Hearing Shapes

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19 November 2010

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Hearing Shapes and Tasting Words

The blending of sensory experiences is

called synaesthesia and it helps people sort out useful information from the clutter that surrounds it

Synaesthesia is a medical condition that affects about one in every 2,000 people. According to the Synaesthesia Research Group at the University of Waterloo, Canada, “There are many types of synaesthesia. Some synaesthetes have conscious experiences of vivid colours when listening to music or hearing other types of sounds.

“Other synaesthetes experience strong tactile sensations (itching, tingling) when hearing noises such as those emitted by a vacuum cleaner.”

The most common experience of the condition is what’s called letter/digit colour synaesthesia; people with this experience particular colours when they see, hear or even think about a letter.

Testing for Synaesthesia

Researchers at Oxford University in England say that all people are capable of experiencing some form of Synaesthesia, such as “tasting sounds” or “hearing shapes.”

In May 2009, BBC News reported on a study, which is on-going, carried out by Charles Spence, a professor of experimental psychology, and Cesare Parise, a doctoral student.

Subjects were shown “an image flashed up on a screen at a slightly different time to one of two tones - one low-pitched and one high-pitched - being played.

There were two sets of image: a large and a small black dot, or an angular and a very rounded shape.”

The volunteers had to say whether the image or the tone came first. Rounded shapes and larger dots were seen to resemble lower-pitched sounds.

Professor Spence told the BBC’s science reporter, Victoria Gill: “When the sound and the image didn’t match, people found it easier to keep them separate. Whereas with a congruent pairing - a small dot and a high-pitched sound - the participant’s brain seemed to bind them together more."

Word and Shape Association

Seventy years ago, the German psychologist Wolfgang Köhler set up an experiment and identified what has become known as the Bouba/Kiki Effect.

Volunteers are shown two shapes: one is spiky and jagged, the other is rounded like an ink blot. The subjects are then asked which of two made-up words “bouba” and “kiki” match the shapes most closely.

Between 95 percent and 98 percent of the time, the curvy shape is chosen to go with “bouba” and the pointed shape to go with “kiki.” The results are very much the same, whether the subject speaks English, Spanish, or Urdu. However, people with autism match the shapes only 60 percent of the time.

Scientists call this process synaesthesia-mapping.

Connecting Sense of Taste and Sound

Back at Oxford University Professor Spence and his team are working with a chef to discover whether taste buds can be influenced by language.

He told BBC News: “We’ve been giving people dishes and asking them questions about them, including is that food more of a ‘bouba’ or a ‘kiki’? Or is it a ‘maluma’ or ‘takete’?”

Brie cheese turns out to be “very maluma” while cranberries are “very takete.” Perhaps, one day restaurateurs will learn how to influence our food choices by how they describe dishes on menus.

Image credits

Shri

Melodi2

Sources

“People May be able to Taste Words.” Victoria Gill, BBC News, May 28, 2009.