The 'bouba/kiki' effect is a psychological phenomenon where humans, regardless of their native language, consistently associate the word 'bouba' with rounded shapes and 'kiki' with spiky, angular shapes. This suggests a universal cognitive link between auditory information and visual perception. Recent research published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences indicates that domestic dogs may exhibit this same behavioral trend.
This visual illustrates the core concept of the bouba/kiki effect described in the opening paragraph.
Led by animal behaviorist Eleonora Biffi at the University of Parma, the study involved 70 domestic dogs in two distinct experimental setups. In the first trial, 51 dogs and their owners observed a screen and speaker setup where the words 'bouba' or 'kiki' were played alongside corresponding shapes. Researchers used AI to track the dogs' head movements, which served as a proxy for where the animals were looking. The results showed that dogs looked significantly more at the rounded shape when 'bouba' was played and at the spiky shape when 'kiki' was played.
To ensure the results were not merely a reaction to the owners' behavior, a second experiment was conducted with 19 dogs while their owners wore headphones to block out the audio. In this controlled environment, the dogs' bias toward the specific shapes associated with the sounds persisted. While the study provides a compelling starting point for understanding how dogs process human language and perceive the physical world, the researchers noted that more study is needed to definitively confirm these associations. One potential nuance explored by the authors is whether the angular features of canine facial morphology might influence these perceptions differently than in humans.