Abstract
WITH reference to Mr. Walker's interesting letter, which bears out the opinion of Prof. Kunz and others that there is no special development of the other senses in those who have lost the sense of sight, I feel at a loss to give an adequate explanation of the curious experiences described by Mr. Walker. The only suggestion I would venture to make is that Mr. Walker may, by long and almost unconscious practice, have learned to associate certain tones of the voice, as regards quality of tone, with certain movements of the head that he supposes are made by the speaker at the time he utters the words. Tones of inquiry, surprise, reproach, affection, interest, have each a certain quality indicative of states of feeling (unless they are produced by mimicry), and the blind man may draw conclusions as to movement and state of feeling on the part of the speakers. He has then what Mr. Walker calls “a picture of the play of their emotions”. I cannot explain why Mr. Walker has almost invariably a picture of the upper part of the face, nor why he prefers to sit at an angle to a public speaker instead of in front. His experience supports the view that the blind have not more acute sensory perceptions than those who see, but that they have cultivated the habit of close attention. This, in turn, stimulates their imagination, and gives them mental pictures of external things that are of no special importance to those who see.
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MCKENDRICK, J. [Letters to Editor]. Nature 82, 128 (1909). https://doi.org/10.1038/082128a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/082128a0
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