Mmastodon EnvironmentWildlife first seen 11 h ago, last 9 h ago, peak #1

Dogs show the bouba/kiki effect, echoing 1920s experiment

Original: 🐶 TIL: A # 1920s # psychology # experiment asked people to match made-up words with shapes, and most agreed that "bouba"

Researchers in Italy tested 70 dogs by playing the made-up words 'bouba' and 'kiki' over speakers while showing them a round and a spiky shape on screens. The dogs looked at the shapes in a way that matched the sound associations. The result echoes a 1920s psychology experiment in which most people agreed 'bouba' sounds round and 'kiki' sounds spiky, suggesting the effect may not be uniquely human.

Why now: A new study with dogs suggests a famous cross-modal sound-shape effect once thought human-specific may be shared with animals.

Italydogsbouba/kiki effect

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Evidence

• 🐶 TIL: A # 1920s # psychology # experiment asked people to match made-up words with shapes, and most agreed that "bouba" sounds round while "kiki" sounds spiky. Researchers in # Italy tested 70 dogs, playing the words over speakers while showing both shapes on screens. The #… · tksst@fediscience.org · 7

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