The Kiki-Bouba paradigm : where senses meet and greet

Journal Title: INDIAN JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH - Year 2016, Vol 3, Issue 3

Abstract

Humans have the ability to think in abstract ways. Experiments over the last 90 years have shown that stimuli from the external world can be evaluated on an abstract spectrum with ‘Kiki’ on one end and ‘Bouba’ on the other. People are in concordance with each other with respect to calling a jagged-edgysharp bordered two dimensional shape ‘Kiki’ and a curvy-smooth-round two dimensional shape ‘Bouba’..The proclivity of this correspondence is ubiquitous. Moreover, the Kiki-Bouba phenomenon seems to represent a non-arbitrary abstract connection between 2 or more stimuli. Studies have shown that crossmodal associations between and withinaudioception, opthalmoception, tactioception and gustatoception can be demonstrated by using Kiki-Bouba as a cognitive ‘convergence point’. This review includes a critical assessment of the methods, findings, limitations, plausible explanations and future directions involving the Kiki-Bouba effect. Applications include creating treatments and training methods to compensate for poor abstract thinking abilities caused by disorders like schizophrenia and autism, for example. Continuing research in this area would help building a universal model of consciousness that fully incorporates cross-sensory perception at the biological and cognitive levels.

Authors and Affiliations

Aditya Shukla

Keywords

Related Articles

A study on the efficacy and safety of Blonanserin in Indian patients in Ahmedabad: a randomized, active controlled, phase III clinical trial

Introduction: Blonanserin is a novel atypical antipsychotic with higher dopamine D 2 receptor occupancy and lower serotonin 5-HT2A receptor blocking activity as compared to the other atypical antipsychotics.The objective...

A study to explore the relationship between Gratitude in Daily Life and Self Esteem among young adults

Background: Gratitude as expressed by an individual can be seen both as a dispositional trait and even as an emotion. It helps man to see positive life events as more positive and negative life events as seemingly less t...

Mythological conceptualization, cognitive and ego development: Is there a correlation ?

Background: In today’s world there is a continuous struggle between science and spirituality, with a lot of doctors feeling that religion gets in the way of scientific treatment and sometimes also leads to very dire and...

K-means Cluster of Personality in Predicting Self-Care Activities in Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Personality traits are stable factors which can aid in understanding patient health behaviour.The five-factor model of personality can serve as a theoretical background for exploration and understanding of he...

Relationship between Athletic Identity, Sports Motivation and Dispositional Optimism among College Students Participating in Individual Sports

Introduction: Sports has been an integral part of all the cultures including the Indian culture. India has been developing rapidly when it comes to the sports participation and representation at the world level. Thus it...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP250446
  • DOI 10.30877/IJMH.3.3.2016.240-252
  • Views 367
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Aditya Shukla (2016). The Kiki-Bouba paradigm : where senses meet and greet. INDIAN JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH, 3(3), 240-252. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-250446