From chickens to humans, animals think "bouba" sounds round
2 days ago
- #animal cognition
- #psychology
- #language
- The bouba/kiki effect describes how people associate certain sounds with round or spiky shapes.
- Initial explanations suggested similarity to actual words, but studies across languages and alphabets showed it's a general human tendency.
- Infants as young as 4 months old exhibit the bouba/kiki effect, suggesting it's not learned.
- Attempts to find the effect in other primates failed, leading to speculation it might be uniquely human.
- New research with newly hatched chickens shows they also associate 'bouba' with round shapes, challenging the idea that the effect is strictly human.