A deaf persons internal monologue ?

[Thingybob]

It got us all in the staffroom thinking to when I asked the question. We veered off into 'Do blind from birth' people dream in pictures? through 'Do we all see colours the same? Maybe if I looked through your eyes the sky would be purple and the grass blue', and into synesthesia (People who “see” or associate letters and numbers with specific colours).

The colours part is something my wife asked me years ago and has always stuck with me the best one that got me thinking is Orange is it a colour we all see or is it an object we all call an orange and adopt it as a colour when its actualy purple or green

 

[aet1]

The colours part is something my wife asked me years ago and has always stuck with me the best one that got me thinking is Orange is it a colour we all see or is it an object we all call an orange and adopt it as a colour when its actualy purple or green

We learn what name we call a certain colour, so generally it is not important if we perceive a colour the same because we will call it the same name. The real problem comes in colour blindness because certain colour shades / tones of a colour may be perceived differently. Some tones of red look green to me, brown and green can look identical. One of my first memories of school was being told of by a teacher for colouring leaves brown and the trunk green when painting a tree.

 

[mwinfrance]

One of my first memories of school was being told of by a teacher for colouring leaves brown and the trunk green when painting a tree

Copper beech sapling ?

 

[Rodpr]

MichaelChou's comment about whether internal dialogue is in your own voice got me thinking- I am pretty sure that my internal dialogue does not have a 'voice' - it operates more at the level of word meanings than sounds, from a part of the brain 'above' aural processing.

The adaptability of the brain is truly amazing. People who have been blind from birth can learn to see with their tongues or their backs - using an array of electrical stimuli on the tongue or vibrations on the back. What is crucial is that the camera which provides the data which is 'translated' into a pattern of stimuli has to be mounted on the user's head. The brain can quickly learn to decode the CHANGES in stimuli which correspond to changes of position (turning slightly to the left or right, up or down) but learning to 'read' stimuli from a fixed camera is MUCH more difficult. We dont really see or hear or feel the world, we interpret changes in the information we get about it and then present ourselves with a representation of what is out there.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

According to my observations (I work with neurodevelopmental disorders), understanding conversation is not simply about language. Inner language has a number of levels, some of which are linked to visualisation. For something said to you to make sense, it must have a context. To be able to recall it, it needs to be both understood linguistically and visual-spatially. For example, "Take the plate to the table" requires that one can visualise the target and the steps involved getting there, and then where you will place the plate on which part of the table. Those who struggle with visualisation and visual working memory, will have difficulty recalling instructions. What is great about woodworking is that it is hands-on and visual. Tailor-made for us dumb woodworkers . It makes sense that visualisation can replace language in the deaf.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[woodhutt]

I have to confess that, when I read the title of the thread I thought it said "A Dead Persons Internal Monologue". The concept threw me for a moment. I really need stronger glasses.