Dogs Seem to Agree With Humans That 'Bouba' Is Round And 'Kiki' Is Spiky - ScienceAlert
A study involving 70 dogs suggests that canines may share the human tendency to associate 'Bouba' with round shapes and 'Kiki' with spiky ones. Researchers used AI-tracked head movements to determine if dogs naturally link specific sounds to visual patterns.
Why it matters
This research provides insight into cross-species cognitive evolution and how different animals perceive abstract linguistic and visual relationships.
Picture a shape called 'Bouba'. What features does it have? Is it angular, rounded, soft, hard? What about a shape called 'Kiki'?
There's no correct answer to this – the words are made up. But for some strange reason, most people who are asked this question – regardless of the language or alphabet they use to speak or write – agree that Kiki is spiky, and Bouba is round.
This fascinating psychological experiment was first conceived in the 1920s, and it suggests there may be something universal about the way we humans connect visual information, like shapes, with sounds.
Now, a new study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences suggests even our canine companions might follow this trend.
Animal behaviorist Eleonora Biffi at the University of Parma in Italy led the research.
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