| Phineas Head is a researcher in cognitive science, working with Stevan Harnad, Itiel Dror, Tony Roberts and Wouter van Oortmerssen to understand the processes governing synaesthesia. This, to our knowledge, is the first experiment in this field to take advantage of the Internet as a resource to obtain experimental data from such a rare and gifted set of individuals. It is designed to explore the relationship between pitch and colour on a continuous colour spectrum. You will hear sounds and have the opportunity to indicate on a colour palette the colour that you experience for that pitch — even though you may not ever feel that the tones have a colour at all. |
WHEN YOU START THE EXPERIMENT YOU WILL SEE THE SCREEN SHOWN BELOW. IT IS REALLY A COLOUR PALETTE LIKE THE STANDARD PALETTE FOUND IN WINDOWS APPLICATIONS FOR CHOOSING COLOURS.
THE INFORMATION BAR TELLS YOU WHAT TO DO AND WILL SOMETIMES (ABOUT HALF THE TIME)TELL YOU THE NOTE NAME OF THE PITCH THAT YOU ARE HEARING. MAKE SURE YOU LOOK OUT FOR THAT EVERY TIME!
PLAY REPLAYS THE SOUND THAT YOU JUST HEARD, AS OFTEN AS YOU WISH.
ERASE ERASES THE LAST COLOUR MATCH THAT YOU MADE, IN CASE YOU MADE A MISTAKE.
RESET STARTS THE EXPERIMENT FROM THE BEGINNING. ONLY CLICK THIS IF YOU ARE REALLY STUCK!
SEND EMAIL SENDS US THE DATA FROM YOUR EXPERIMENT: PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO CLICK THIS UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD THAT THE EXPERIMENT IS COMPLETE.
RESULT ONLY CLICK THIS IF THE SEND EMAIL OPERATION FAILS; THE INFO BAR WILL TELL YOU THIS. SEE TROUBLESHOOTING SECTION BELOW FOR INSTRUCTIONS.
CHECK BOXES & THE COMMETNT BOX YOU ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO FILL THESE IN. INCLUDE IN THE COMMENTS BOX ANY EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR SYNAESTHESIA THAT YOU THINK IS RELEVANT. YOU MIGHT FIND THE TIMBRE OF THE 'PLAY' SOUND TO HAVE A COLOUR, SO TELL US THAT, AND ALSO, THE APPROXIMATE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TOOK YOU TO DO THE WHOLE EXPERIMENT. MOST IMPORTANT IS THE AMOUNT OF MUSICAL EXPERIENCE YOU HAVE.
YOU WILL BE SENDING INCOMPLETE DATA IF YOU DO
THIS! —
(IF YOU DO, CARRY ON WITH THE EXPERIMENT AND CLICK AGAIN AT THE END)
| AS SOON AS YOU START THE EXPERIMENT (BY CLICKING THE BRAIN AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE) YOU WILL BE PRESENTED WITH THE PALETTE SCREEN IN THE PICTURE ABOVE. | ||
| TO START, SIMPLY CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON. YOU WILL HEAR A TONE PLAYED ON A SYNTHESIZED CLARINET. MOVE THE CURSOR OVER THE COLOUR PALETTE (WITHOUT CLICKING) TO THE POSITION THAT DESCRIBES THE FIRST COLOUR THAT COMES INTO YOUR HEAD WITH THAT TONE. DON'T THINK TOO HARD ABOUT THIS AS IT IS VERY UNLIKELY THAT YOU WILL GET AN IMMEDIATE COLOUR. YOU MAY EVEN FEEL THAT YOU ARE JUST 'MAKING IT UP', BUT DON'T WORRY! JUST CARRY ON TO THE END! | ||
| TO HELP YOU GET THE COLOUR JUST RIGHT, THE BOX AT THE SIDE OF THE PALETTE WILL CHANGE TO THE COLOUR DIRECTLY UNDER THE MOUSE POINTER AS YOU MOVE IT. CLICKING ON THE PALETTE RECORDS THE COLOUR IN THE BOX AS YOUR COLOUR FOR THAT TONE. | ||
| IF YOU WISH TO HEAR THE PITCH AGAIN, BEFORE YOU COMMIT TO A COLOUR, YOU CAN CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON AND IT WILL REPLAY AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WISH. THERE IS NO TIME LIMIT AND NO PENALTY FOR REPLAYING THE TONE; WE WANT YOU TO BE SURE! | ||
| BECAUSE THERE IS NO TIME LIMIT, YOU MAY REST YOU EYES AT ANY TIME. | ||
| AS SOON AS YOU HAVE CLICKED, YOU WILL HEAR ONE OF THREE RATHER ODD SNATCHES OF SOUND (AROUND 10 SECONDS WORTH). IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU ATTEND TO THESE AS WELL. HIDDEN WITHIN ALL OF THESE 'ODD' SOUNDS IS SOME SPEECH INFORMATION. IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO SPOT, BUT IF YOU DO MANAGE TO HEAR ANY SPEECH, ADD IT TO YOUR COMMENTS IN THE COMMENTS BOX SECTION. | ||
| WHEN THAT SOUND HAS FINISHED YOU CAN REPEAT THE COLOUR MATCHING TASK WITH A NEW TONE; AFTER THE ODD SOUND HAS ENDED, CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON AGAIN AND A DIFFERENT NOTE WILL SOUND. REMEMBER TO LOOK OUT FOR ITS NOTE NAME IN THE INFORMATION BAR; (e.g. "Test 12, G"). YOU WILL BE GIVEN THE NOTE NAME HALF OF THE TIME, RANDOMLY. | ||
| AS BEFORE, CLICK ON THE PALETTE WHERE YOU SEE THAT TONE'S COLOUR. YOU WILL GET ANOTHER ODD SOUND, AFTER WHICH YOU CAN PROCEED AGAIN, HAVING LISTENED OUT FOR THE HIDDEN SPEECH. | ||
| CARRY ON LIKE THIS UNTIL YOU ARE FURTHER INSTRUCTED IN THE INFORMATION BAR THAT THE EXPERIMENT IS OVER. THERE ARE AROUND 120 TRIALS, EACH OF WHICH SHOULD TAKE ABOUT 25sec (15sec TO PLAY THE SOUND AND CLICK THE COLOUR, 10sec FOR THE 'ODD SOUND') |
