State
your research question:
Can
synesthesia be taught through learning?
Provide
your citation in APA style:
Bor, D., Rothen, N., Schwartzman, D. J.,
Clayton, S., & Seth, A. K. (2014). Adults can be trained to acquire
synesthetic experiences. Scientific
Reports,4, 7089. doi:10.1038/srep07089
Descriptive
annotation:
The
aim of this study was to see if people who currently do not experience synesthesia
could be trained to induce grapheme-color synesthesia themselves through
extensive training. In the article, a study was conducted on 14 individuals who
have not experienced synesthesia. The participants went under several tests for
9 weeks by associating words or letters with color. Results indicated, grapheme-color
synesthesia can be induced however, most participants reported a loss of gained
abilities after 3 months.
Evaluative
annotation:
· Is the
article written within a reasonable time span for your topic? (Currency)
Yes, the article is very current
because it was only published 2-3 years ago.
· How does the
article connect with your research question? (Relevance)
It literally is testing my research
question. However, there needs to be future research because the sample size
used was very small and should be much bigger to draw significant results.
· What are the
author's credentials? Is there evidence that they are an authority on this
topic? (Authority/credibility)
Yes, many of the authors worked in the appropriate fields. Some
of the fields include: psychology, informatics, and consciousness science.
· How would
you describe the article's viewpoint and research methods? (Please indicate the
academic discipline along with any biases you perceive.) If the article expresses
an argument or opinion, do you agree with it? Why or why not? (Authority/viewpoint)
The article’s viewpoint was factual and informative however,
its research methods needs some improvement. As mentioned before, the sample
size was too small. Finding other articles that support this viewpoint would be
needed.
· Based on
what you’ve read and what you know, do you think this article is truthful about
facts? Can they be verified from other sources? Have statistics or quotations
been distorted or taken out of context? (Accuracy)
The study would be more accurate if the sample size was much
larger. A sample size of 14 does not produce very significant meaning to the results
but the study does shine a brighter light on the possibility of learning synesthesia.
· What is the
scope of this article? Does it answer a specific question? Who is the audience
for an article like this? (Purpose)
The goal was to answer the question
on if synesthesia could be trained, or learned. It turns out, synesthesia can
be taught and learned but the effects do not last long. Indicating further
study for lasting techniques.
