particularly upon the visual imagery which was aroused while you listened. Do not make such n effort to visualize the meaning of the passage, however, as will distract from following its discourse.. Eeady."] The passage was from Parkman's " Oregon Trail," Standard English (Classics eilition, edited by W. E. Leonard and published by Ginn and Co., and is found on page 56, lines 5-23. The passage is as follows: "A low, undulating line of sandhills bounded the horizon before us. That day we rode ten hours, and it was dusk before we entered the hollows and gorges of these gloomy little hills. At length we gained the summit and the long-expected valley of the Platte lay before us. We all drew rein and sat joyfully looking down upon the prospect. It was right welcome; strange, too, "and striking to the imagination, and yet it had not one picturesque or beauti- ful feature; nor had it any features of grandeur other than its vast extent, its solitude and its wildness. For league after league a plain as level as a lake was outs[)read beneath us; here and there the Platte, divided into a dozen thread-like sluices, was traversing it, and an occasional clump of woods, rising in the midst like a shadowy island, relieved the monotony of the waste. No living creature was moving throughout the vast landscape, except the lizards that darted over the sand and through the rank grass and prickly pears at our feet."] 14. Observer A. " 1 was first aware of visual imagery of the sand hills, looming up one behind the other like a series of terraces, the hills in the dis- tance rising up behind those in the foreground. All were colored a very faint wanhed-out yellow, like the sands of the western deserts, but possessed no detail; they were colored as if painted by a thin wash of water-color paint. Th.; only variations in this color appeared along the ridges of hills and along the sides of higher ridges behind, thus marking off in my visual imagery in terms of a shadow the place where the summits of the nearer hills left off and the slopes of the hills farther back commenced, or loomed into view. This imagery lingered m consciousness but a brief moment and then the scene changed. T found myself standing on top of one of these foothills; portions of ground were visualized at my feet, in this same color, while off in front of me and extending as far as I could see, was a visualized plain. The plain was colored much as were the hills and here again, in the imagery, were no details merely a broad expanse of sur- face except where I visualized the Platte river winding hither and thither, be- coming smaller as it extended farther and farther into the distance. Then for a brief moment I had visual imagery of nearer views of the Platte. First there appeared visual imagery of the river as jue miL'ht see it froju a train as one travels along near the bank. (This imagery, I think, is a vague memory image of a view I once obtained of this river when on my way west years ago.) In this image I saw about as much as one would ordinarily see from a point of view several feet away and slightly elevated above the level of the banks. The water was not colored but had a white or silvery glare as if brilliant sunlight were being reflected from its surface. The water seemed motionless at first; in fact, there was no motion in the imagery beyond a slight suggestion of cur- rents of water which later appeared when I heard the word 'sluices.' At this juncture I had visual imagery of the Platte dividing into several sluices and at the nearest fork there appeared streaky-like shadows on the surface of the water which represented to me the dividing currents. The scene then changed again, I visualized hill after hill, passing me as if I were being silently carried through space at a terrific speed; after several hills had passed I then visualized a broad, flat, 0{)en area passing by; then would come a long, undulating ridge, colored as the foothills which I saw at first. This scene would give way to an- other broad, flat area of plain where nothing was visible except the yellowish- grey sand, smooth and unvaried by any detail. The next imagery of which I was aware consisted of visualized lizards darting across the sand at my feet, as if I were standing on the open plains. These lizards appeared as small, dark, [20 1 The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject oblong forms, about four inches in length and in each my Mne of regard was centered upon the region of the hind legs which were represented in my imagery by short and slender extensions of the dark brown oblong forms. Between these slender extensions was a long slender streak, almost black, which represented a tail. Then I found myself visualizing tiny gusts of sand thrown up backwards and sidewise by the hind feet of the lizards as they scurried over the ground. I had several visual images of this sort, some of which were localized near me and others of which were projected off in the distance, on the ground, for several feet. These little gusts of sand would appear first on one side. tl)en on another, as if I were running upon these little animals while travelling across the plains, although I was not aware of imagery of walking or of otherwise moving, my- self. Once I fleetingly visualized a clump of trees off in the distance, in a desert setting, but here the imagery lacked detail. When I heard the words 'prickly pears' I at once had visual imagery of small, cactus-like plants, standing up about 18 inches high and growing up from the smooth, yellowish sand. This imagery included a greenish-grey stalk with spines protruding here and there of lighter color but of the same hue; I saw no branches, leaves or flowers. Dur- ing the entire reading I had no tactual or kinaesthetic imagery beyond a slight awareness of eye-movement with the rapid shifts of visual attention from one object or position in my visual field to another. I saw no men, horses, or other objects. ' ' 15. Observer B. [Same instructions.] "As the selection was being read I was first aware of the stillness and the peace portrayed by the situation. This awareness consisted, I think, of an interpretation from total absence of tactual, motor or auditory imagery. Then I became aware, in terms of sche- matic visual-motor imagery, of the foothills near me. While I did not see the hills in this imagery, this awareness consisted of vague shadow-like lines with no visual setting, which shot hither and thither through space before me, and which were accompanied by marked tendencies for my line of regard to fol- low them. Here I was distinctly conscious of kinaesthetic imagery of eye- movement with incipient motions in my eyes. There also occurred incipient tendencies to follow these shifting lines with movements of my head. I then had a diffuse tactual image of coolness upon my face. Then I was aware of a peculiar complex which I interpret as a consciousness of romantic grandeur, depicted by the passage. This consisted of tendencies to breath more slowly and deeply, of a peculiar tenseness about the region of my diaphragm, to- gether with tactual imagery of the warmth of the sun upon my face and back and faint pressure imagery of a breeze blowing against my face. These ex- periences gave way to a wealth of tactual and motor imagery of riding a horse across the plains and over the hills. I had very persistent and clear kinaesthetic imagery together with incipient bodily swaying movements of balancing myself in the saddle as the horse seemed to bound up a steep grade or now across a rough section on level ground. Then T would become momen- tarily absorbed in kinaesthetic imagery of rough jolts from a sudilen change in the horse's stride or from an unsually long jump across, perhaps, a stream. There then aj>peared a wealth of tactual and kinaesthetic imagery of shifting my position in the saddle; auditor^' imagery of the crackling of dry grass beneath the horse's feet; incipient tensions in my legs as if I were pressing my feet against the stirrups; then I would have tactual and kinaesthetic imagery of suddenly pulling upon the reins, localized in my hands, arms and shoulders. Also I had tactual and motor imagery of the rhythmic bodily move- ments of trotting, of galloping, and of walking. Then 1 had tactual imagery of my shirt as if it were being blown tightly against my body by the wind; then came auditory imagery of the panting of the horse; auditory imagery of the !-piasliing of its feet as we passeil over boggy places; then, later. I had tactual imagery, localized at the bottoms of my feet, of stepping upon prickly pears, with cutaneous and gustatory imagery of handling and tasting the cactus. All of these experiences were intermingled with a wealth of affective [21] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject and organic states consisting of circulatory, respiratory and other muscular changes. These latter processes seemed to constitute an awareness of the expansive openness about me. In no instance, beyond the faint suggestion at first, did I have any sign of visual imagery." The following introspection from observer A is here introduced in order to show the influence of tactual and motor processes in his imagery of objects recently handled. [Instructions: Visualize the rifle which I showed you the early part of the morning. Then give me a detailed introspection on the imagery involved.] 16. Observer A. "As soon as the experimenter said 'rifle' I was aware of visual imagery of that section of the rifle which surrounds the hammer, the breech and the trigger, also back along the grip of the rifle as far as the peep-sight and ahead on the rifle as far as the opening from which the cart- ridge is extracted by an automatic device. This imagery was localized in the xlirection of my knees as if the visualized object were resting across them, with the barrel pointing to the left. Then my attention flitted momentarily to the under side of the rifle where I visualized the hole and spring-shutter through which one fills the chamber. This visual imagery was more stable although, I think, no clearer than visual imagery which I have described in previous sittings. I saw at one glance the two blocks at the lock in the breech, the hammer, part of the iron ring beneath the trigger and the trigger itself. Then there appeared, as this imagery persisted, tactual and motor imagery of placing my finger through the lever behind the trigger and my thumb upon the hammer; in this latter imagery the feature which stood out most promin- ently was the quality of strain involved in pressing the hammer back and down, with my thumb, as if in the act of cocking the rifle. This quality was localized both in my thumb and wrist. But no sooner was I aware of this motor im- agery when I found my attention shifting from kinaesthetic qualities to visual associates which always accompany my kinaesthetic imagery. These latter consisted of black streaks and areas localized in my finger and thumb, also in my wrist, representing the muscular strain. Then this visual imagery changed to further visualizations of my finger and thumb in their positions as just described and here it was the musculature itself and not the synaesthe- tic process which was present in terms of visual processes. The portion of the barrel which I first saw was colored the quality of blue steel ; the hammer was somewhat the same color but lighter while the tip of the peep-sight was almost white. I did not visualize the wood-stock and at no time did I have tactual imagery of the coldness of the metal or of pressure from gripping the rifle. (This visual imagery differs from my imagery of objects which I have not handled recently in that it is not broken up into disconnected sections or patches as is true of the former where kinaesthetic processes are lacking. This observation confirms many others which I have made in the past.) " t?. Summary of iyitrospective data on visual imagery. Observer A. Under the instructions to visualize various situa- tions or objects, observer A readily experienced combinations and successions of visual imagery to the exclusion of practically every other type of imagery with the exception of the kinaesthetic. This visual imagery was invariably rich in color or brightness qualities but lacked other details such as definiteness of outline and quantity of items visualized. As far as color and brightness were concerned r22i The Syn^esthesia of a Blind Subject his visual imagery seemed to possess such persistence and clear- ness as characterize similar imagery in a good visualizer. On the other hand A's visual imagery tended to be photographic; and where large objects were visualized, or where extensive scenes were imagined, hills, deserts, plains, rivers, rocks, trees and the like appeared "washed" with color. The shapes and outlines of objects were suggested by variations in quality or shade of color and brightness rather than by edges or lines. Another prominent feature of A's visual imagery consisted of its patchy or disconnected character. Images, varied in number and in the objects which they represented, appeared in conscious- ness either in groups or in rapid successions but in either case this imagery tended to be discontinuous and to be separated by areas of a dark grey neutral background. For example A described visual imagery of rose-buds, ferns, a box, various parts of the human face or figure, various portions of a landscape, but each detail or each individual object tended to be separated from its neighbor by an indistinct and almost indescribable "space" or by an area of greyish visual setting. In the same fashion successions of visual imagery were broken up by short intervals in which A was conscious either of this grey visual setting or of other types of imagery such as tactual and kinaesthetic. One visual image or short succession of visual images would vanish before the succeeding group of visual images would appear, the reagent 's attention mean- while being occupied by other imagery, chiefly this visual setting. This state of affairs is not different, perhaps, from the behavior of visual imagery in a sighted person. For when one experiences successions of visual processes either sensory or imaginal he will undoubtedly discover that when one visual image fades away be- fore the next image appears, his attention, in the interim, may be occupied by a "blackness" of indefinitely^ visualized space. There are instances, however, when observer A is able to ex- perience long trains of visual images in which one image merges without a break into its successor. Such instances, however, are rare except when synaesthetic phenomena are functioning, or when visual imagery constitutes a temporary schema or form, resembling, in character, a number form. Again, in case tactual or kinaes- thetic processes accompany the visual imagery, the latter become less patchy and more persistent or stable. These facts are siguifi- [23 1 The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject cant in connection with the functioning of synaesthetic phenomena for the reason that they demonstrate the striking difference be- tween the behavior of visual imagery of objects or scenes as such and the behavior of that visual imagery which functions in A's synaesthetic processes. The latter are differentiated from the former, as we shall observe later, by greater persistence, stability, by a stereotyped character which is not found in "normal" visual imagery, and by their peculiar functioning in the development of meaning. S3'naesthetic phenomena appeared in connection with A's visual imagery of a person whom he had not met for several years, in connection with kinaesthetic imagery of handling a rifle and in connection with visual imagery of printed words or letters. It is of striking significance that the patchy visual imagery of professor O's ears, forehead, chin, and clothes (see introspection 6) was colored by the same yellow which is always aroused when pro- fessor O's voice is heard. In the winter of 1914 observer A heard his voice for the first time and it at once assumed this peculiar yellowish-buff color. Auditory imagery of his voice and visual imagery of liiin at once took on this same quality of yellov.'. In the winter of 1917 this color was described by observer A as a faded orange-yellow ; during the winter of 1919 this color was described as a light brownish yellow and at the present writing this color is a "washed-out yellowish tan." Every form of imagery pertaining to professor is affected by this synaesthesia and the imagery itself, if wholly visual, is colored by this yellow. Auditory imagery of professor O's footsteps are invariably yellow; if A is thinking of a book which lias written either the visual imagery of the book itself or the background on which the book is visualized takes on this same quality of yellow. Observer A has a century form which he constantly uses in connection with historical dates or epochs. A certain section of this century form, representing a period of time extending from the year 55 B. C. to the Saxon period in English history, turned yellow as a result of A's having studied English history under this professor. Previous to taking this his- tory course with professor the section in A's century form, just referred to, was white. In like manner all memory imagery having to do with courses taken under professor is affected by this same [24 1 The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject yellow. The following quotation from observer A's recall of cer- tain facts concerning Gregory, a missionary' to England, illustrates the point in question. 16. Observer A. "(If I were asked about Gregory, a certain missionary to England, and about his nationality and the time during which he visited England, my synaesthetic imagery would function as follows:) There first appears, in response to the verbal image of 'Gregory' a black splotch in thQ center of my field of vision; this blackness means 'Gregory,' while sur- rounding this black splotch there appears a band of yellow which means that I studied about Gregory in a course under professor 0. The black informs me that the person represented is not only Gregory but that this person was either a Roman or an Italian. The yellow has come to mean, also, that Gregory is associated with England during the Saxon period. Thus, in order to place Grego;-y in the Saxon period of English history it is only necessary for me to call up my century form whereupon the black splotch which means 'Gregory* at once assumes a position in the form corresponding to a date falling some- where in the middle of the eight centurj'. On both sides of the black splotch there remains the yellow of professor 0. (This is a fair test of the functioning of my 'professor-O. -yellow' for I have not studied or reviewed my English history ror several months. What I can remember about Gregory is entirely represented in the behavior of the colors as described.) " In the second instance that of visual imagery of letters we find a similar state of affairs. For example, the visual image of "t" appeared in the form of a printed "t" but its shape or form was indistinct. The distinct feature of the "t" was its reddish- brown color, and it was upon this color which observer A's atten- tion was directed in the image. Similarly, the "h" lacked defi- niteness of shape or form but the important feature of the image consisted of its greyish brightness which very nearly blended with the visual setting upon which the "h" was projected. The shape and form of the "e" were also vaguely visualized but the light, dull white of the "e" stood out in focal attention. In 1917 A de- scribed the color of "t" as a dark chocolate brown; in 1919 this color was a dull brown ; in 1921 it was a reddish-bro>\ni. Slight variations in the v<'rbal descriptions of these colors may be traced to the use of different adjectives in successive introspections and the actual coloi*s themselves nuiy vary, slightly, when the letter occurs in various associative settings. The significant feature of A's visual imagery of letters, however, is the fact that in each letter this colored imagery is present, no nmtter what its setting happens to be, or no matter under what conditions the letters are visualized as long as the letters retain their individuality, /. e., their indi- vidual meaning. Introspection number 10 (pioted above is thor- [25 1 The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject oughly typical as a demonstration of synaesthetic imagery in con- nection with letters. In the third example of synaesthetic imagery which we found in A's introspections quoted above, it was kinaesthetic imagery which was associated with a degree of brightness and here the synaesthetic image was a deep black. A mass of introspective data definitely showed that the intensity of the black was proportional to the intensity attribute of the kinaesthetic image and that the size or area of the blackness was proportional to the amount of musculature involved in the kinaesthetic image. This peculiar black is typical of all of A's kinaesthetic processes whenever and wherever they occur. Observer B. In contrast to the vast amount of visual imagery in observer A, B has very little imagery of this type. The few visual images which B was able to recall were exceedingly vague, fleeting and schematic. Imagery of color was limited largely to the greens with only a rare appearance of other hues. Brightness qualities far outnumbered color qualities. B 's visual imagery, also, was exceedingly patchy and disconnected and was invariably sup- plemented or "filled out" by tactual and motor processes. Once a flashy visual image appeared it seemed to melt away or dissolve into a tactual and kinaesthetic setting. B found it impossible to control this fleeting imagery other than by resorting to cutaneous or motor cues and even under these conditions he could rarely succeed in reviving a visual image after it had once run its course. One striking feature of his visual imagery consisted of its shadow- like nature together with its lack of definite limits or boundaries. Another consisted of its appearance in space in the absence of a visual setting. It was projected in space but around the image was "nothing" the "nothingness" which a sighted person has great difficulty in understanding. It is the visual "nothingness" the significance of which one can imagine, perhaps, by contemplat- ing upon what he cannot see "back of his head." But B's visual imagery did not appear in an entirely negative setting for tactual or kinaestlietic imagery took the place of the extended visual field of a sighted subject and of our other blind reagent. A third prominent feature of B's visual imagery consisted of its confine- ment to visual-kinaesthetic schemata. Much of B's awareness of space consists of these visual-motor schemata in which extendedness [26 1 The Synaesthesm of a Blind Subject or movement is simultaneously "seen" and "felt" in imaginal terms. But these spacial schemata very seldom include visualized objects. Hi. Visual imagery of A and B compared. 1. A's visual imagery is characterized by a wealth of color and varying degrees of brightness. B's imagery is confined very largely to brightness qualities alone. 2. A's visual imagery far exceeds B's in stability, persistence and complexity of behavior. 3. A possesses a remarkable control of visual imagery. B has almost no control of his visual images. 4. A's visual imagery appears in visual settings. B's appears in tactual and kinaesthetic settings. 5. Visual imagery is nearly always ushered into consciousness in B's case by vocal-motor, tactual or by kinaesthetic imagery. In A's case visual imagery itself may function as the stimulus or cue by which further visual imagery is aroused. 6. A's visual attention is confined to changes in hues, l)right- ness, position of the image, or to shifts in size, shape and distance of projection and does not involve definite changes in clearly visu- alized outlines, edges, limits and similar differentia. B's visual attention is dependent upon the effectiveness of tactual and motor cues in producing changes in size, shape, hue or brightness. 7. The visual imagery of both reagents lacks minuteness or nicety of detai.l While A's visual imagery has remained rich in brightness and color (pialities, owing perhaps to his entoptic phe- noitionon, lines and l)rightness (pialities take the place of definitized outlines, limits or boundaries. In this respect A's visual imagery varies from that of a good visualizer. A's visual imagery differs from most sighted persons' and also from li's visual imagery in that it yiossosses a synaostlietic function. Definiteness of form and outline in li's visual imagery is provided for by tactual and kinaesthetic processes. 8. Hoth reagents agree that their visual imagery is more stable or persistent and that it possesses greater continuity when sup- plemented by tactual or kinaesthetic processes. Both reagents also agree that visual iniag'ry of objects recently inspected or capable of being inspected tactual-motor fashion is far more stable [27 1 The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject and clear than visual imagery of objects which cannot be so in- spected. Whenever either reagent visualizes large objects or scenes those details stand out more clearly and persist longr which have been inspected through touch or movement. B is unable to ''see" any object which he cannot or has not touched. iv. The significance of A's synaesthetic imagery in processes of visualizing. In order to understand the significance of the synaesthetic phenomena which occur in A's visual imagery let us resort to an analogy. Suppose one were to attend to the muscular contractions of clenching his fist. If one is a habitual visualizer he will visually localize these muscular contractions in the fingers and wrist. Again, if one's attention is suddenly attracted to a strain in the throat that strain will be localized visually. The kinaesthetic and visual elements may be simultaneously present to consciousness or at least very nearly so. In other words, part of the actual aware- ness of muscular strain will consist of a visual process. In other individuals who do not habitually visualize these motor processes it is conceivable that other factors such as verbal imagery or added motor phenomena such as head or eye-movement may be involved in the localization of muscular strain in the throat or wrist. The presence of these added processes whether or not they be visual facilitates the definite localization of the muscular strain in ques- tion. These supplementary processes function in the act of per- ceiving the strain. Without them it would be difficult to compre- hend how the strain in question could be consciously localized at all. Again, let us examine the process of perceiving a distant loco- motive whistle. One tends to turn his eyes or head slightly in the direction of the sound ; perhaps he visualizes the distant source of the sound or characterizes the sound vocal-motor fashion. Also he may tend to analyze the muffled quality, or he may detect an echo, or he may note the greater definiteness of the sound as heard by one ear rather than the other, all of which supplementary pro- cesses contribute to his perception of the sound. Returning to observer A, a mass of introspective material dem- onstrates beyond any possibility of doubt that A can no more "image" an arm-movement without seeing "black," or visualize a "t" without seeing reddish-brown, or visualize professor with- [28] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject out that peculiar quality of light yellowish tan, than can an asynaes- thetic individual become conscious of the direction from which a sound appears unless he tends to resort to such supplementary processes as visual, motor, verbal or other imagery. A's synaes- thetic imagery functions exactly as those supplementary processes function it is an integral part of the perceptual or conceptual process. So far as A's synaesthetic processes have thus been de- scribed they apjiear not as a new group or genus of mental activi- ties but as a new species of an old and familiar genus a species of meaning. For A the appearance of a light reddish-brown in response to the letter "t" means "t". The particular yellowish- tan aroused by a professor-0-stimulus means professor and without this color observer A would be visualizing not professor but an unrecognized or unidentified person. In a similar fashion, black, projected in the musculature while muscles are contracting, means "muscular" sensation and identifies that experience as a kinaesthetic one rather than as a tactual or an auditory experience. As a result, the original kinaesthetic quality of the experience tends to be ignored so far as the behavior of A's attention is con- cerned. The significance of synaesthetic processes in A's case at least is far too great to be dismissed here with but one analogy. If an asynaesthetic individual were asked to visualize a person whom he had not seen for years he would find that his visual attention would be claimed first, perhaps, by a face in which certain features stood out more prominently than others. One of these features might be a peculiar color of skin, a mole, a nuistache of certain shape, a certain degree of l)aldness, a characteristic wrinkle, or a combination of features. Together with this visual imagery there perhaps appears verbal imagery pertaining to past events in which this particular visualized person figured ; or there is aroused an organic and motor complex which characterizes this visualizei)eared the first had vanished entirely; the timbre was, as such, imlistinguishable form the dark, reddish brown color which always identifies his voice. The imagery seemed to be 'pinched'; he was speaking as if he were hurried or slightly embarrassed; on attending closely to the visual (jualities of his voice I was able to obtain more definite auditory imagery; tlie enunciation becanu- nu)re distinct: the (juality was less nuillletl; and his speech m'cuumI to take on the (juality of his lecture voice as I have heard him from a distance of Itn or 40 feet. 1 was tiien ;iware of visual imagery of his teeth but I s;iw nothing of his facial features, of his clothes or of his general appearance. Onring :ill of this time I was dimly aware of tiie persisting strains in my throat from inhibiting my own verb:d imagery. The dark redilish brow?i synaesthetic imagery i)ersisted througlmnt and it was by means of this latter imagery that I was ai>le to describe the auditory <|ualities of his voice. Hctth auditory ami visu:il (pialities were present to consciousness but the visual ipKilities were invjiriably the claimants of my attention. When I attempted to aiuilyse the auditory (pialities as such I found th;it f was .-ilways resr)rting to features of my visual inuigery." 18. Obsrrrer B.. Sanu' instructions. " I could readily obtain distinct and ]>ersisting auditory im.'igery of the statement just tjuoted in terms of Nfr..!/ '.s voice. The cpiality was good; each f(>ature of the imag<'ry was clear and rich in detail. I detected the liipiid suavity which is strikingly characteristic of Mr. M 's voice; I n:iticed characteristic pauses between each of his words [31 I The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject and even heard him utter his peculiar *ah' sound between the phrase 'fifty-one' and the word 'take'. Articulation in my auditory imagery was characterized by marked definiteness; the pitch stood out with equal clearness. While this imagery was presenting itself I tended to imitate his voice in vocal-motor fashion, emphasizing the words as I imagined Mr. M emphasizing them. So clear was the imagery and so qualitatively perfect that I at once found myself saying in vocal-motor imagery: 'that is certainly Mr. M. all right'." [Instructions: Recall some familiar tune. Can you hear yourself singing it? Can you hear it played upon the piano? Can you hear it played on the violin? Can you hear a chorus singing it?] 19. Observer A. " For a considerable length of time I tried to select a tune which I could hear in terms of auditory imagery but was entirely un- successful. Finally I thought of 'Yankee Doodle' and centered my attention upon it. The quality of my auditory imagery was very poor and indistinct and was confused with vocal-motor tendencies which latter were exceedingly strong. What little quality of tone was present seemed to be hoarse and muffled with only a faint suggestion now and then of the timbre of my voice. I was able to recall imagery of only the first few measures of the tune. Then the auditory imagery vanished and I found myself attending to a strained condition in my throat as if I were still trying to innervate the notes. Together with this auditory imagery of my own voice I was distinctly conscious of the color quali- ties which always accompany my own voice when I actually speak as well as when I have auditory imagery of my voice; I was also aware of spots of visual 'brightness' which represented the notes I was endeavoring to sing. I noticed, further, that my auditory imagery was slow, labored and 'dragged out' and that the colors brightened with rises in pitch and darkened with lowerings in pitch; in fact differences between one note and another were marked off much more by vocal-motor imagery and by changes in these colors than by variations in the aiiditory qualities themselves. The colors lingered after the auditory imagery itself disappeared but along with these persisting colors I was aware of persisting vocal-motor efforts of preparing to make musical sounds. The color of the imagery was a thick, smoky blue which appeared in small, cloud-like forms. When my imagery changed pitch these cloud-like forms not only brightened or darkened but tended to roll upward for higher pitches and downward for the lower notes. So closely was the visual imagery associated with the auditory that I could hardly tell the one from the other. When I thought that I was describing actual sound qualities I discovered that I was describing qualities or behavior of the visual accompaniment. Yet I was able to tell when the auditory processes themselves dropped out because of a dulling and shrinking of the visual processes themselves. After considerable effort I found it utterly impossible to imagine Yankee Doodle played on the piano or violin. It was equally impossible for me to hear voices singing this tune. " 20. Observer B. Same instructions. "(I recalled the tune of 'A Heart Bowed Down.') I could hear myself singing this tune with a rather satis- factory degree of clearness but noted that, throughout, vocal-motor tendencies were very strong. While my auditory processes were clear and presistent, they were characterized by a 'deadness' or lack of richness of quality; the timbre was shallow and lacked resonance. I could not imagine the tune played on a piano but had definite auditorj' imagery of a violin playing the melody. Here the imagery was clear, intense, persistent and of good quality. I distinctly heard the stringy or twangy quality of the tones; also the rich, smooth, mel- lowness of a good instrument. Nevertheless the quality seemed to lack 'point', which, I believe, must be inability to detect the finer features of a violin tone in terms of imagery, alone. (I persume that I am comparing the quality of my auditory imagery with the quality of auditory perceptions of violin tones when I characterize the quality of my auditory imagery as lacking in 'point'.) Along with this latter auditory imagery I had very clear and definitely localized [32] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject kinaesthetic imagery of playing a violin, together with a very fleeting and schematic visual, shadow-like image of the movements of an unseen bow across a vaguely localized spot where the strings might have been. The shadow appeared in space but had no visual setting whatever. Its setting was the motor imagery which I have just described." [Instructions: Recall auditory imagery of a chorus singing an oratorio or of an orchestra playing.] 21. Observer A. " I was unable to recall auditory imagery of a chonis but succeeded in obtaining sketchy auditory imagery of an orchestra playing the Overture from Poet and Peasant The first auditory imagery was that of a flute playing a succession of very rapid notes somewhat toward the latter half of the selection but at just what place I am unable to tell. I heard only a few of the very highest notes. For not more than three or four notes in succession there aj)peared the characteristic mellow, wood-like quality, intimately fused with tiny, blue, cloud-like forms, which latter rapidly piled upward and upon one another as the flute tones shifted upward in pitch. All of this imagery was exceedingly flashy and fleeting and gave way to similarly fleeting auditory- visual imagery of violin tones. Tlie violins were apparently playing the same notes as did the flutes, for the behavior of the visual forms was similar. I knew that my auditory imagery had changed from flutes to violins for the reason that my visual imagery changed from the tiny blue clouds of smoke which meant flute tones to mahogany-brown cloud-like forms for the \nolins. These colors also varied in brightness as the tones varied in pitch. Next I was aware of sketchy auditory imagery of horns playing at a much lower pitch and I saw the characteristic yellowish-grey splotches which mean horn tones. I found it impossible to begin at the beginning of the selection and to hear any consider- able part of it jilayed. In the absence of any auditory imagery at all, how- ever, I can obtain long and persisting successions of visual images varying colors and brightnesses which mean different portions of the selection. The quality of this imagery represents different qualities of tones, i. e., different musical instruments; the behavior of this imagery represents rapid runs, chords, varying pitches and the like. It is all so fast and complex that I can- not fix my attention upon any one group of images long enough to describe them in adequate detail. (This imagery, however, is definitely distinguishable from the colors and brightness of my visual, sensory field.) " [In order to ascertain whether this visual imagery was at all faithful in representing different portions of the overture, the experimenter subsequently played the overture to observer A on the piano. Since A 's imagery stood for orchestral rather than for jtiano tones, the ])iano tones changed the quality of A 's memory images of the selection. Nevertheless A was able to recognize the outstanding features of the overture in terms of recurrences in this character- istic behavior of his visual synaesthetic processes. The i)iano rendition stim- ulated shiftings in visual imagery, and peculiar successions or flights of visual forms just as had an orchestral rendition done in the past. A repeatetUy de- tected similarities between the behavior of his visual forms during the piano rendition and the behavior of tliese forms (altliough dilTerently ccdoreil") in the auditory recall of the orcliesfral reiulition. Moreover, the detached visual imagery, described in intros|tection 21, was recognized so far as its behavior was concerned during the liearing of the seh'ction on tlie ])iano. There is no doubt, therefore, that synaesthetic imagery, detached from its parent processes, may be as faithful to the original selection as is the auditory imagery itself, in an asynaesthetic subject. .Added evidence fo this fact may be found in the circumstance that ol)server A recognized in terms of behavior of synaes- thetic imagery certain sections of the overture which he was unable to revive during tlie voluntary recall.] 22. Ohsrrvtr 7?. Same instructions. " T recalled auditory imagery of a chorus singing Mozart's 'Twelfth Mass'. There first apeared very clear and beautifully toned imagerv of the opening bars. The voices were well blended, [ 33 ] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject the tenors, however, ilominating. Along with this auditory imagery I found myself tending to join in the singing in terms of auditory-vocal-motor imagery of my own voice. The quality of pitch stood out clearly in the auditory imagery of the voices; each voice seemed to be directly on the pitch and the tones were well rounded, full and resonant. After the first few bars all voices dropped out except the tenors whom I heard singing for several additional measures. Then I was aware of intensive muscular contractions about the chest as if I were be- ginning to take a very deep breath; I had a peculiar tenseness in the region of my diaphragm, a widely diffused feeling of exhilaration which consisted of ten- dencies to sit more erectly in my chair and to sway my head and the upper part of my body to the rhythm of the music. There was also a contracted con- dition of the shoulders, arms, back and throat as my whole bodily attitude be. came tense. Thereupon there burst into consciousness loud and penetrating auditory imagery of the entire chorus singing ' Glorious ' ; at this juncture I was dimly aware of inhibited breathing; of marked pleasantness, coincident with tendencies to smile. (These latter experiences I interpreted as a con- sciousness of the grandeur of the music.) " [Instructions: Rcall auditory imagery of a locomotive whistle.] 23. Observer A. " I can obtain no auditory imagery of the whistle. Instead there appeared very vivid visual imagery, first, of a floating cloud of beeswax- yellow which represented a certain freight whistle I have often heard. There then appeared a blue and grey mixture which stood for a passenger whistle. Each was labeled in terms of auditory-vocal -motor imagery. In neither in- stance, however, could I obtain any auditory qualities whatever." 24. Observer B. Same instructions. "I at once had a very clear and in- tense auditory image of a locomotive whistle; the sound was loud and shrill but persisted for only a short time, together with the quality, which was harsh and piercing. I was conscious of a distinct feeling of unpleasantness. This latter consisted of tenseness about the chest muscles, of tendencies to frown and of an expansion somewhere in the region of the abdomen which I think were concerned with tendencies to breathe more rapidly. I also noticed a tightening about the jaws. All of this was accompanied by a clear but sketchy auditory- vocal-motor: 'Gee, that's loud!' (I reacted to the auditory imagery just as I would have reacted to an actual whistle but with a lesser degree of in- tensity.)" n. Summary of introspective data on auditory imagery. Observer A. Notwithstanding the fact that observer A is blind and that we might therefore expect his auditory imagery to have been developed by means of constant use in every day life we find on the contrary that this type of imagery is exceedingly fleeting, vague, sketchy and meager as regards detail. A is unable to recall in auditory terms many sounds and noises which are perfectly familiar when perceived. Because of its vagueness of timbre and pitch, its brief duration in consciousness and dearth of detail, auditory imagery is subject to only slight voluntary control. This control is secured very largely by means of detached visual synaes- thetic images which suggest their parent auditory qualities and at times by means of vocal-motor processes. Very rarely will one auditory complex, itself, suggest another. [34] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject The Aufgahe to recall auditory imagery and subsequently to describe it resulted, in this experiment, in an attempt to isolate the qualities and pitches of the imagined sounds from their visual accompaniments but inevitably the visual process which accom- panies every auditory image claimed the focus of A's attention. It turned out that efforts to attend to the auditory qualities them- selves resulted in a diminishing of the clearness of the visual ac- companiments, and in such instances A's attention shifted to the muscular elements of attending rather than to the auditory quali- ties per SB. Thus it seems that in attending to sounds as such (and the same is true of attempts to attend to any sensory process other than the visual ) one of two things inevitably results : either the effort is shunted into motor channels or the effort results in a shift to the visual accompaniment. If the effort results in a dominance of muscular features the visual features of the experi- ence at once tend to fade. Consequently at times in A's intro- spections there appears not only a meager description of the audi- tory qualities but also of the visual. We believe that the reason for this is to be found in the fact that observer A can describe auditory qualities only in terms of visual qualities and hence, when the latter are non-focal, it is impossible to identify the auditory qualities themselves. In this fashion efforts to isolate the auditory qualities as such render it difficult to observe the accompanying visual imagery. The effort thus defeats itself. The colors which are associated with auditory imagery are in- variably identical with those colors which accompany corresponding auditory perceptions. The former colors, however, may be less vivid, more fleeting, less saturated or less bright than the colors which accompany the analogous perceptual processes. Obviously this state of affairs is due to the fact that auditory images are less stable and are ordinarily, in themselves, less clear and definite as regards qualitative detail than are the corresponding perceptual experiences. On the otlier hand his introspections on auditory imagery have shown that the visual aecompaniments may become detached from their parent processes, the auditory images, and may appear alone in prolonged trains or successions. In this fashion there may appear in A 's consciousness successions of colors or de- grees of brightness which stand for remembrances of successions or of combinations of tones. This state of affairs is most likely to [35 1 The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject occur as a result of an Aufgabe to recall auditory imagery which has apparently decayed beyond the possibility of easy arousal, and phows tha^ the visual associates of auditory images appear more readily than do the auditory images themselves. A frequently ex- periences this situation in every day life, particularly in trying to recall names of persons. The color which symbolizes a certain name may appear detached from its parent process and no amount of effort will result in recalling the name itself. Observer B. Auditory imagery plays a very important role in ^11 of B's higher mental processes, although, as we shall discover later, it is less important than cutaneous or kinaesthetic imagery. Prominent features of his auditory imagery consist of its clearness, intensity, wealth of qualitative detail, wideness of range and va- riety, readiness of voluntary control, but of relative lack of per- sistence and lack of exact faithfulness to the delicate qualitative features of his auditory perceptions. As in the case of his visual imagery B finds himself tending to translate auditory imagery into kinaesthetic processes. If it is his own voice or another per- son's voice, a tune or melody played upon a musical instrument which is the subject matter of this auditory imagery, kinaesthetic processes invariably constitute a setting or background, and here this setting is usually vocal-motor or manual-motor imagery. For example, while B was experiencing auditory imagery of a violin he was aware of manual-motor imagery of playing the instrument. in. Auditory imagery of A and B compared. 1. B's auditory imagery far exceeds A's in all matters of at- tribute and behavior. 2. In contrast to B's kinaesthetic background, A's settings for auditory imagery are largely visual with now and then a vocal- motor accompaniment. 3. Both observers agreed that auditory imagery was more stable when accompanied by other forms of imagery. Moreover, the presence of a background or setting was definitely correlated, in both observers, with wealth of quality and variety of range in the auditory imagery. 4. Both reagents resorted to other types of imagery other than the auditory in a voluntary attempt to control the auditory [36 1 The 8ynaesihesia of a Blind Subject images themselves. Both reagents had recourse to vocal-motor imagery but in A's case this method proved to be a disadvantage for the reason that it resulted in arousing extra visual imagery which dominated consciousness to the exclusion of the desired audi- tory-visual imagery. 5. ^ is synaesthetic with respect to auditory imagery. B is not. iv. Significance of A's synaesthetic processes in the fiel4 of audi- tory imagery. The following considerations point to the similarity of synaes- thetic phenomena and synaesthesia proper in the field of audition. In both instances the behavior and properties of the associated visual image depend upon the behavior and properties of the parent proc.ess as long as the latter is present in consciousness; in both instances the associated image appears to have the same function Q|r v^ue that of identifying the parent process. (This observa- tion we have made only in a general way so far. It remain^ to be determined whether this fact is invariably true.) On the other hand we have found a singular difference between synaesthetic phenomena and synaesthesia proper. In the latter the associated image seldom appears in the absence of the primary process while in the former the associated image may frequently appear without the primary image to which it is normally attached. Wlienever the associated image thus appears detached and alone it symbolizes or stands for the primary image which is lacking. It is evident that in the synaesthetic phenomena of A's field of audition the implied qualities and behavior of auditory images are described and identified in terms of their accompanying visual images, and that when A wishes to attend to auditory qualities as such he can do so only by way of a visual "route." This, in our estimation, can signify only one tiling, namely, that the act of be- coming conscious of auditory ([ualities in A's case demands a visual image. This means that in order to "ognize" an auditory image for that is what is iinpliod by b(M'oniii;g conscious of an auditory image as sucli a certain behavior of attention is necessary or a certain and very greatly attenuated process of recognizing is im- plied. In the process of recalling definite and particular auditory images the asynaesthetic subject evidently uses "old" auditory imagery itself or else secondary factors, such as are involved in the act of perceiving a sound. Our synaesthetic subject employs [37] / r (^ ('i o The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject visual imagery instead. But this is not an extraneous or unneces- sary habit which observer A has developed. It so happens that A cannot become conscious of an auditory image in the absence of its identifyer, the visual image, any more than can an asynaesthetic person become aware of a flute tone, for example, either without a definite standing-out of a characteristic woody or punky, hollow- like quality or without some secondary criterion such as visual imagery of a flute, someone playing a flute, or such as the verbal image, "flute." A's visual synaesthetic images are criteria of his auditory images. They are not vicarious processes. A is able to visualize a flute; he can say the word "flute." He has auditory imagery of flutes. The problem is simply this : an asynaesthetic person must have other processes aside from a bare, raw, or isolated and indescribable quality of tone before that tone, even in terms of imagery, can become a flute tone. A's mental life offers no ex- ception to this general rule. A's synaesthetic images, so-called, constitute these other processes. In other words his visual associ- ates of auditory images lend meaning to the auditory imagery itself. c. Tactual imagery. (Series 1 continued.) i. Typical introspective data. [Instructions: Recall tactual imagery of roses lying in a box and backed by ferns.] 25. Observer A. "As the experimenter said 'roses' I was aware of mom- entary tactual imagery of the feel of the buds, localized at the tips of my fingers and in the palm of my right hand; no sooner had this imagery appeared, however, when my attention shifted very suddenly to a group of tiny blocks of faint light. This latter imagery was not visual imagery of the rose buds themselves but consisted of visual synaesthetic processes which always accom- pany this quality of pressure. I then revived this tactual imagery, the exact details of which I had not observed previously, and detected the spongy-like softness of the sides of the buds, and this imagery, like the first, was not only localized at my finger tips and palm but was accompanied by and tended to shift into visual imagery. In every instance the visual synaesthetic pro- cesses persisted longer than did the tactual qualities. Then, as the experi- menter said 'ferns' I had fleeting tactual imagery of ferns pressing against the ends of my fingers, together with imagery of coldness; the coldness quality dominated and at once the entire experience developed into a visualized, syn- aesthetic cold. As before my attention shifted in the direction of visual from the tactual processes. I was then aware of the closer edge of a box, in terms, first of tactual imagery localized on the under side of my wrist as if the box were pressing against my wrist while my hand might have been extended ov^r into the box itself. Again this imagery at once turned to visual imagery. Then there returned tactual imagery of ferns localized on the inside of my thumb and index finger as if I were holding a fern in my hand, but at this juncture the tactual imagery, the qualities of which at no time stood out focally in con- sciousness, as such, suddenly gave way to visual imagery of tiny bars of light; these resembled in brightness and in behavior the sparkles from a large diamond and meant to me the roughness of the tactual imagery. I forgot to mention [38] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject that the color which appeared in connection with the image of coldness was the usual bright silvery light which always means coldness. It was coldness which dominated in the first tactual imagery of the ferns; now it was the roughness of the ferns. All during this time I was dimly conscious of persisting colored, forms, characteristic of the experimenter's voice; these colors were suspended in space In the left margin of my visual field the region nearest the experi- menter. I should have mentioned also that the dim white light associated with the pressure of the rosebuds was localized at my fingertips and palm, as was the tactual imagery itself; the tiny bars of light which appeared in con- nection with the roughness of the ferns and the white silvery area which ap- peared in connection with the coldness of the ferns were likewise localized on my right hand. The size of the visual image corresponded to the area of the tactual image in each case. The tactual imagery appeared suddenly throughout, as if momentarily suggested by the experimenter's words; but it disappeared equally as suddenly. At no time was I conscious of kinaesthetic imagery of handling the buds or of such imagery as picking up the box or its contents. Neither did I have tactual imagery of the tips of the buds or of the prick or sharp pressure of the thorns. This imagery I can recall, now, but I was not aware of it immediately following your instructions." [Further instructions: You mentioned seeing the colors which stood for the experimenter's voice. Can you describe the behavior of your attention with respect to these colors?] 26. Observer A. "During the experiment just performed I at no time at- tended strictly to the qualities of the experimenter's voice as he read the instruc- tions. My attention was centered upon the meaning of the words as it seemed to issue from the resulting imagery which at once appeared and which I have just described in the preceding introspection. Rather than being aware, non- f ocally, of the sounds of the experimenter 's voice, I was nonf ocally conscious of the accompanying colors. The colors and not the sounds were in the 'back- ground' of my consciousness while I was experiencing the tactual-visual im- agery. (Perhaps I can make this clear by an analogy. Suppose you were looking down into a valley, but with your attention focussed upon a house in the foreground. You would then be aware only non-focally of the hills in the background. In similar fashion visual imagery of the experimenter's voice was present but was in the margin of attention as well as in the margin of my vis- ual field and it was not attended to, focally, at any time during the experiment. It lacked definitenoss and I noticed no details in the imagery; I was aware only of its general features and of its presence. The fact which I noted about the experience consisted of the relative position of the imagery in my visual field and that this position was in a direction toward the experimenter himself." [Further instructions: Can you describe the behavior of your attention with respect to the presence together in consciousness of your tactual and visual imagery of the rose buds and fernsf] 27. Observer A. " One instant I was awaro of tactual qualities but in this awareness there stands out no definite or detaih'(l item or characteristic of that quality. It is merely inferred tactual quality. The tactual imagery persists in this vague, undifferentiated fashion only long enough for my attention to shift to visunl qualities. Thus tlie shift of attention, in this case, was almost instan- taneous, but not quite; (I am doing this now, as I introspect) I am able to concentrate attention upon an effort to prolong this tactual imagery in which case I find that my method has consisted of resorting to kinaesthetic processes of handling the buds and ferns. But no sooner does this kinaesthetic imagery apjiear when my attention is i-iaiiiu'tl by the visual associates of the kinaesthetic imagery. (Suppose, for example, that I am making the movement of inspecting the heel of my shoe. I first obtain kinaesthetic imagery of reaching down toward my foot but the kinaesthetic quality at once gives way, during a rapid Bhift of attention, to the blackish streaks which accompany the motor imagery. [39] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject And if I attempt to single out the kinaesthetic quality as such or the tactual qualities as such, the visual associates become indistinct and tend to disappear altogether. I am able, I have often observed, to attend to both the primary and the secondary processes at the same time but only for the smallest fraction of a second and with the result that both processes tend to lose their identity. Unless I am prepared, by the proper Aufgabe, to attend to both, my attention always shifts at once toward the visual process the instant the primary process appears. Chronologicaly, then, the primary process, under the proper Aufgabe, does appear first, but so long as it persists it is vague, undifferentiated and absolutely impossible to describe other than by the term 'something.' "* 28. Observer B. Instructions as for introspection 25. " I was able at once to feel the softness of the petals, their smoothness, their fineness of texture, all of which features were localized, in tactual terms, at my finger tips. The im- agery was exceedingly clear and real; at times I almost thought that I was getting real sensations ; I was surprised at the vividness and persistence of this imagery and at its minuteness of detail; and this awareness, together with kin- aesthetic imagery of moving my fingers about over the buds, made it almost impossible for mo to keep my fingers still. Sliifting from one detail to another with no loss in vividness and with continued nicety of quality my attention went from the edges of the petals as they curl over, to the pairs of petals as one extended slightly beyond the other but remained very close to it, then to the masses of petals in the center of the bud. There then followed equally as vivid and detailed tactual imngory of the ferns, of the edges of the rose leaves, of the fiat surfaces of the leaves, and of the edges and smooth sides of the box. This latter imagery is of strikingly different quality, however, from my other tactual imagery. While I had, in tactual terms, the sharpness of the edge of the box and the glassiness or fine smoothness of the sides of the box, there is definitely present in this latter imagery a hardness which does not characterize my imagery of the biids and ferns. This quality of hardness does not seem to be entirely tactual, although I was not at the time distinctly aware of any other definite sensory qualities. I believe, however, that with this tactual imagery of the box there appeared, disguised as hardness, some kinaesthetic factors of re- sistance. The tactual imagery of the roses possessed the softness of silk; the smoothness of the ferns resembled the velvety smoothness of thick, heavy velour; the smoothness of the box suggested a glassy, almost slippery surface and was characterized by the firmness or resistance of a hard object. There was no setting in connection with this tactual imagery other than the kinaes- thetic imagery which I mentioned. But this latter was mingled throughout with the tactual." [Instructions: Obtain tactual imagery of the word "dog" written in American Braille.] 29. Observer A. "(I can readily construct this tactual imagery but not without recourse, first, to my visual kinaesthetic imagery of the letters 'd', 'o', and 'g. ' I have not used American Braille for two years.) Following my awareness of the instructions I found myself visualizing th letters of the word 'dog' in their appropriate colors. There first appeared vis- ual imagery of the 'd,' then of the 'g, ' followed by the 'o;' this imagery con- sisted of small areas of color localized off in space a short distance from me a bluish-grey-green for the 'd,' a dusty-grey-green for the 'g, ' and a dark, smudgy grey for the 'o.' (I believe that my attention shifted from the 'd' to the 'g, ' skipping the 'o' for the reason that the two colors are very similar.) After this imagery had once appeared it shifted its position to a region nearer *In certain introspections there exists an apparent confusion in terminology when observer A speaks of tactual, kinaesthetic, or auditory imafrery as if it were, as such, present to his consciousness. It has been necessary to retain this terminology for clear- ness in meaning, but it should be undei-stood that, throughout, the reagent refers to an undifferentiated and indescribable process as far as tactual or auditory qualities themselves are concerned. A consciousness of auditory cr tactual imagery is an interpretation de- pendent upon the functioning of the accompanying visual process. [40 1 The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject me as I began to have faint kinaesthetic imagery of moving mj finger upward along the surface of a piece of tag-board and over what might have been some imagined points. At this juncture the visual imagery began to shape itself into the general forms or figures which would be made by the arrangement of the points of the Braille letters 'd,' *o/ and 'g.' Even up to this time I was un- able to obtain tactual imagery of the Braille letters; the imagery so far con- stituted my efforts in this direction. I then had kinaesthetic imagerj' of moving my finger along an imagined (visual) tag-board toward these visualized forms whicli were now iirojectcd ui)on the yellow, visualized j)aper. I then momen- tarily became aware of tactual imagery of the 'd. ' This awareness did not consist of individual pressures from the points which constitute a Braille *d' but of a generalized awareness of their triangular spacial arrangement. Even this awarenes of a triangular shaped form is an interpretation largely from the fact that in this tactual image my attention is centered not upon the three sides of a triangle but upon the position in the spacial figures where a point is missing, which point, were it present, would form a square with the other three points. This tactual image was localized at the tip of my right fore-finger and was regular 'Braille' size; and for a moment, I believe, I was conscious of the more or less punctiform but yet blunt character of the imager}-, although at no time were the individual points recognized as such. At the moment my atten- tion was centered upon the missing point the tactual image, itself, involved spacial extent but this spacial feature was not present to consciousness as such but was interpreted in terms of a sudden and subsequent shift of attention to a visualization of this space in the form of a triangle. Through all of this the colored visual imagery which had previously meant to me that I was trying to obtain tactual imagery of the 'd' persisted and at this juncture of my proced- ure it was this visualized 'd' which assumed the triangular shape. My tactual images of the 'o' and of the 'g' wore less distinct for here the visual features of the experience claimed attention throughout; there were no shifts to tactual qualities as occurred in connection with the 'd'. In each case I had visual im- agery of these letters localized as was the visual imagery of the 'd'; the *g' was fairly definite with respect to color and localization; the points of the 'g' stood out as pane-like sections of light grey-green. What would correspond to the sash of this window-like figure consisted of tiny bands of neutral grey; the whole visual image was projected upon a neutral grey background. (By this time the yellow tag-board had disappeared.) My attention was then claimed by the visual imagery of the *o' which now deflnitized into a short oblique line, colored, and slanting in the direction of the points which form the Braille 'o.' The up]>t'r j)ortion of this oblique line, which corresponded to the upper point of the Braille letter, tended to take on the yellow of the tag-board, which now tended to become visualized ; the lower section of this oblique line was dark, simiiltry and almost I)lack my .synaesthesia for 'o'. Then T found my visual attention wandering from these letters to the visual background of neutral grey. All of the imagery which I have just described was very fleeting and appeared with lightning-like rapidity, although, throughout the entire exper- ience, the qualities or hues of the letters i)ersisted. ,\s my attention shifted (luring the latter ])art of the oxiterionce to the visual background, the individ- ual colors which stood for the letters disappeared and there was left only a vaguely visualized section of a piece of tag-board. The area thus occupied by the letters now contained only the yellowish-grey of the paper upon which I had been projecting the letters themselves." 30. Observer B. Same instructions. " As soon as I perceived the instruc- tions I at once had a mass of tactual and kinaesthetic imagery of the letters, of arm and finger movement and of the paper on which the points were punched. There first appeared tactual imagery of smooth tag-board together with kinaesthetic imagery of moving my finger from left to right along the surface of this paper as if I were about to approach a Braille letter. I was then conscious of very vivid and intense tactual imagery, blunt and yet limited [41] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject almost to a point, of the first dot of the letter 'd'; this image was localized rather at the side of my finger than at the very tip just as the actual sensation would have been perceived had I come upon the point with actual finger move- ment. This was immediately followed by equally as vivid and definitely local- ized tactual imagery of the remaining points of the 'd'. For a brief instant, in this latter imagery, the individual points did not stand out, but they soon became definitized and arranged in the characteristic grouping of the 'd. ' In the tactual image itself I found that my attention, however, was not focussed upon the pressure qualities nor upon the triangular shape of the spacial ar- rangement of points but upon that region in the figure where a fourth dot would be if the figure were a square. [Notice that Observer A reported the same experience in introspection 29.] There then occurred kinaesthetic imagery of moving my finger to the right in the direction of what would have been the next letter of the word 'dog' had I been obtaining the word in perceptual fashion. This was closely followed by tactual imagery first of the right hand point of the 'o' and secondly of both points; at this juncture the two points appeared in their proper spacial relations, forming an oblique line extending downward from left to right. Tactual imagery of the *g' followed immediately in similar fashion except that the behavior of my attention differed slightly. The imagery itself was as clear and as definitely localized as was the former im- agery, but as I had kinaesthetic imagery of moving toward the right I obtained tactual imagery of not one point alone, as before, but of two points, and these points appeared spacially grouped as they were being imagined. Here I was not aware of the pressure qualities as such but of the spacial grouping as such. That is, I imagined them as a bar, not as two points. Following immediately upon this and so rapidly that the two experiences were almost simultaneous, the bar thus imaged developed into a tactual square. Here, again, it was the spacial arrangement of the points and not the distinct and sejjarated points themselves which stood out in focal attention. Yet the entire imagery possessed as much clearness and definiteness of localization at the end of my finger as did the previous imagery in which the points stood out for a time as separate blunt- nesses. All of this happened very quickly and had no sooner taken place than I found myself tending toward incipient movements, localized in the arms and shoulders, of making large, sweeping motions as if I were about to draw en- larged letters of solid lines instead of making these letters of points. I noticed that my tactual imagery developed very suddenly to a high degree of focality and that it shifted exceedingly rapidly from one detail to another with no per- ceptible break in between. As one detail in the tactual imagery gained clear- ness the shift was so rapid to the next detail that I noticed no perceptible dim- inishing in clearness of the preceding detail before I was focally conscious of the succeeding detail. Each letter was accompanied by incipient vocal-motor tendencies to pronounce it." a. Summary of introspective data on tactual imagery. Observer A. A study of A's descriptions of his tactual imagery- would lead one to conclude that his ability to image the "feel" of objects is as limited as we found his ability to image sounds. Tactual qualities themselves are vague and undifferentiated as was his auditory imagery. Tactual imagery is fleeting, discon- nected, rather lacking in detail and unstable. Every detail has its visual counterpart in synaesthetic imagery and every tactual image at once gives way to this visual accompanimeiit. The san^p shift of attention from tactual to visual qualities appears in his [42] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject tactual imagery as took place from auditory to visual qualities in his auditory imagery. Thus, like his auditory imagery, his tac- tual processes are broken into disconnected series by repeated shifts to the visual accompaniments even when tactual imagery itself appears in relatively prolonged series. As was the case in auditory imagery, A's attention does not shift from one tactual quality directly to another tactual quality but from a tactual to a visual image and then back to a tactual image again. Only by voluntary effort which involves kinaesthetic imagery and incipient muscular movement is A able to inhibit this tendency to shift from a tactual to a visual quality whenever a tactual image appears in consciousness. But under these circum- stances, attention never lingers focally upon tactual qualities as such but at once shifts to the kinaesthesis of attention and hence over into visual processes again. In other words we find a dupli- cation of the situation which obtained for auditory imagery, name- ly, that a tactual image as such is never the object of focalized attention. As with his auditory imagery, visual associates persist longer in consciousness than do the combined tactual and visual processes. It is not uncommon that a tactual image itself is ushered into con- sciousness by means of its visual associate. The Aufgabe to recall tactual imagery results at first in the arousal of combined tactual and visual complexes but if the process of fulfilling the instruc- tions be prolonged all tactual qualities tend to disappear with the result that the detached visual symbols represent the tactual qual- ities in the absence of the latter. "We found the same to be true in his auditory imagery. If a tactual complex such as a combination of pressure and cold was being experienced in terms of imagery the dominating feature in the complex determined the resulting color or brightness. Thus when observer A had tactual imagery of both the pressure and the coldness of the ferns in introspection 25, it was the coldness which dominated in the complex and which determined the synaesthetic image. Tactual and kinaesthetic blends, such as roughness, wet- ness, dryness and the like, have peculiar synaesthetic associates of their own. For example, in introspection 25, A described his visual imagery of roughness as darting rays or bands of light which resembled in size and behavior what might have been sparkles from a very large diamond. [43] The Syndesthesia of a Blind Subject Observer B. B *s tactual images are exceedingly clear, persistent and real. In their quality and vividness they often closely ap- proximate actual sehsations. Other prominent features of his tactual images consist of their wealth of qualitative detail, exact- ness of localization, the readiness with which long trains or suc- cessions of this imagery are aroused and the exceeding rapidity with which attention shifts from one focal detail to another with no apparent loss in clearness, the clarity with which spacial extents stand out in this imagery, and the distinctness with which qualities retain their identity in complex groupings. The Aufgabe to recall tactual imagery of objects gives rise at once to complex groupings and successions of tactual images, together with kinaesthetic imag- ery and incipient muscular movements of handling the objects thus imaged in tactual fashion. Tactual imagery, then, appears in a rich, kinaesthetic setting. It is evident that one tactual im^e readily leads to another, with no apparent break in continuity of tactual qualities. It is interesting to note that tactual images, themselves, develop much as tactual perceptions develop. As a taetuttl image begins to run its course there may first appear but one detail Or bne isolated featurie of the object which is to be imaged whereupon further details at once appear, resulting in a full- fledged image which takes in not only the later elements to appear but also the earlier ones. Thus his imagery of a Braille letter began with pressure images of but one point of the letter; this led immediately to imagery of additional points iand to a subsequent arrangement of all the points into the appropriate spacial grouping. A clear and definite tactual image of a Braille letter includes the same behavior of attention as occurs in the perceiving of such a letter. When the image has developed to its final stage, individual points lose their identity; within the image they no longer stand out as separate points ; attention ignores the individual blunt pres- sures and is concerned wholly with their spacial arrangement. Thus it would appear that if an image of a complex object is to be complete there takes place in the development of this image a shift from individual elements or ingredients to a fusion or synthesis of these elements, just as takes place in the development of a percep- tion. This shift is equally as rapid and as difficult to describe in the imaginal field as in the perceptual field. This growth of a full-fldged image suggests that in the field of the so-called cen- trally aroused processes we find a difference between image and [44] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject idea which corresponds to the difference between sensation and perception in processes which are peripherally aroused. Let us call the individual elements the separate bluntnesses which go to make up a full-fledged tactual image of a Braille letter the image elements, and let us call the image in its final stage of development an idea of the Braille letter. Thus we have images corresponding to individual Braille points and a fusion or organization of these images into an idea which corresponds to the perception of the Braille letter as a whole. In the shift from image to idea there develops a spacialized grouping or arrangement of the points just as there develops, in the act of perceiving a Braille letter, this same grouping or arrangement of points. The criterion of an idea as offset against an image thus consists of the same sort of blending or fusing process as takes place in acts of perceiving. This be- havior of attention in the development of a full-fledged image is but another way of describing the development of meaning in the image. m. Tactual imagery of A and B compared. 1. B*s tactual imagery far exceeds A's in complexity of quali- tative detail, clearness, intensity, range of variety, and in con- tinuity of function in groups and successions. 2. There is observable in B'g case a tendency for tactual imag- ery to give way ultimately to kinaesthetic processes, while in A't case tactual imagery gives way at once to visual imagery. 3. The setting for B 's tactual processes is kinaesthetic ; the set- ting for A*s tactual imagery is visual. These settings vary in their function, however. A's visual imagery appears concomit- antly with his tactual processes ; it functions both in the focus and the fringe of consciousness while tactual processes are present. But in B's case kinaesthetic imagery is largely relegated to the background of consciousness, under the Aufgabe to recall tactual imagery; and in his case kinaesthetic processes do not function as identifyers or as labels for his tactual processes; the latter stand for themselves and occupy the focus of his attention, as such. Tactual imagery, as such, never occupies the focus of A's attention. In other words B's motor imagery does not "interpret" his tactual imagery and is not inevitably a concomitant of the latter while A 's visual imagery "belongs" to the tactual and the visual tends to take the place of the tactual at all times and under all conditions. [45] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject While B is attending to tactual qualities, A is ignoring them, as such, and is attending to visual qualities. The quality of pressure, in B's tactual imagery, is a quality of pressure and nothing more. The quality of pressure in A's tactual imagery is, in part, a visual image, in that the pressure is not identified in the absence of the visual process. The essential difference between A and B lies in the act of becoming conscious of tactual imagery. A resorts to visual criteria while B resorts to tactual criteria. 4. There is a further difference between A and B as far as their tactual imagery is concerned. We have already described, on page 44, how tactual imagery develops or becomes full-fledged in B's case. This process of growth in A's case does not involve a grouping or arranging of identified bluntnesses or points which blend or fuse into a purely tactual, spacial extent. This grouping, in A's case, involves a dual growth of tactual and visual processes, with the reagent's attention focused upon the visual half of the experience. In other words, step by step, in the development of a tactual image there takes place a corresponding development in visual imagery and the latter throughout interpret or identify the developing stages of the former. Thus, as A was aware of the growing tactual image of the Braille d described in introspection 25, this awareness was always focally a visual consciousness. We found that in B's case the meaning of d developed with this blend- ing or fusion of discrete points into a spacial schema and that the spacial schema was inherently and focally tactual, plus kinaesthetic imagery. The corresponding development of a meaningful d in A's case involved a growth of visual processes. The d was not complete until the bluish-green synaesthetic image had assumed the size and shape of the figure d. In B's case the meaning was tac- tual-kinaesthetic ; in A's case it was tactual-visual. 5. These points of difference identify B as an asynaestlietic in- dividual and -<4 as a synaesthetic individual. iv. Significance of synaesthetic imagery in A's tactual processes. As a result of his synaesthetic processes A does not live in a world of tactual and motor phenomena as such. His tactual and motor world is also visual. It has now become evident that while tactual imagery is present in A's consciousness, this imagery pos- sesses no distinct and concrete qualities or features of its own. The size and shape of tactual images are represented by a correspoi;iding r46i The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject size and shape in the visual accompaniment ; for every implied tac- tual quality there is a corresponding hue or brightness in the visual associate; duration and intensity of tactual images have their visual counterparts in duration and brightness of the colored asso- ciate. The important feature of this synaesthetic process lies in the fact that a color or brightness is selected, in A's behavior of attention, as the feature of the experience which is attended-to rather than a tactual quality or attribute per se. Tactual imagery cannot stand alone in consciousness and he tactual imagery. As long as a tactual process is unaccompanied by a visual image the former is a diffuse, vague, and unidentified experience. This suggests that all imagery, even in the asynaesthetic indi- vidual, undergoes an implicit process of identification if it is to become imagery of any given type, variety, or quality, or if it is to possess meaning. This implicit process of identification or recog- nition is very obscure and attenuated in the asynaesthetic indi- vidual and because of frequent repetition or because of the fact that the identified and the identifying processes take place so quickly in rapid succession or perhaps blend, the identification process is not always introspectively observable. But in the syn- aesthetic individual the process of identification is always explicit and observable because the identified process is derived from one sense modality and the identifying process from another sense modality. Thus when observer B has a tactual image of rough- ness, that quality, as such, stands out focally in consciousness; the experience is one of roughness; the identification or recognition implied by the "of" is actually implicit. The processes identified are pressure images; the identifying process consists of a peculiar behavior of attention characterized, perhaps, by a mass of rapid shiftings from one discrete tactual image of a certain clearness and intensity to an immediately adjacent tactual image of another clearness and intensity. But in A's case the experience is not one of roughness as observer B knows roughness ; the qualtiy of rough- ness as such does not develop ; the identification implied by the "of" is here explicit. The processes identified are pressure images as in the case of B; but the identifying process consists of a shift of attention not from one tactual image to another but from a tactual to a visual image. In implicit identification tactual pro- cesses in a way identify each other, in part, by means of attention shifts from one to another; in explicit identification the tactual [47] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject process is identified by a visual image. The functioning of the processes in both instances is the same but the mental contents in- volved differ radically. We must not confuse this synaesthetic process with the visual imagery used by an asynaesthetic individual in attending to tactual imagery. An asynaesthetic person may tend to experience visual imagery when he experiences a localized tactual image but here the tactual features of the experience may occupy the focus of at- tention with the visual imagery entirely non-focal. The tactual feature remains dominant so long as the tactual imagery persists and the visualization of the region where the tactual imagery is projected always remains a secondary process. It may very well turn out that this secondary visual image assists, while it is present, in definitizing the region where the tactual image is projected but the visual image itself can hardly be said to identify the tactual process, as it does in the synaesthetic individual. The sjTiaesthetic character of A's visual imagery exceeds a mere tendency to localize the tactual process, visually, for in addition to this tendency to visually localize the tactual image, the quality of the latter and in fact its entire behavior are visualized. From A's field of tactual imagery we therefore obtain added evidence of the possible view that synaesthesis is not only a per- ceptual process but that it is an imaginal process as well; further- more we find that synaesthesis is not different, functionally, from processes which occur in an asjiiaesthetic individual. Introspec- tions on tactual imagery furnish supplementary evidence in favor of the conception that synaesthesis is essentially a process of de- riving meaning from sensory data. d. Kinaesthetic imagery. (Series 1 concluded.) i. Typical introspective data. [Instructions: Eecall kinaesthetic imagery of tying your tie.] 31. Observer A. " (I found that I could obtain motor imagery of move- ments of my right arm but not of my left. All I could obtain of the latter were the detached visual associates.) As the experimenter read the instructions I was first aware of visual imagery of my collar, localized in its position around my neck, with the long end of a tie extending downward in front. Although the collar was white, no other feature or detail stood out prominently in the image other than its vague shape and its band-like form; the tie was a very dark grey tinged with brown. There then followed kinaesthetic imagery of my right arm making the movement of throwing the long end of the tie over the short end; for a moment only was this imagery clear; attention shifted almost at once to a black visual streak which took the form of a curve corresponding [48] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject to the extent and direction of the kinaesthetic image. Then I had motor im- agery of reaching under the twiated portion of the tie with the long end but before this imagery reached the stage of pushing the long end up through thq knot the motor features had shifted entirely to the black, visual, synaesthetic imagery. There started to develop at this juncture \-ague tactual imagery of the softness of the tie as it seemed to rest between my thumb and fingers, but this, also, shifted immediately to its visual associate. There then occurred com- bined tactual and kinaesthetic imagery of reaching into tlie 'v' shaped knot from above, as if to grasp the long end of the tie to pull it through the loop. For an instant the kinaesthetic qiuility of movement loomed up in fairly focal attention, when I experienced the kinaesthetic imago of pushing the long end of the tie through the knot and of pulling it tight. The motor quality which became momentarily dominant was the sudden jerk or pull of tightening the knot itself. Otherwise the kinaesthetic quality tended to be dominated by the visual black. And just as this motor jerk developed the visual synaesthetic accompaniment became blacker. I noticed that throughout the entire process this imagery was localized in my right ami and hand; I tried to attend to movements of my left arm, but had only the visual streaks which represented in terms of their own localizations and directions of movement how my left arm would operate in tying a tie. Kinaesthetic imagery was throughout broken into disconnected sections by repeated shifts of attention to the visual accompani- ments. I further noticed that it was when I tried the liardest to isolate or single out the kinaesthetic quality of the imagery that the visual processes dom- inated most. The motor imagery was localized in my elbow, wrist, and finger joints. The chief quality of the imagery was that of change in position with strain appearing only when I imaged the pull or tug of tightening the knot." [Instructions: Describe the maze which you have recently learned and re- call the movements of tracing the paths.] 32. Observer Ji. " The maze was a grooved figure cut from a sheet of tin and tacked to a smooth boanl. 1 was aware, first, of tactual imagery of the stylus as it rested between my fingers with kinaesthetic imagery of grasping it ; the kinaesthetic processes were the more definite and persistent and involved imagery of finger positions and tenseness about the wrist and arms. In terms of very clear kinaesthetic imagery I was able to recall practically every move- ment of tracing the maze; the imagery was always that of movenuMit and was definitely localized in my hand, arm and wrist. I vividly felt the constantly changing positions, now down, now up, now around a sharp angle. Throughout, these changes occurred in rapid succession, one image blending imperceptibly into the next; the imagery was very stable, clear, and persistent, with no breaks or interruptions. At the end of the maze I had very vivid motor im- agery of the resistance encountered as the stylus came into imagined contact with the termination of the pathway. This latter imagery develoi)ed suddenly and rose to a high degree of foeality, just as the actvial poroe])tion wouM have done. Although there were sounds made in actually tracing the maze, I had no suggestion of auditory inuigery in this recall, ("onsciousness was occupied almost entirely with nuitor processes with only now and then a suggestion of tactual imagery." [Instructions: Can you recall motor imagery of the maze which you learned three years ago?] 33. Observer A. "(After some little time, during which I was visualizing a very vague and fleeting maze, I think I succeeded in recjilling a few isolated movements.) First I was aware of kinaesthetic inuigery of holding my arm out in front of me, together with tactual-motor-visual imagery of holding a stylus in my hand, but all of this was very vjigue and of short duration. .Vttention was then absorbed for several see(nipeared in consciousness a [49] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject motor-visual image ef making one of the long and difficult movements in the maze, but the motor qualities were very weak, diffuse and vague, dominated almost entirely by the accompanying visual black which appeared as a devel- oping streak over a fairly wide space in front of me and in about the same position as the maze would have been. I then recalled that I had great diffi- culty in learning this movement for the reason that I had to come down a straight path toward me and I had the tendency to make that movement in the form of an arc, thus making a great many errors. The motor features of thia kinaesthetic image were localized in my shoulder, elbow and wrist and slightly in the muscles of the fore-arm. The former possessed the quality of movement while the latter qualities suggested strain or tension. Together with this im- agery I was aware of incipient tensions developing about the jaws and in my throat the processes which always appeared when I was conscious of making a great many errors while tracing the maze. The usual blackness of the kin- aesthetic processes appeared and tended to claim my attention. The tenseness in my throat, jaw, and somewhat in my chest, was accompanied by black visual imagery localized as was the kinaesthetic imagery itself. The localization of the motor qualities, however, was invariably less definite than the localization of the visual black. There was a diffuseness, vagueness and uncertainty about the motor processes which seems to be compensated for by the visual associates." [Instructions: Recall writing with the point alphabet and describe the imagery involved.] 34. Observer B. ''First I had tactual imagery of the slate beneath my hand, vague auditory imagery of the sound from the stylus as it punched holes in the paper, and very clear, definite and persistent kinaesthetic imagery of making the movements of hand and fingers as one punches holes in the tag- board; the auditory and tactual imagery was much less clear and real than the kinaesthetic. Clearest of all in the motor imagery were the movements of press- ing down on the stylus and of moving my hand along to the next position from which the next hole is to be punched. All of this kinaesthetic imagery was ac- companied by incipient movements; in fact the reality of the motor imagery seemed to be proportional to the amount of incipient movement involved or to the extent that I actually felt incipient tensions. These processes were fol- lowed by very vivid and persisting kinaesthetic imagery of lifting the slate and of placing it in a lower position on the paper; this latter imagery involved hand, elbow and shoulder. Just as I imaged myself lifting the plate in terms of motor imagery, I had faint tactual imagery of the slate between my fingers, attention, in this latter imgery, being centered upon the perforations in the elate." [Instructions: Recall the movements of throwing a ball. Describe them.] 35. Observer A. "(1 can do this only by standing up and assuming a posi- tion as if I were about to throw a ball. Otherwise my motor imagery resolves itself into nothing but the visual associates.) I then had, first, a visual image of a baseball in my hand, both the ball and the hand standing out clearly in this imagery and localized in the beginning stage of the throwing position. This was followed by tactual imagery of the ball, chiefly localized between my thumb and first two fingers. The first real kinaesthetic image was that of swinging my arm back into position to thrust the ball forward; this was local- ized in my elbow and shoulder, principally the latter; there then followed motor imagery of tightening the biceps, very definitely localized for an instant in. my biceps and followed at once by a shift of attention to the intense black region in the upper arm my synaesthetic image. Then I found my attention claimed by a mass of black visual imagery covering my chest, back and sides, but I was unable to isolate the kinaesthetic elements. This meant to me, however, motor imagery of making the final contractions before letting the ball go. I could not obtain kinaesthetic imagery of releasing the ball but was conscious of very fleeting and sketchy tactual imagery of the ball as it was leaving my hand." [50] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject 36. Observer B. Same instructions. "First I had very clear and intense tactual imagery of the ball lying in my hand, loosely grasped. Then followed in very rapid succession, in terms of kinaesthetic imagery, tightening my grasp upon the ball, drawing my arm back, swinging my whole arm around once or twice and then thrusting it forward suddenly as if to release the ball. Most vivid of all was imagery of the slipping or grinding at the shoulder joints and the quick thrust of the forward jerk of my arm. The finger movements of releasing the ball also stood out very prominently. All of this was followed by imagery of muscular tenseness localized in my neck and chest of anticipating the sound of the ball striking against the mit of the person who, by implica- tion, was to catch the ball. Along with these processes there appeared fleeting and dim vocal-motor-auditory imagery, in terms of my own voice: 'Will he catch itf in rising inflection. This imagery on the whole was so real that I found myself inhibiting actual movements. All of the imagery was accom- panied by incipient movements or tensions." [Instructions: Recall imagery of playing the piano.] 37. Observer B. "First, I was aware of tactual imagery of piano keys be- neath my fingers but this was accompanied by motor imagery of placing my fingers against the keys and the latter very soon dominated consciousness; there followed very real and intense motor imagery of finger movement as if I were searching for certain keys; particularly clear were the imaged move- ments at the finger and wrist joints. The quality was that of changing position rather than that of tension or strain. Then I had tactual-motor imagery of playing the first one or two measures of the 'Waltz Caprice', together with auditory imagery of the first few bars but this latter was indistinct, compared with the motor processes. In rapid succession I imaged the positions and movements of my fingers, also the movements of elbow and shoulder as I shifted from one part of the Keyboard to another and as I approached the keys with greater or less muscular energy. I was then conscious of sensory tension concerned with the j)rocess of anticipating hitting the wrong key as I imaged a sudden and extended movement of my left hand far down the key-board; this latter imagery involved not only wrist and arm but movement of shoulder and back as I shifted my imaginary sitting position in order to reach far enough down the key-board. Together with these latter processes I was con- scious of incipient tongue and lip movements which I always have while playing a difiicult selection. The imagery was characterized by its persistence, wealth of quality and by its continuity." [Instructions: Recall the movements of tying a fisherman's knot.] 37a. Observer A. " (This is a motor complex which I have not performed for at least five years.) The first processes of which I was conscious consisted of two black visual synaesthetic images of movement in the form of two half circles. Up to this time I noticed that I was in a general state of bodily relaxation so far as incipient tendencies toward movement or tension were concerned; that is, I noted no tendencies to make the incipient movements of tying the knot or of figuring out how such a knot should be tied. Up to this time, also, I was unable to differentiate any real kinaesthetic qualities associ- ated with the black visual images. I then set up for myself the task of making slight movements more or less at random, at first, of tying such a knot. I was then able to recall some of the movements in terms of kinaesthetic plus the visual accompaniments. Here the kinaesthetic qualities of motion and change of finger and arm position appeared in fleeting fashion. (This experiment confirms my observations in general that if I wish to recall old muscular move- ments, kinaesthetic imagery docs not appear until I am able to make the proper incipient and actual movements. These latter seem to set off the old kinaes- thetic-visual trains of imagery which could not at first be recalled. Otherwise, [51] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject without these incipient movements, I can onlj recall the visual imagery ordi- narily associated with the kinaestbetio images themselves. Thus, when I am relaxed or not tending to assume an active bodily or motor attitude toward the task in question, I am much more apt to recall merely the visual black of my kinaestbetic imagery; while if I assume an active attitude^ involving incipient movement, I am able to revive the kinaestbetic-visual complex)" n". Summary of introspective data on kina^sthetic imagery. Observer A. Characteristics of A's kinaesthetic imagery may be summarized as follows: The imagery as such is invariably vague, fleeting, difficult of description, patchy, disconnected and very difficult to recall; memories of old and decayed kinaesthetic complexes appear first in terms of detached visual associates ; while it appears frequently in A's consciousness and is used generally in his imaginal processes in connection with objects or movements recently figuring in his everyday life, this imagery is not attended- to focally; kinaesthetic qualities do not usually stand alone in consciousness but lead at once to stereotyped forms of visual asso- ciates; the visual associates of his motor imagery are always very dark or black, the intensity of which corresponds to the intensity of the kinaesthetic feature of the image ; these visual associates ap- pear in the form of streaks, bands, or ribbons, when representing movement, and these streaks or bands define the extent, position and direction of the movement itself; the presence of this visual imagery makes it impossible for A to obtain unbroken or continuous successions of kinaesthetic imagery as such, for the visual accom- paniments intrude upon the continuity of this vague and undiffer- entiated kinaesthetic consciousness. The result of voluntary effort to attend to kinaesthetic qualities as such is either a tendency to become absorbed in incipient mus- cular movement with visual accompaniments immediately rising into the foreground of consciousness, or a tendency to shift directly to the visual associate of the kinaesthetic imagery itself. This dilemma makes it almost impossible for observer A to examine kinaesthetic qualities as such. We have found this to be true of his auditory and tactual imagery. When he endeavors to concen- trate on sensory qualities other than the visual it always seems as if these qualities were "one step behind attention" while the visual process always seems to be "with attention." Thus qualities other than the visual are always marginal or non-focal; they never be- come objects of "direct" attention. [52] Th6 Synnesthesia of a Blind Subject Kinaesthetic imagery reveals the same tmdeucy ultimately t give way entirely to visual associates, leaving the latter detached, as was found in connection with tactual and auditory imagery. For example, when A recalled motor imagery of throwing a ball during the first few seconds of the recall kinaesthetic imagery ap- peared together with its visual accompaniment but shortly the kinaesthetic imagery dropped out and the remainder of the imag- ery of throwing a ball was finished in terms of the visual black synaesthetic imagery, alone. Noteworthy is the fact that when A is relaxed or when he does not tend to make incipient movements, visual synaesthetic images are apt to appear at the outset, alone, as symbols for the motor imagery. On the other hand, if A assumes an active motor atti- tude toward the task kinaesthetic imagery, plus the visual associate, will appear. There is to be noticed a slight difference between kinaesthetic and other types of imagery in the suddenness with which they lead to their synaesthetic counterpart, as they appear in conscious- ness. If kinaesthetic imagery leads to incipient movement or is accompanied by incipient movement in any given kinaesthetic com- plex, A then becomes more definitely conscious of kinaesthetic qualities as such and is able to describe them more or less vaguely and indefinitely. For this reason, motor imagery jjossesses the qualities of movement, and at times, of strain. But in such in- stances in which kinaesthetic imagery is thus rendered more focal or identifiable by incipient movement, the incipient movement itself ushers into consciousness visual synaesthetic imagery which latter assists in defining the motor qualities. Continuity of kin- aesthetic qualities as such is confined to this shift from kinaesthetic imagery to kinaesthetic sensation but since the two tend to appear together and since the kinaesthetic sensation at once leads to a visual image, this continuity is never much more prolonged than it would be in the absence of the incipient movement. Observer B. Kinaesthetic imagery is by far the type which appears most often and whose qualities are most vivid and per- sistent. It forms the background of B's visual, auditory and tac- tual imagery. Incipient movement functions as the background or setting for kinaesthetic imagery. So real are his motor images that he often finds himself inhibiting actual movement when the former are present in consciousness. Long trains or successions [53] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject of motor images occur without interruption or without intervention by images from another modality. B's consciousness is never free from kinaesthetic imagery of some sort; and this imagery is the common tool or vehicle which he uses in mediating or controlling imagery from other sense modalities. In fact the very existence of visual imagery in B 's consciousness seems to depend upon motor factors. Practically all qualities of kinaesthetic imagery are equally dis- tinct and focal ; change of position, rate or speed of movement, strain, jerky, rapid jolts, tenseness all occupy focal attention at one instant or another in his kinaesthetic-imaginal consciousness. These qualities, however, are invariably reported to be more vivid when accompanied by incipient movement or tension. In fact it was so difficult for B to differentiate motor imagery from incipient movement, at times, that we are uncertain where one ends and where the other begins. This fact holds generally, we believe, for kinaesthetic image and sensation. iii. Kinaesthetic imagery of A and B compared. 1. Both observers agree that kinaesthetic imagery is more stable, more definite and qualitatively more rich in detail when accom- panied by or fused with incipient movement. 2. B's kinaesthetic imagery far exceeds A's in all matters of attribute, and in complexity of implicit behavior. 3. B's kinaesthetic imagery functions as a general setting or background for all of his other types of imagery but in doing so the kinaesthetic processes are not claimants of his focal attention until imagery of other modalities gives out, A's kinaesthetic imag- ery does not function as a general background or conscious setting. His settings are always dominantly visual and visually synaes- thetic, and the visual sjmaesthetic imagery is always the claimant of his focal attention to the exclusion of all other modalities. 4. In voluntarily controlling their imagery each observer uses the one type which possesses the greatest wealth of detail or which appears in elaborate groupings or successions. This type is kin- aesthetic in B's case and visual in A's case. It seems that it is the type of imagery which functions as a setting or background of consciousness which is employed in an effort to usher into con- sciousness or to prolong imagery of other types. For example A habitually uses his visual synaesthetic imagery in recalling audi- tory, tactual and kinaesthetic imagery; a detached visual associate [54] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject of a certain tone will suggest auditory imagery of that tone ; visual imagery of letters will suggest tactual imagery of letters. The one exception to this procedure is A's use of incipient muscular move- ment in voluntarily controlling his kinaesthetic imagery. B habitu- ally employs kinaesthetic imagery in an effort to recall or to con- trol visual imagery; he prolongs his tactual imagery by having recourse to kinaesthetic processes; or he uses vocal-motor imagery in recalling auditory imagery. It is quite evident that the form of imagery which, in each reagent, possesses the greatest amount of qualitative detail and which has come to appear and persist in consciousness most readily, is that type which is not only controlled or mediated with least difficulty but is the type which is used as clues in the voluntary control of other types. 5. One striking difference is to be noted between the function- ing of A's synaesthetic processes and B's kinaesthetic background. The former remain focal as well as marginal as long as they are present in consciousness while the latter remain only marginal as long as other types of imagery tend to claim the focus of attention. B. Series 2*. Early and Recent Memories. a. Early memories. i. Typical introspective data. [Instructions: Recall some very early memory and describe the imagery involved.] 38. Observer A. "(I recalled an incident which happened when, at the age of 4, I was travelling with my mother.) I was first aware of visual imagery of an indefinite extent of water, covering an area of about the size of a city block; the water was smooth and dark green in color; forming a frame for this visual imagery, on one side, were the inside furnishings of a car such as are visible between the car windows, the distinct features of which were shades of dark, yellowish brown. This imagery was at once followed by a focusing of visual attention upon a spot on the s^urface of the water at which there bobbed up from beneath the surtace the head and back of a turtle, with iti back turned toward us. Then the turtle was seen to turn about as it swam along the surface of the water and to face directly toward us while its back disappeared beneath the surface. (This was all that occurred in my memory consciousneKs ann bis 'Experimenta on t8te and Bmell indicate results similar to those obtained in series 1. Owing to the length of this monoRraph, therefore, these results have been omitted. I 55 1 The Synaestkesia of a Blind Subject haunches, facing me. This imagery was rather hazy as to outline and the only definite features were its sitting position, its dark-tan color except for a patch of much lighter tan on his chest. Eyes, legs, hair, etc. did not stand out in the imagery. Surrounding the dog was a background of dark grey space which became darker a short distance from it and from hence blended into the corn-fctalks on the left and into nothing above and to the right, except the darkness which filled the doorway. About the framework of the doorway ex- tended a grey background, filling the remainder of my field of vision. The visualized objects appeared as if I were approaching the door from directly in front. By my side there appeared a reddish brown object which assumed the vague shape of a child companion the color of which meant that my com- panion was a sister. All of this was followed by visual imagery of approach- ing the dog and of annoying it with one of the corn-stalks. This was largely an interpretation from a change in the scene; I now found myself, in imaginal terms, directly in front of the dog and between it and the pile of stalks. Then I was aware of intense barking of the dog, not in terms of auditory imagery but purely in terms of vivid yellowish-grey cloud-like forms which issued from the region of the dog's mouth. I also \-isualized the dog pulling at his chain and trying to reach us. At this juncture the imagery became so vivid that the experience seemed almost real it became tridimensional rather than re- maining pliotographic as does much of my visual imagery. Then, for a moment the entire region involved in my visual imagery was filled with brilliant but hazy streaks or ribbons of light, colored a silvery white with reddish and 'creamy' spots. This latter imagery represented my sister's screams but there was no auditory imagery present. The whole memory was exceedingly clear but of short duration. (Each time 1 recall this experience this imagery tends to appear in the order described above; and so far as I can tell, it has not changed in detail or quality for years.)" 40. Observer A, Same instructions. "(I recalled my first visit to the Blind School, at which time I was escorted about the grounds and through the buildings by the superintendent's wife, who told me about the things I would learn and how I would study geography and other lessons.) At the outset I had visual imagery of the expansive grounds; this consisted first of a winding cement sidewalk, of a broad expanse of yellowish-brown, dead grass with trees scattered here and there on both sides of the walk. This imagery was photo- graphic and i)ossessed almost no detail. I could not make out the individual blades of grass ; the area in my image, covered by the dead grass, was a smooth, washed color; the trees to the right and to the left were seen as if I were approaching the school building from along the walk; the scene shifted as I imagined myself advancing toward the school itself, although I had no motor imagery of walking; I found myself attending to no particular tree; only the trunks and lower branches of the trees were visible; above, the imagery merged at once into nothingness or at best a vague setting of neutral grey. The trunks of tlie trees had no definitely outlined shape or size and the branched portions which were visible were a poorly saturated darkish green. Here and there only did much detail stand out for mostly mere areas of color represented the green portions of the trees; this color, however, was sufficiently definite and charac- teristic to tell me that the trees were fir. Then I had faint and lleeting visual imagery of the superintendent's wife standing before me; the image assumed the general shape of a human form the distinct feature of which was its color and brightness a certain light yellow. (At this juncture in my memory, I recall that she told me that she was going to show me about the place; but here I had no auditory imagery. This is an interpretation. I remember, also, my feeling reaction at the time which now consists of a reinstatement of an organic com}dex.) I was next aware of a sinking sensation somewhere in the region of my stomach or abdomen I think diaphragm; of an incipient tight- ening about the back and shoulder muscles as if I were beginning to resist something; there was nothing in my visual imagery which might suggest an [56 1 The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject unpleasant reaction but at the time of the incident I judged the superintend- ent's wife as regal and cold; I now recall this feature of the experience in terms of verbal interpretation and of the organic reaction which I have just described. Next I had visual imagery of being on the back porch where I visualized a hammock which one of the pupils at the school had just finished making. Then the scene changed to that of a school room; I saw, in my visual imager}', one oud of the room; my attention was first centered upon a globe which was about three and one-half feet in diameter; the visible surface of the globe was washed with a dull waxy-like green light, regions of which represented water and the darker regions of which represented land and moun- tains. Behind the globe I visualized a plain grey wall with no detail. From here my attention shifted to visual imagery of dissected maps lying on a desk; I saw the sections distinctly, lying there in their different shades of natural wood color, but further than this no details were present. I recall now, indi- rectly, that I inspected these pieces at the time and marveled at the fine work- manship involved in making them. This, however, comes to me in verbal fashion. Throughout the whole experience, attention shifted from one visual image to another without pause and without any slumping in attention. (By voluntary effort I am now able to construct tactual and motor imagery but during the spontaneous recall no such imagery was present.)" 41. Observer B. Same instructions. "(The first memory which entered my mind upon hearing the instructions was that of going to a public school before I lost my sight. I snatched a stick of candy from a playmate while on the way to school, and ran away with it. In recalling the incident I had no visual imagery whatever. Practically all of my imagery consisted of verbal processes having to do with relating the experience.) I was first aware of this memory in terms of an incipient verbal image, 'school,' followed by incipient motor imagery of arm-movements of grasping what I later interpreted, verbally, to be a piece of candy; I then had kinaesthetic imagery of leg movements of running. (I suppose that j)ractically all of this imagery arises in the process of recall, not from memorj-, but from the process of relating the incident. I feel I had no real memory imagery of the experience at all.)" 42. Observer B. Same instructions. '<(The most vivid of my early memories is the recall of my accident.) At the outset I had a fleeting visual image, suggested by an antecedent verbal process, 'accident,' of the house across the street from the place where the accident occurred ; for the briefest flash of a seconresent when 1 was taken home; kinaesthetic imagery of sitting in a chair in the kitchen (kitchen interpreted) while my mother washed my face and hands. Accompanying this was faint, fleeting visual imagery merely a shadow of my friend. .Vcconipanying this imagerj- were affective-organic processes which invariably recur as I think of the accident. These involve tendencies toward changes in resjtiration. tensions in the muscles of my chest, throat and face." 4.'}. Ohstmr B. Same instructions. "(I have recalled my first visit to the blind school.) In the beginning I had auditorj' imagery of my mother saying: [57] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject 'We are here.' This was followed by distinct and intense auditory imagery of the teacher's voice telling me that I would learn to make different things; then came fleeting and faint tactual imagery of bead baskets and other kinds of baskets, kinaesthetic imagery of moving my hands over these and other objects. (From this point on I am not certain that I am really recalling events which actually took place at that time.) I then found myself con- structing tactual and kinaesthetic imagery of objects of various kinds cane- seated chairs, hammocks, games and the like. These images lack the back- ground consciousness of recognizing or of labeling my experiences as old, fa- miliar events." ii. Summary of introspective data on early memories. Observer A. We are not interested in discussing early memories as such for the reason that our principal purpose is to comment upon the appearance of synaesthetic processes in A's consciousness of early childhood events. The imagery of his early memories is throughout entirely visual. Only as his visual contents suggest verbal associations or verbal acts of interpreting these contents, is A 's early memory consciousness characterized by any other modal- ity than the visual. The most prominent features of this visual imagery consist of their photographic nature, their emphasis upon color and degrees of brightness, their invariable visual setting of neutral grey, their dim, indistinct outlines and lack of minute detail. The most interesting feature of A's early memories is, for us, the fact that colors and shades of brightness stand alone in consciousness as representatives of auditory, tactual or other non- visual experiences which he had at the time. This fact indicates that A's synaesthesia developed very early in childhood; so early in fact, that his very oldest memories are sj'naesthetic. In an incident during which A and his sister annoyed a dog, chained in a bam, A heard the barking of the dog and his sister's screams but these sounds are not remembered in terms of auditory images. At the time of the incident these sounds were colored. The colors are remembered but not the sounds. Striking is the fact that the behavior of these dissociated or detached colors faithfully describes the intensity of the dog's barks and the intensity and fearfulness of his sister's screams. The affective reaction which A experienced at the time and which has been forgotten, as such, is now recalled in terms of its detached visual accompaniment. These dissociated synaesthetic images appear in a visual setting which assists in ascribing to them their proper meaning in the absence of the imagery for which they stand. They are also inter- preted concretely by verbal processes. Vocal-motor imagery func- [58] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject tions also in filling out other deleted contents. For example, A recalled that he picked up a cornstalk and threw it at the dog but has no direct memory imagery of doing so. This item appears as a verbal process in relating the incident. Observer B. B's early memories are visual, auditory, tactual and kinaesthetic in their contents. His very earliest memories are exceedingly attenuated and fleeting and are so lacking in direct content that practically the entire process of recall consists of the verbal processes having to do with the relating of the incident. None of these imaginal contents of early memories possess the rich- ness of detail, nor the durability of ordinary processes of imaging objects or events, with the one exception of the visual which pos- sesses greater definiteness and quantity of detail in early memories than in any other functional group of B's mental contents. But such visual images as do occur in early memories appear and dis- appear with a flash and only in rare instances can they be revived or prolonged. The fact that more visual imagery is present in his early memories than is present in his thinking processes in general may be explained on the ground that at the time of these early events B could either see or he had vivid visual imagery. It is of importance to note that detailed or clear visual imagery appears only in certain contexts and that these contexts are those which developed at a time when B employed visual processes. This sug- gests that the ability to arouse or to employ imagery of certain types, generally, depends upon the development of certain definite contexts in which the desired image and the cue which is used in ushering this image into consciousness must be such as frequently appear together in consciousness. Thus B's visual images, in early memories, are more or less detached phenomena; they are images which have no specific value in his conscious life, relatively speak- ing; they, as well as the cues which arouse them, appear relatively infrequently ; the one will not appear without the other. It would be interesting to speculate whether the fact that B can have fairly distinct visual imagery in early memories and not in ordinary thinking is really due to a decay of his visual modality or whether it is simply due to the fact that because of the continued absence of visual sensory processes he has formed habits of developing only such contents complex groupings or successions as are constantly functioning in sensory experience proper. We are inclined to be- lieve that if his visual modality were decaying we would find evi- [59] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject dence of it in every visual image, and that the presence of clear and detailed visual imagery in one context means that visual contents, as such, have not decayed. It points to the fact that the functions of developing contexts in which visual imagery appears have de- cayed rather than contents per se. While this observation is not a new one in the psychological literature, its importance has not, evidently, been appreciated. It throws light upon the much discussed problem of act and content. It indicates that contents and acts are mutually exclusive data but that they are dependent variables. The one cannot exist without the other. The content is the mode by which the act takes place. Any act or event must take place in a certain mode and by this mode we mean the method or procedure by which the action takes place. The content is the form of the act. The former is inevit- ably structure, i. e., it is static while the latter is inevitably fuuc- tion it is dynamic. In crude language the content is the thing which is acting. But the content is in a last analysis a practical and arbitrary abstraction whose limits must, in actuality, be as flexible as the act of which it is the form. In other words mental contents are the forms in which mental activities exist. If a con- tent has decayed it implies that a function has likewise decayed and vice versa. It would be misleading to say that B's visual modality has decayed, for it presumes that his mental functions have throughout remained intact. With decaying mental contents if they have decayed there has occurred a decay in such pro- cesses of abstracting data from habitually used experiences as will supply contents for further experiences. A deleting in B's pro- cesses of abstraction has occurred together with deletion in visual imagery. If decay in visual imagery has occurred this decay has taken along with it corresponding processes of attending, associat- ing, controlling, deriving of meanings, recognition and the like, all of which have been supplanted by similar functions dealing with images in other modalities. As a result of this dual decay if it can be called decay we should expect that deletion in processes of associating, controlling, deriving meanings, recognition and the like would force B to develop new contexts in which visual imagery would not and could not appear and that wherever visual imagery does appear it of necessity exists only in such contexts in which it [60] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject can be associated, controlled, and recognized. B's early memories are isolated contexts as well as contents ; they are isolated functional as well as structural groups. This, we believe, explains why de- tailed visual imagery appears in one conscious setting and not in another. With the loss of visual imagery go the cues which will arouse this imagery; such visual imagery as does persist is only that imagery whose cues have not likewise disappeared. Contents which are present in the context of early memories provide these cues and no other cues will suffice to arouse this visual imagery. We find evidence of all this in B's early memories themselves. Not only is visual imagery fleeting and uncertain but also is thie entire early memory consciousness. Where contextual imagery from other modalities is definite so is the visual ; where contextual imagery is lacking, so also is the visual; where the visual image itself is definite there is a cue which suggests it ; where the visual image is lacking there is also lacking the cue which will suggest it ; other cues fail to produce the image, to prolong or to revive it. In the absence of old processes of associating, attending, controlling, and the like, all of which have gone with the visual imagery itself, B's mental procedure, during the act of recall is, of necessity, con- cerned with new and other things, namely, verbal processes of in- terpreting, processes of supplementing, constructing new contexts, and the like. Hence we find him relating in terms of vocal-motor imagery the incident of having snatched a piece of candy from a boy companion when he was on the way to school at a very early age; we find him tending to fill out the memory of his first visit to the blind school in terms of tactual and kinaesthetic imagery which he is certain is not direct memory imagery. Old contexts disappear and with them the old contents and in their places appear both new contents and new contexts. Whether the old have de- cayed or have merely become detached from the proper cues for their arousal is but a matter of speculation. Hi. Early memories of A and B compared. 1. While B's earh' memories contain relatively more visual con- tents than do groups of images which appear in other contexts, A's early memories show no such marked difference. It seems probable that the hitter's visual imagery has been kept ** alive" both by his entoptic phenomenon and by his constant use of visual imagerj' in synaesthetic phenomena and in synaesthesia proper. [61] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject 2. B's early memories have undergone processes of deletion or degeneration of a type which is not to be found in A. Owing to the dropping out of visual contexts in B's everyday experience we believe that not only visual contents but entire functional con- stellations have disappeared from B's mental life and that these constellations involved the cues necessary for the arousal of visual contents. But in A's case, owing to synaesthetic functions and to an entoptic phenomenon from both of which he has been able to abstract contents for future use, cues and contents, alike, have been retained. Undoubtedly A's early memories have undergone pro- cesses of attenuation and perhaps of elaboration as have B's but the former's visual contexts have remained intact throughout his mental life. He has not, like B, suffered dissociation of visual functions to the extent that visual imagery appears only in a small group of contexts having to do with early memories. iv. Significance of synaesthetic phenomena in A's early memories. A's early memories throw added light upon the evident value of his synaesthetic imagery. That sounds, affective states, and in fact all forms of non-visual experiences should be retained in terms of their detached visual associates is consistent with our view that in his case non-visual experiences cannot be attended to as such. This means that they cannot be experienced as such and therefore that they cannot be revived or recalled as such. Since, therefore, all non-visual images are vague and undifferentiated experiences until they become visual, they are unstable and subject to early decay or dissociation from their visual accompaniments. An ex- perience that is to be recalled must be one which can be voluntarily controlled or one which is subject to arousal by the method of cues. Unstable and easily dissociated processes are less subject to control by means of cues. On the other hand the visual associates are stable ; they are stereotyped and being concrete, definite experiences as well, they are the processes which become more strongly inte- grated into various patterns of response. They are the processes, then, which are more subject to voluntary control. As a result of these conditions we should expect, then, that the visual rather than the non-visual half of a synaesthetic experience would be the one which is retained. In other words that half of the synaesthetic experience is retained to which definite attributes, qualities and meaning are originally ascribed, and since it is to the visual half of the synaesthetic experience to which definite qualities and mean- [62] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject ing are ascribed, it is the visual image rather than its vague and meaningless parent process which survives in the memory context. The visual image, in any given synaesthetic experience, is stronger than its parallel sensory process. We have already seen that in synaesthetic phenomena the associated image is stronger than the parent image. It is the associated visual image which claims attention rather than the non-visual half of the process. As we shall see later, the same condition obtains in synaesthesia proper, i. ., when the primary process to which the image is attached is a sensation rather than an image. It is not surprising that the stronger of the two factors in synaesthesia should survive and that the primary but weaker factor should decay or disappear in the process of forgetting. &. Recent memories. i. Typical introspective data. [Instructions: Recall a recent incident and describe in detail all of the imagery involved.] 44. Observer A. "(I recalled a fishing incident which occurred about a week ago.) I first had visual imagery of myself standing in the rear end of boat about half of which was visualized as being the drab color of water- soaked wood. I was holding a fishing rod in my hand. Out in front of me waa tretchetl a smooth, level expanse of greenish-olive colored water and at the far end of this expanse, about fifty yards away, I visualized a bright, white cloud- like 'bank'; over this 'bank' I was rapidly moving my line of regard and could detect slight kinaesthesis of eye-movement as I did so. This white 'bank' represented rapids farther down the creek. The shores of the creek were visualized a grey and were indistinct save for the fact that they were definitely projected about 50 feet from me on either side. Above me I was dimly conscious of something black; I had kinacsthetic imagery of crouching beneath it. This black mass meant to me overhanging willows and alders into which J hud been fouling my fishing tackle. The willows and alders were visualized in the same black as accompanies kinaesthetic sensations and I am certain that this was due to the fact that this visual imagery wjis affected by the accompanying kinaesthesis of avoiding the branches and by the tensions having to do with imaged crouching movements and fear that my fishing tackle would become fouled. Together with this kinaesthesis there appeared distinct organic images, colored, of unpleasantness. These were localized from my shoulders down to the region of my belt. Then I recalled two distinct pulls at my pole. Thereupon I recalled kinaesthetic imagerv- of tightening my muscles in my arms and chest while at the same time I visualized my handia upon the pole and myself working the reel. There accompanied these latter experiences a projected tactual-like image out in the water at the end of the line. This projected tactual image consisted of two dark blots out upon the greenish-olive water. (This imagery puzzled me for a moment. I am un- able to identify it either as tactual in origin or as kinaesthetic. If it is tac- tual-pressure in origin why should it not be localized in my hands where there was nothing but purely visual imagery of white handsT If it waa kinaesthetic why wasn't it localized in my armst But watch the development of this pro- jected image.) I next recalled a sound of a splash coming from the region at which these two dark blots had been visualized. This splash appeared as [63] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject a white spire-like form of brightness about a foot high and extending upward from the green surface of the water. I identified this as a pure synaesthetic image for the reason that if it had been a visualized splashing of water instead of a symbol for the sound of the splash, there would have appeared eoncentrie wavelets irradiating out from it. Immediately in front of this visualized auditory splash I visualized the head and gills of a fish, with its mouth open just as a fish appears when fighting a hook. Before this visual image of thQ fish became definite in outline and clear as to details it was obliterated by a black streak, irregularly formed like the tongue of a lightning flash; this black streak shot out and away from the place at which the fish-head had just been visualized and behaved on the surface of the water very much as a shadow would behave upon a screen which moved about. This movement of the black streak I at once interpreted as the movement and progress of the fish from place to place beneath the water. I then recalled attempting to check it with arm-movement; this latter consisted of kinaesthetic imagery of arm-movement together with incipient tensions. Here, again, the movements of the fish seemed to be colored by my kinaesthesis of trying to cheek these movements. The entire experience through here was renclered more vivid in color due to the unpleasantness from the overhanging branches and also to anxiety concerning my old last year's fish line which was not in the best of condition. The unpleasantness appeared in the form of fleeting organic sen- sations which in themselves were more or less indescribable other than as to their bodily localization in jaws, shoulders and chest; but they were followed at once in consciousness by vivid dark browns and blacks. The kinaesthetic element in this affective toning is very strong and shows up clearly in the blackness of the \d3ual associates. Both organic and kinaesthetic processes disappeared before the visual, leaving the latter as visualized regions about my arms, shoulders and chest. I then recalled synaesthetic imagery of my own voice a poorly saturated bluish-brown, but I was unable to recall what I said. By this time the olive-green water had become very much 'streaked' with these lightning shaped ribbons of black, requiring considerable eye-move- ment to follow them out to their terminations. Then, very, very suddenly all of these streakings vanished and again appeared the smooth expanse of olive- drab water. I visualized myself lifting the pole until it nearly touched the black, visualized overhanging trees and out from the water where I had been seeing the black streaks appeared about 18 inches of a bluish fish-Hue with the end dangling above the water about six inches. At the very tip of the line appeared a small, brilliant white light which was interpreted as the broken end. (I forgot to mention that the fish's head was visualized as a bluish-white. I am now convinced that the two black, projected blots at the end of the fish-line were projected visualizations of the two sharp tugs on the line as the fish was biting. They were colored black owing to the influence of my black kinaes- thetic synaesthesis.)" 45. Observer A. Same instructions. "(I recalled a recent ball game which I attended.) There first appeared visual imagery of the ball ground stretched out before me; I recognized features about the field, however, which indicated that it Avas not the ball ground to which I recently went which I saw in my imagery but a field which I used to play on when a boy. No detail stood out in this diamond-shaped field until my visual attention was claimed by the region about the home plate; then there appeared the background of fir trees and the broken-down fence beyond the out-field. The trees were not distinct as to outline but merely green, conical shaped forms; the fence consisted of rather blurred rod-like bands of grey the color of weatherbeaten boards. I could not see the players other than as vague moving forms of dark grey; I then saw myself sitting upon the bleachers. (When I attended this particular game I did not visualize the field before me but the field which I have just described.) I could not get any auditory imagery of the sounds from the players or from the grand-stand, nor did I have any memory imagery of climb- [64 1 The Synaesihesia of a Blind Subject mg onto the bleachers, but I had fairly definite images of face-likg shapes thickly distributed about me and among some of these faces I recalled famiUar colors representing certain individual persons whom I knew. I was able to see the general shape of certain faces but these forms had no other detail other than their peculiar coloring. Unfamiliar faces were mere round forma of grey. The faces which stood out the clearest were those of students who rooted the hardest and whose voices I recognized during the game; the faces are colored according to the colors of these voices. All of this was followed by develoj)ing tendencies to visualize my legs in a very light-grey color; as I fiied my attention upon this imagery for a moment there developed faint tactual imagery of the cold wind, blowing against my legs, whereupon this light-grey imagery became much brighter. Then I visualized wide black streaks across the middle of my back and in the lombar region; this constituted my remembrance of back strains as I sat for a long time upon the bleachers with no support behind me; this latter imagery in turn was followed by kinaesthetio imagery of these back strains and again the color was made more intense. As I lingered upon the kinaesthetic qualities, however, which at first were very indistinct, they tended to give way to visual qualities entirely, which latter per- sisted much longer." 46. Observer B. Similar instructions. "(I recalled a certain portion of a walk which we took not long ago, through a wooded section of country and over a winding trail.) First there appeared auditory imagery of the footsteps of the man who was walking in front of me; then sketchy auditory imagery of his voice in which the peculiar pitch and timbre of his voice stood out rather than any particular words which he said. This was followed by auditory imagery of the footsteps of the man behind me; the latter were characterized by their heavier thud as his feet struck the ground. Then followed in very rapid succession a mass of imagery; kinaesthetic images of walking up the steep slope of a hill ; kinaesthetic imagery of swinging my arms, motor imagery of deep breathing-in of the fresh air, auditory imagery of a bird singing, tactual imagery of a flower which I carried for some time while on the walk; olfactory imagery of the flower, auditory imagery of a windmill which I heard oflf in the distance, auditory imagery of a cow stepping aside from the trail as we passed her by, auditory imagery of the cow's breathing, vocal-motor imag- ery of my voice saying, * Gee ! this is great I ' and along with this latter imagery I was aware of slight tendencies to breathe more deeply during the recall, of tendencies for the muscles all over my body to become tense with exhilaration as I imaged the great expanse and freedom of the out-of-doors. Included in this organic and motor response were tendencies to crane my neck as if I were looking or listening to something far off in the distance. All of these images were so vivid and real that I tended to repeat the actual movements of walking as I was in the process of recalling the incident. While each image was fleet- ing, it was very clear and intense while it persisted; attention shifted suddenly from one process to another with almost no perceptible lag, during the entire procedure." 47. Observer B. Similar instructions. "(I recalled the last time I occupied the pulpit of a small country church.) I was first aware of auditory imagery of the organ playing a hymn, together with auditory-vocal-motor imagery of joining in the chorus with the congregation. This was followed by diffused tactual imagery of the warmth irradiating from a stove which stood near the pulpit, tactual imagery localized in my hand and forearm of resting against the top of the pulpit and tactual imagery of hitting my knees against th sides of the pulpit ; then there was vague imagery which I presume was tactual, of the carpet beneath my feet; I recalled the people in terms of auditory imagery of the rustling of their clothes and in terms of rustling paper and books; I also had a confused tactual-motor-visual image of the church audi- torium, resembling one's consciousness as he is approaching a wall; in this complex I vaguely distinguish a blank, shadowy form before me, faint coolness [65] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject and a low jumble of hardly distinguishable echos from the noises in the air. I then had distinct memories of the benches, partly visual, in the form of fleeting shadows, the only clear feature of which was the fact that these fihadows appeared as curves aligned in a row; together with this latter imagery I had kinaesthetic imagery of arm-movement of feeling along the arms of the benches as I walked by. I had incipient motor tendencies of turning to the right which constituted an awareness that the organist was in that direction, but before this process developed to a focal degree of clearness I had hosts of kinaesthetic and tactual images concerned with feeling of the pulpit and with pacing back and forth behind it as I preached the sermon. During the process of this recall I had numerous incipient tensions about the face, neck, shoulders, arms and chest, together with visceral disturbances, all of which constituted the affective side of my mission in the church." ii. Sumynary of inirospeciive data on recent memories. Observer A. The contents and functions alike are almost en- tirely visual in A's recent memories owing to the fact that during the original experience of the event recalled he is constantly trans- lating non-visual experiences into visual images. Throughout his recent memories sounds, tactual experiences, kinaesthetic processes and in fact all non-visual experiences are recalled in terms of their dissociated visual symbols and these symbols are invariably iden- tical with the visual imagery which was originally associated with the non-visual experiences. Of importance is the fact that at times these dissociated visual symbols suggest their parent processes. For example in recalling the experience of fishing A was first aware of a black mass over his head, colored black owing to kinaestheses of avoiding this mass which represented willow and alder branches above him. Then there appeared kinaesthetic imagery of crouch- ing to avoid the over-hanging limbs. At another time A was aware of visualizing the calves of his legs in terms of light grey whereupon the parent process of this light grey appeared a tactual image of the cool wind blowing against his legs (as he sat upon some bleach- ers watching a baseball game). At other times, however, the par- ent process does not appear. For example, in terms of the original visual concomitant, not in terms of auditory qualities, he was aware of "auditory imagery" of a fish splashing in the water as it was hooked. Or again, he had visual imagery of his own voice but no vestige of auditory qualities. In the process of for- getting, therefore, it is evident that A's auditory processes become dissociated from their visual accompaniments much earlier than do tactual and kinaesthetic qualities. And since kinaesthetic qual- ities appear in his recent memory content more frequently than do any other non-visual processes it seems safe to conclude that [66] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject kinaesthetic processes are less affected by dissociation than are processes from any other non-visual modality. It is significant in this connection to note that kinaesthetic processes have more defi- nite features or attributes of their own than do any other non- visual experiences. A occasionally reports a fleeting but "pure" kinaesthetic image and by this he means that kinaesthetic qualities as such momentarily tend to become focalized in consciousness a state of affairs which obtains for no other non-visual type of image. Nevertheless A cannot attend to a kinaesthetic process as such in the absence of its visual associate of blackness. There is no doubt, however, that qualities of tension, strain and movement may, mo- mentarily, if but non-focally, be ascribed to kinaesthetic processes as such. Thus it seems that while in his early memories A is unable to recall any original non-sensory experience other than in terms of its detached visual associate, in his recent memories A is able to recall the entire synaesthetic complex the visual associate together with the parent, the non-visual process. If, however, the parent process does not appear along with its visual associate, the only procedure by which A is able to recall the former is by resorting to the method of fixing his attention upon the latter. It invariably happens that when the visual associate is lacking so is the parent process and the parent process can never be revived in the absence of the visual associate. Wherever a synaesthetic phenomenon ap- pears in a memory consciousness it enters consciousness as one process ; that is, provided the non-visual half of the phenomenon appears first it is never detached but merges very suddenly into the visual accompaniment. Detached synaesthetic images function quite generally in A's processes of recall as the cues by which he obtains imagery of the primary and non-visual half of the original experience. If, for example, he wislios to recall the name of a certain person, the color which symbolizes that name will appear first and the name itself will be derived from the hue, shape, brightness or behavior of the visual cue. Thus in recalling past experiences synaesthetic phenom- ena are reversible ; the presence of the detached visual image may lead at once to the advent into consciousness of the non-visual half of the original experience. The visual associate tends to ap- pear first and then ushers into consciousness the primary image for which it stands. In synaesthetic phenomena, then, the associ- [67 1 The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject ation may run in the direction of the secondary to the primary process in the case of recall but runs in the direction of primary to secondary process under conditions which do not involve recall. Observer A has become so familiar with large numbers of his stereotyped visual images that he can at will employ them as mem- ory aids and does so constantly in conducting his classes in history, biology and in general science. Notwithstanding this fact that synaesthetic phenomena are re- versible, certain investigators in this field have affirmed the irre- versibility of synaesthesia and as a consequence have been led to adopt a physiological theory. (See II, page 38.) Observer B. B's recent memories are exceedingly rich in tac- tual auditory and kinaesthetic details, the kinaesthetic imagery tending to dominate and to be more definite and persistent than the other forms. Visual imagery is exceedingly rare and wherever present it is fused with tactual or motor processes; it is confined to shadowy forms or vague greyish extents of space and functions almost wholly in tactual-motor schemata. In other words, visual imagery is limited, in function, to contexts which have to do with awareness of space or extents as such. This suggests that one of the most stable of all of the visual attributes and perhaps the most primitive, is the attribute of extent. And since B's visual imagery is largely confined to greys, so far as brightness is concerned, brightness seems to follow extent as a next most stable or primitive attribute. In his recent memory consciousness B's attention shifts with great rapidity from one qualitative detail of content to another, each quality as such standing out momentarily in consciousness. in. Our observers' recent memories compared with their earlier memories. A's memories, throughout, are dominantly visual in their con- tent. Old auditory, tactual and motor processes have become dis- sociated beyond voluntary control and only the visual associates have survived. As we examined his recent memories we found evidence that certain of the original tactual and kinaesthetic ex- periences had not yet ''decayed" to the extent that they could not be recalled, although many of them had already become dissoci- ated from their visual concomitants to the extent that only by hav- [68] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject ing recourse to the latter, which readily appear in consciousness, could the former be reinstated. But auditory experiences which dated back but a few days could not be recalled; only their de- tached visual associates would appear. Auditory imagery seems to be the first to suffer dissociation while kinaesthetic imagery is the last of the non-visual experiences to undergo such dissociation. A change has occurred in B's memories as we pass from early to recent forms. But in B 's case this change consists of a dropping out of visual imagery and of a gradual increase in the relative im- portance of kinaesthetic imagery. As a consequence of these changes in both reagents the dimin- ishing amount of dissociation of synaesthetic phenomena in A's case and the increasing importance of kinaesthesis in B's case we find a clue to the procedure by which images are aroused during the process of recall. B's kinaesthetic images function as stimuli for the arousal of tactual and auditory images while A's important cues are visual and are used in arousing tactual and kinaesthetic imagery and in unsuccessful attempts to arouse auditory imagery. B 's visual functions seem to have decayed ; A 's not only have been retained but are functionally more useful as cues in his recent than in his early memories. Thus the lack of visual imagery in B's case and the dominance of it in A's case have produced oppo- site results. While this fact is in itself obvious, its importance in aiding one to understand the significance of A's synaesthetic phenomena cannot be over-estimated. iv. Significance of synaesthetic phenomena in A's recent memories. Results from A's recent memories confirm our interpretations from results on his early nieinorios. (See page 62.) Not only are the visual a.ssociates far more stable and subject to voluntary con- trol but they themselves are used as the means by which voluntary recall of non-visual experiences is exorcised. These results also confirm our tentative view tliat synaesthetic processes function in the development of meaning. For we found that where one half of the synaesthetic process stood for the other half, one of these paired associates inevitably tended to lead to the other so long as the members of the pair had not become dissociated in the process of forgetting. And it made no difference which of these two as.so- [69 J The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject dates appeared first in consciousness. In other words, where mean- ings are reversible, so are synaesthetic phenomena. SjTiaesthetic phenomena function in recent memories as they function in imagery and in early memories: the attributes of non- visual processes are ascribed to stereotyped concomitant visual imagery; and as a result, when this imagery becomes detached temporarily from its non-visual parent process it symbolizes or means that missing experience in that it may function in a mean- ingful complex of mental events just as if it were the original non- sensory process itself. Still further evidence that synaesthetic processes play an im- portant role in the development of meaning is to be found in the influence which the synaesthetic function may have upon such visual imagery as is not normally synaesthetic in character. In A's recent memory described in introspection 44, visual imagery of willow and alder trees was colored black when it normally would have been some shade of green and brown. The instant after this visualized blackness of the trees above him had appeared in con- sciousness A found himself becoming conscious of kinaesthetic imagery of crouching to avoid the branches. The kinaesthetic pro- cesses were anticipated in terms of the black synaesthetic image which always means kinaesthetic qualities when present in certain contexts. But when the black synaesthetic imagery appeared first in consciousness it was localized above him in the mass of trees which was to be avoided by means of muscular movement. Simi- larly the visualized movements of the fish which he had hooked were rendered black before kinaesthetic imagery of pulling on the line appeared in consciousness, and remained black throughout the subsequent presence of this kinaesthetic imagery. Again, kinaes- thetic imagery of the tugs on the line as the fish struck the hook was represented in consciousness by visual synaesthetic imagery not localized in the usual fashion in the region of the muscles in- volved but projected out to the end of the fish-line as two black blots. In each instance the quality of black was the forerunner of a kinaesthetic image, and with the exception of the two black blots projected out at some distance from the observer on the sur- face of the water, the quality of black meant an anticipated kinaes- thetic image. One would have expected that if A were about to anticipate a kinaesthetic image he would have visualized the willow [70 1 The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject and alder trees, the movements of the fish and the tugging of the fish at the end of his line, all in ordinary fashion and in their natural colors, and would then have had visual imagery of black- ened regions localized in the musculature involved in the subse- quent kinaesthetic imagery. But there was evidently a process of foreshortening in his mental processes. He left out the black regions localized in the musculature and instead, blackened the antecedent visual imagery. One might interpret this state of af- fairs as a process of attenuation or short cutting in A's mental functions where synaesthetic processes are involved ; or one might assume that a process of irradiation has taken place in a forward direction in the particular response pattern which involved, for example, willow trees and crouching movements. Whatever may be the particular method by which synaesthetic functions thus affect adjacent mental contents in any given complex of imagery it is evident that we here find a situation similar to that described in introspection 6, We there noted that visual imagery of a particu- lar person was identified in terms of the same color which appeared in connection with that person's voice. We found that all imagery having to do with that particular person was affected by this same color, obviously pointing to the fact that the color had to do with meaning. So in the peculiar functioning of synaesthetic processes which we have just been considering, willow trees meant something to A aside from being mere willow trees; they were trees-to-be- avoided-in-kinaesthetic-fashion and this meaning was present in terms of trees visualized in black the black of the forthcoming kinaesthetic imagery of crouching. The movements of the fish meant to A movements-to-be-checked and were thus colored the black of kinaesthetic movements of pulling on the line. The black blots mentioned above present a similar problem. Accordingly A did not have to stop and think: ''Here are willow trees which are very close to my head and therefore if I do not crouch down I will hit them or my fish tackle will become fouled." The meaning of the entire siutation was reduced to its simplest terms black trees. The visualized movements of the fish meant more than mere movements of the fish. The movements were black and thus they meant: "The fish is darting rapidly about in the water; I must keep the line taut." Such is syncopa- tion in meaning par excellence! As visual imagery of a person is [71] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject colored and thus comes to mean imagery-of-a-cer^ain-person, so imagery of a willow tree and the movement of a fish come to mean, in a memory consciousness, objects-which-were-responded-to-in- certain fashion. C. Series 3. Imagery in constructive imagination, i. Typical introspective data. [Instructions: Imagine yourself standing upon the corner of 25th and Broadway, New York City, and give a complete introspective description of your mental processes.] 48. Observer A. "(I assume that I was standing on the curb for the reason that I was aware of people passing behind me and of the traffic in front of me.) At the outset I was aware of visualizing a telephone pole very near me at my right side; it was a typical Oregon second-growth fir pole, colored the light yellow-tan of fir wood with the bark just removed; this imagery extended only to my shoulders and loomed up vividly in front of a grey background. Together with this imagery I had very faint tactual imagery of a 'tingling' in the skin about my forehead and an incipient kinaesthetic process of drawing away from the image of the pole; all of this constituted an awareness that the pole was very near me. Next my attention turned to visual imagery of a paved street, in a light cement-like grey, which presented a smooth appearance un- broken or uninterrupted by street car lines or moving objects; at this juncture the street was empty; then I completed this visual image by seeing masses of forms, small and large, dark and light, passing by me in both directions and in two streams, the nearer one going to the left and the farther one to the right. Momentarily I shifted my visual attention from one of these moving streams of forms to the other and tended to follow each with eye-movement. Along with this visual imagery I had faint auditory imagery of wheels rumbling along the pavement and together with this dim roar the only auditory imagery appearing in the entire process of imagination the grey of the street became darker. The brightness and distribution of these forms constantly changed; many of the forms themselves were not visualized objects but visual synaesthetic images of the varied sounds which characterize street traffic; their constant shiftings in brightness and in position meant to me moving vehicles which were 'noisy.' Many of these fleeting visual symbols were too sketchy to de- scribe but I singled out the visualized tooting of auto horns and the chugging of the motors by means of concentric rings of differently shaded grey lights and spasmodic puffs of whiter light. The visualized chugging of the motors was seen to issue from behind fleeting forms which latter meant the machines themselves. Concentric rings of shaded light, patterned something like the markings of a snake, stood for alternating weak and loud intensities of the chugging; the light portions indicated the explosions and the fainter portions stood for the intervals between the explosions. Then my visual attention shifted to the far side of the street where I momentarily saw high, shadowy forms looming skyward and together with this imagery I was aware of incipi- ent motor tendencies in neck and eyes to look upward. By attenuing to these shadow forms I was able to distinguish large show windows dotted with color. Then I was aware of people behind me in terms of visual images of heels with halos of black around them; these halos were visualizations of the noise of footsteps. I could then build out, voluntarily, masculine and feminine voices, not in terms of auditory images but in terms of silvery ribbon-shaped visual forms for the feminine and darker, splotchy clouds for the masculine; these ribbon-shaped and cloud-shaped forms emanated from vaguely visualized mouths. The visualized sounds claimed my attention and I at no time tended to construct visual imagery of the persons themselves. During the entire pro- [72 1 The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject cess I had no verbal imagery; I had no noticeable motor imagery other than what I have mentioned. (I have often observed that I can visualize objects directly behind my head without tendencies to move, or at least without notice- able tendencies.) Now, as I project objects behind my head, with attention centered upon an Aufgabe to notice any possible motor imagery, I am aware of slight tendencies toward eye-movement. I do not notice this movement, ordi- narily. [Subsequent tests revealed the fact that in all shifts of visual atten- tion there was either imagery of eye-movement or incipient eye tension. It will be noticed that A mentioned tactual imagery early in this introspection and reported no accompanying visual synaesthetic imagery. At times such an incident happens but upon reinstating this imagery or upon introspecting more carefully, it invariably turns out that A had visual imagery and that he was describing the tactual image by having recourse to the visual associate. Since the visual associate meant that the image was tactual, he called it a tactual image.]" 49. Observer B. Similar instructions. "I hardly know where to begin. There first appeared very real and intense tactual imagery of the cement walk beneath my feet; then followed auditory imagery, relatively not so real or in- tense as the tactual, of automobiles passing by, of wagons, street cars, horses and people all hurrying by me in blurred confusion of noice; I detected the rumble of people's voices, their footsteps, the rustling of their clothes. All of this imagery appeared and disappeared very rapidly with exceedingly swift shifts of attention from one detail to another. Then there appeared an aware- ness of a large building near me, consisting in part of a 'shadow feeling' a vague, diffuse visual image of a shadow looming up at my side, together with very slight and incipient tendencies to draw myself together as if I were about to stop, hesitate, or shrink back. Then my attention shifted to a different group of processes consisting of incipient tensions about my neck and chest, tendencies in the region of the trunk and abdomen which I interpret as incipi- ent contractions, a general muscular tendency to stand up straighter. All of this constituted a tendency to adopt a listening or expectant attitude as I imaged myself, kinaesthetic fashion, preparing to find my way across the street. Then appearetl very shadowy and fleeting visual imagery of wagon wheels, of wagons and of automobiles turning around a corner toward me; this visual imagery had no setting of a visual sort ; the wagon wheels were the only objects which approximated clearness and here I found, on closer introspection, that my visual image was two-thirds kinaesthetic and consisted of motor imagery of arm and shoulder as though my hand were following a certain point on the rim of the wheel during its revolutions. These experiences were followed by affective processes consisting of chest tensions, deeper breathing, motor imagery of unsteadiness as if I were nervously keyed up and found it hard to tell in what direction I should proceed across the street. I then had tactual imag- ery of the sun's warmth upon my face; tactual imagery of holding a cane in my hand and kinaesthetic imagery of gripping the cane. During all this time my attention had been shifting suddenly from one detail to another, centering longer, however, on the motor imagery than upon any other type." [Instructions: Imagine yourself taking a flight in an aeroplane. Report your imagery and other processes involved.] 50. Observer A. "To begin with I had very diffused kinaesthetic imagery of being in a sitting position and this imagery, under the instructions, meant sitting in an aeroplane; this was at once followed by the beginnings of a consciousness that I was in mid-air an interpretation which, so far as I can tell, developed in the absence of no tendencies toward slight muscular tense- ness about the face, shoulders and chest. (Whenever I am conscious of being near objects there exists this tenseness just referred to.) Then my attention shifted to a visualized roaring of the motor which consisted of a great mass of inky black rolls of smoke which seemed to cover an area in space about m the size of two city blocks. This 'smoke' obscured everything; it was dense [73] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject and thick, even rendering imperceptible my entoptic sensations; I was able to visualize nothing in or through this mass, neither was I able to obtain any auditory qualities of the roaring motor. I found it impossiblg to retain my present vantage point in my imagery, and visualize any objects beneath me or around me; I had to imagine myself situated off at one side or beneath this mass or imagine that the mass had Been divided in two parts, leaving a 'cut' through which I could 'see' objects in the distance. I could not 'see' myself in the aeroplane and at the same time visualize anything else but the 'smoke,' for my visual attention was claimed by this blackness under these conditions i. e., so long as I was trying to imagine the sound of the motor. The instant I changed the Aufgabe from that of imaging the roaring motor to that of visualizing objects around or beneath me, the black 'smoke' dis- appeared; it simply melted away. I could not construct motor or tactual imagery of being hurled through space but I had a faint organic sensation of being lifted and dropped suddenly. (As I introspect I am able to obtain tactual imagery of wind pressing against my face and auditory imagery of the wind whistling by my ears but the mental content is entirely visual; I have no perceptible tactual and auditory qualities.)" [Instructions: Imagine the world one million years ago and describe all the mental processes involved.] 5L Observer A. "I first had visual imagery of a European map built up from my anthropology and geology studies. In this visual imagery, which cov- ered a large area spread out before me like a wall map, I saw at first only the boundary line between France and Germany; the rest of the map then cleared up and my visual attention suddenly shifted and I seemed to be in space just above a flat expanse of territory, rank with vegetation. This consisted of a rapid melting away of my visualized map before the developing visual image of a vast plane, colored a rich, deep green, and on which, here and there, I distinctly made out thickly growing fern stems and patches of palm leaves stretched out like fans. These latter were of a still darker green and were smooth and waxy in appearance. Then I had visual imagery of huge masto- dons, in which only their huge bulks and general forms were definitely outlined; they were elephant-color. The scene suddenly changed to a 'close-up' view of one of these beasts; here I visualized the huge head with two long, curved, shiny, white tusks; narrow slits where the eyes belong, colored almost a black, and two flap shaped ears. I then constructed, in my visual imagery, fairly definite details about the joints of the forelegs. The imagery did not include definite details about the remaining portions of the animal; the remainder of my visual image of it merely included an undifferentiated mass of grey assum- ing the general shape of an elephant but larger. Then I had very fleeting visual imagery of a saber-toothed tiger a fleeting cat-like form, streaked with color, slinking through the rank vegetative growth. This was followed by visual imagery of a primitive man, standing in a clearing before me; the clear- ing was suggested by the lightness of the green about him, compared to the dark forest background which had characterized my previous imagery. I saw this man naked, of stout, hairy body, with the hair especially black (blackness representing thickness) on his chest and on the front sides of his arms. On his chest there stood out very plainly little curly tufts in which I could make out individual hairs; in this visual imagery there also stood out the fact that the hair ran in different directions on different parts of the body, suggested by the shading in the blackness. Then I saw the man skulking about and trying to keep as closely under the cover of the forest as possible. The entire ex- perience was rich in detail the details standing out one after another as visual attention shifted from one feature in my imagery to another. There was no break in visual continuity and no tendency for visual imagery to shift or give way to imagery in any other modality. Was not conscious of vocal- motor imagery at any time during the experience." r74i The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject 52. Observer B. [Instructions same as for introspection 51.] (I was in- tensely surprised to have fairly vivid visual imagery.) There first appeared rather lasting, clear and intense visual imagery of green trees, swaying in the wind. I saw them going on and on in the distance, indefinitely, tossing and tossing, one set of branches giving way to another as if I were passing them on a moving stage. (I suppose that this imagery was not as perfect or de- tailed as would have been the imagery of a sighted person, nor was it as stable.) This imagery lasted perhaps for a second but it seemed much longer, and then faded into kinaesthetic-tactual imagerj* of lying flat on my stomach and of reaching my arms out over a sea of space and what was my visualized field of branches but an instant before; very vivid and intense was the imagery of upper arm and shoulder as I imaged myself swinging my arms and together with this there appeared almost equally as intense imagery, with incipient movements, of taking long deep breaths. All of this called up vocal-motor imagery of such words as 'gigantic', 'sweeping', 'forest', 'primeval', 'ter- rible vastness', 'massive' and the like. Then I was aware of kinaesthetic imagery of making large sweeping arcs with my arm, as if I were pointing out to some one a vast expansive territory. There then followed tactual imag- ery of thick grass about my feet and of grass twining around my ankles." [Instructions: Imagine yourself walking a tight-rope.] 53. Observer A. "At first I could get very complicated kinaesthetic imag- ery, together with visual imagery of the rope stretched beneath my feet and visual imagery of my feet upon the rope. The ends of the roi>e were not visible nor were the objects to which the rope was attached. The motor imag- ery consisted first of swaying my legs rapidly to and fro sidewise as the ropQ swayed in that fashion ; for a moment this imagery was localized very distinctly in my knees and calves; then this motor imagery expanded to include shoulders, back and arms, as I seemed to be swaying my body in an effort to keep my balance. This series of motor imagp.s was continuous both kinaesthetically and visually; I could attend momentarily to the kinaesthetic qualities of motion but the instant my kinaesthetic attention began to shift from one motor image to the next, the preceding image, then 'tapering off' in attention, had turned into a visual image of a black area localized where the motor imagery had been localized and formed into a moving streak or ribbon, repre- senting the extent and direction of the motor imagerj' itself. If I tried to hold this diHa])pearing motor image in consciousness I inevitably found that it had vanished and that I was attending to a visual synaesthetic image of the movement instead." [From this introspection it would seem that kinaes- thetic imagery shifts to visual less suddenly than does imagery in A's other non-visual nuidalities. It is interesting to note that kinaesthetic imagery may tend to occupy focal attention so long as A makes no voluntary effort to hold it there, and that the kinaesthetic process may not beccmie visual until it has nearly run its course in consciousness. It does become visual, however, before it entirely fades from non-focal consciousness.] ?"/. Summary of introspective data on processes of imagination. Observer A. A's imaginative processes are dominantly visual and this visual imagery is of two sorts: (1) visualizations of ob- jects, scenes, etc., and (2) synaesthetic imagery which appears either with or without the primary imagerj' whose qualities and behavior it "takes over." Kinaesthetic imagery appears next in order of frequency, followed by tactual and then auditory. All of these non-visual "images" tend to shift at once into their visual accompaniments, the kinaesthetic type being delayed in this shift, [75 1 The Synaesihesia of a Blind Subject at times, with the result that it seems to occupy consciousness momentarily, almost by itself. Auditory imagery is practically confined to the auditory accompaniments of verbal imagery, and here the motor factor is much stronger than the auditory; both tend at once to change into visual associates. Of interest is the rareness with which tactual imagery appears in A's imaginative processes, and its confinement largely to tactual-kinaesthetic-visual complexes. We find, as in our previous series of experiments, that A's visual images are relatively much richer in details of hue and brightness than in details of shape and outline. Accordingly, A pronounces his imagery rich in detail if in its general shape and form it is relatively persistent, or if his visual attention shifts, un- disturbed, from one rather vaguely outlined object or region in his imagery to another. Indefiniteness of minute detail and indis- tinctness of outline may possibly be due to A's 17 years of blind- ness. In visualizing the traffic of a city street, A sees but passing shapes and forms for wagons, horses, automobiles and the like; in visualizing an office building, dots and patches of color represent objects on display in the show-windows; details of construction such as small bricks, large stone blocks and the like do not appear unless under a special Aufgahe to construct them voluntarily. The rank tropical vegetation of a jungle is represented by darkness, "thickness" or richness of the green color in the imagery and by glimpses of massed fern stems, clusters of "waxy" green fan- shaped palm leaves and the like. Details are otherwise lacking. Structurally A's visual imagery may not differ from the same type of imagery in a poor visualizer, but functionally A's visual imagery is more important to him than is similar imagery in a sighted person who is asynaesthetic. The poor visualizer, as for example our other blind reagent, has a wealth of other imagery which compensates for a dearth of visual detail. Whenever and wherever visual imagery appears in A's consciousness, it occupies the focus of attention no matter how vague or imperfect that imagery may be. The poor visualizer 's attention may be centered and usually is centered upon details of other types of imagery with the result that visual imagery itself seldom occupies the focus of attention. [76] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject A's introspections on his imaginative processes confirm our previous findings with respect to the functioning of synaesthetic processes ; for not only do non- visual images always merge into the same stereotyped visual associates as appear in corresponding pro- cesses of perceiving, but these visual associates, now detached from their parent processes, symbolize original sensory experiences from the non-visual modalities. For example, feminine and masculine voices were represented by silvery, ribbon-shaped streaks of color and dark grey, splotchy clouds respectively. The chugging of an automobile motor, the tooting of horns, the roaring of an aeroplane motor were likewise represented by variously colored and shaped visual synaesthetic images. Tactual imagery of a cold wave dash- ing over the body, and difference in pressure against the balls of the feet in walking over rough ground were present in conscious- ness wholly in visual terms. In none of these instances were any non-visual qualities present to consciousness. The hue, brightness, shape, size, and behavior of the visual images represented the non- visual qualities and the behavior of the missing non-visual elements. Observer B. Kinaesthetic imagery dominates in B's imagina- tive processes, followed by auditory and then tactual. Visual imagery is the least frequent and seems to appear more or less as a surprise to the reagent. The same features characterize these different types of images as were found in our previous experi- ments. Organic processes frequently accompany B^s imaginations and are for the most part incipient innervations of muscular move- ment rather than imagery. In fact the reality and vividness of organic and kinaesthetic processes is throughout B's consciousness correlated directly with the extent of incipient motor responses, in. Observers A and B compared. B is more imaginative in his everyday mental life than is A and consistent with this fact we find that B's imagery in processes of imagination are richer in detail, faster in appearance and disap- pearance and subject to longer and more complex groupings and successions. As in previous experiments we find that B*s attention is domi- nantly kinaesthetic while A's is dominantly visual. But again we find no parallel contents in B's mental life similar in function to A's synaesthetic phenomena. For example, if B has kinaesthetic imagery of a circle, this kinaesthetic imagery is not a symbol for a [77 1 The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject visualized circle ; one form of kinaesthetic imagery does not repre- sent a white circle on a black background and another form of kinaesthetic imagery does not stand for a black circle on a white background. That is, there are no properties of this motor imag- ery which stand for former visual experiences. A's visual imagery represents specific qualities and modes of behavior of non-visual processes. Thus B's kinaesthetic backgrounds and A's visual back- grounds function in different fashions ; the former supplement and indirectly render more definite such processes as appear in non- kinaesthetic modalities while the latter directly define and take the place of such processes as tend to appear in non-visual modalities. Furthermore, while B's kinaesthetic images have possibly come to take the place of decayed visual functions, the former do not stand for or directly define the latter. A's visual synaesthetic images function more than in the capacity of visualizations of ob- jects; they function further than as a mere substitution for de- cayed modalities. iv. Significance of A's synaesthetic phenomena in processes of imagination. Aside from confirming our previous findings with respect to A^s synaesthetic phenomena, a study of his imaginative processes re- veals added significant facts concerning the role which these phenomena play in consciousness. First, it is to be noted that organic and kinaesthetic imagery is slightly delayed, at times, com- pared with imagery from other non-visual modalities, in the process of shifting to its visual accompaniment. Although we had found some evidence of this in our earlier experiments the relatively greater frequency of organic and kinaesthetic factors in A's imagi- native consciousness than in types of consciousness studied in our previous series has brought this difference into the foreground. This delay in the tendency for organic and kinaesthetic images to shift into visual processes means that they approach in their origi- nal form nearer to the focus of attention than do other non-visual images. As a result A is able to ascribe to them more definite at- tributes of their own. These facts suggest that a kinaesthetic process is so important, as such, in mental life, that no non-kinaes- thetic process can function as an adequate symbol for it. It seems safe to conclude, therefore, that in A's case we find no exception to [78] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject the general rule that kinaesthetic processes are essential constituents of mental life. In A's case there are imaginative situations, par- ticularly those which involve bodily movement or adjustment, bodily attitudes or motor attitudes as they are more often called, which are more or less implicitly capable of functioning in the de- velopment of meaning. At least they are sufficiently capable of so functioning that their transition into subsequent and definitizing visual processes is delayed. We are inclined to regard this exception to A's synaesthetic functioning as not only one which was to be expected but one which throws added light upon the nature of synaesthesia itself and also upon the real value of consciousness. If we assume that the func- tion of consciousness is that of evoking bodily movements explicit behavior we should expect that motor imagery itself, because of the fact that it is direct imagery of movement, should most readily of all imagery arouse movement and particularly that movement which the motor image anticipates. On the other hand one would expect that visual, auditory and tactual imagery might all lead to movement with approximately equal readiness. Thus, in A's case the visual concomitants of auditory and tactual processes would function quite as efficiently in controlling co-ordinated explicit behavior as might the auditory or tactual processes themselves. As a matter of fact we have seen that in his case the latter function in consciousness more readily than do the former. Hence it may be that his visual functions have a closer connection with bodily move- ment and hence function more readily in consciousness because they more readil}- lead to overt response than do the non-visual processes for which the visual images stand. We might assume by way of explaining this situation physiologically, that visual func- tions are more closely integrated with the motor projection areas of the brain than are his non-visual functions. Furthermore, since kinaesthetic imagery is apparently more closely connected with efferent projection centers than any other type of imagery witness the frequency with which kinaesthetic imagery is accompanied by or with which it leads to incipient in- nervations even A's synaesthetic visual images do not always take the place of kinaesthetic qualities, in consciousness. All the more plausible becomes this view when we notice that kinaesthetic imag- ery is delayed in shifting to its visual accompaniment only when it is definitely followed by incipient movement. [79] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject D. Series 4. Free associations. i. Typical introspective data. [Instructions: I am going to present to you a word in auditory fashion to which I want you to respond orally with the first word which enters your mind. Eeady. Now,] 58. Observer B. <'While the experimenter was reading the instructions I was focally aware of his voice, together with increasing tendencies to sit more erect in my chair, to contract about the chest, shoulders, face and throat. There was also a slight tendency to hold my breath. The whole process thus far consisted of an attitude of alertness in which my attention was centered, in auditory fashion, upon the experimenter's voice. This latter fixation of attention consisted of tendencies to lean in the direction of the experimenter and to become conscious of faint sounds in the region of my right ear which was nearest the experimenter. Then I perceived the word 'whistle.' For an instant this dominated attention and the quality, enunciation and other details of the auditory perception stood out focally in consciousness, one following the other; just at this juncture I noticed a general tendency toward muscular contraction in the region of the abdomen and chest as if I were inhibiting my breathing, together with marked tensions in the back of my throat; these latter developed into incipient tendencies to assume a mouth and throat posi- tion as if to whistle and were accompanied by very faint and sketchy auditory- Tocal-motor imagery of the word 'whistle.' Just as my attention was linger- ing upon these developing tensions I found myself beginning to innervate a word, the movements of which seemed to be derived from the positions of my lips previously taken in assuming a mouth position to blow. I then found myself saying 'blow' out loud. I was not aware of the word as such before I said it; neither was I conscious of any antecedent imagery which might have suggested it other than what I have described." 59. Observer A. Similar instructions. Word: whistle. Eesponse: boy. ((* * As I heard the word 'whistle' I found my attention at once leaving the quality of the experimenter's voice and shifting to a visual image of a white, cloud-like form about the size and shape of a pillow case, with the visual quality a linen-white. This image was localized in space in front of me at a distance of about six feet. The right edge of this form toward the experi- menter was much brighter than the rest and glowed as the reflected light from a white crystal might glow; (this I discovered was due to the 'sss' sound from the word 'whistle'.) This visual image persisted but at once began to drift upward and to the right. My attention was momentarily ab- sorbed in wondering what caused this colored form ; I then became conscious of the task in terms of a developing strained condition in my throat and in a tendency to repeat the word 'whistle' in terms of auditory-vocal-motor imagery of my own voice; but this latter imagery had but just begun to develop when my attention was claimed visually by an image of a boy with only head and shoulders showing and with no detail of eyes or other facial features. The general size and shape of the image indicated that it represented a boy rather than a man or woman. All during this time the synaesthetic image mentioned above was persisting non-focally in consciousness and was drifting off into the upper left hand field of vision. Upon the appearance of the boy in visual imagery I found myself tending to relax about the abdomen and shoulders as if the task were over, but the strain in my throat became greater and I found my attention shifting from my visual image to my throat region which was subsequently visualized in black. Then I first became aware of the fact that I was trying to say something and couldn't. After a period of brief delay I found myself saying, suddenly, 'boy' and along with this vocalization there appeared a dark grey, almost inky smudge in the center of my field of vision, entirely obliterating my visual image of the boy. This smudge was the stere- [80] The Synaesthesia of a Blind Subject otyped visual counterpart of the word 'boy' and is determined largely by the letter 'b'. (For a moment during the reaction I was satisfied that my visual image of a boy was my response to the stimulus word.)" 60. Observer B. Instructions the same as before. Word: become. Re- sponse: becoming. Reaction time, 3 and 3-5 seconds. '*0n hearing the word 'become' I had some auditory imagery which I have entirely forgotten owing, presumably, to the intensity of my efforts to find a stimulus word. Following this auditory imagery my attention was claimed by rapidly developing and long persisting tensions localized about my abdomen and chest, by undiflFerentiated organic reactions which I think involved respiratory and circulatory changes, all of which constituted a feeling of ghastness. This long and drawn-out motor reaction was followed by a spontaneous vocalization of the word 'gee!' Then I was aware of faint and syncopated auditory imagery of professor R. talking about 'becoming', but the word 'becoming' itself stood out no more clearly than did any of the other auditory imagery. Following this waa a short period of utter blankness of mind so far as imagery was concerned, characterized by a lingering attention upon my motor tenseness. Then audi- tory imagery of the stimulus word appeared and persisted for some little time, then for only the briefest instant of time my attention shifted to auditory imagery of professor R's voice again and this was immediately followed by sudden vocalization of the word 'becoming'." 61. Observer A. Similar instructions. Word: become. Response: three. "As I heard the word 'become' I found my attention at once shifting from the sound of the word to a peculiarly shaped visual image like that of a letter *B' lying on its belly. The left half of this image was dark grey; the right half was the color of bee's-wax. This whole image drifted off from my field of vision and I found my attention momentarily occupied with the entoptic phenomena which were left. I then reinstated the visual image just described and at this juncture I was first aware of the moaning of 'become'; up to this time I had not grasped the meaning of the word. I could not have told you what the stimulus word was until after this visual associate appeared the sec- ond time (having been 'yanked back' into consciousness by eye-movement); it seemed to me as if I were re-attending to the stimulus word itselt, although there was no auditory or vocal-motor imagery present to consciousness. With no warning this visual image shifted its position, turning up upon one end, and the bee's wax turned into a deeper re