A Common Scheme for Cross-Sensory Correspondences across Stimulus Domains
Laura Walker, Peter Walker, Brian Francis

Date: 2012-06-19 03:00 PM – 04:00 PM
Last modified: 2012-04-24

Abstract


Following Karwoski, Odbert, and Osgood (1942), it is proposed that cross-sensory correspondences can arise from extensive, bi-directional cross-activation between dimensions of connotative meaning. If this account is correct, the same set of cross-sensory correspondences (e.g., smallness with brightness, brightness with high pitch, high pitch with sharpness) should emerge regardless of the sensory channel (visual, auditory, or tactile) that is probed. To test this prediction, participants rated a range of visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli on a series of rating scales relating to different dimensions of connotative meaning. The same set of cross-sensory correspondences emerged from all types of stimulus variation. This supports the suggestion that cross-sensory correspondences can reflect reciprocal interactions between dimensions of connotative meaning, and indicates that Spence’s (2011) theoretical framework might be usefully extended to include semantically-based correspondences.

References


Karwoski T F, Odbert H S, Osgood C E, 1942 “Studies in synesthetic thinking: II. The role of form in visual responses to music” Journal of General Psychology 26 199-222 Spence C, 2011 “Crossmodal correspondences: A tutorial review” Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics 73 971-995

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