Analogy Training and Synesthetic Phenomena

Summary Eighty male and female undergraduates were assigned to one of four groups which differed on order of presentation of three tasks: (a) an analogy training task, (b) a measure of sensitivity to intersensory alignments, and (c) a self-report instrument on synesthetic experience. The data suggested positive transfer from the analogy training to each of the other tasks, but no transfer effect in any other direction. There was significant correlation between individual performance on the verbal analogies and the intersensory alignments, but only when the analogy training preceded the intersensory alignment task. Results were interpreted as consistent with the view that a relationship exists between synesthetic phenomena and analogical thought.