The semantic basis of taste-shape associations
Previous research shows that people systematically match tastes with shapes. Here, we assess the extent to which matched taste and shape stimuli share a common semantic space and whether semantically congruent versus incongruent taste/shape associations can influence the speed with which people resp...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2016-02-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/1644.pdf |
| _version_ | 1827606873444974592 |
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| author | Carlos Velasco Andy T. Woods Lawrence E. Marks Adrian David Cheok Charles Spence |
| author_facet | Carlos Velasco Andy T. Woods Lawrence E. Marks Adrian David Cheok Charles Spence |
| author_sort | Carlos Velasco |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Previous research shows that people systematically match tastes with shapes. Here, we assess the extent to which matched taste and shape stimuli share a common semantic space and whether semantically congruent versus incongruent taste/shape associations can influence the speed with which people respond to both shapes and taste words. In Experiment 1, semantic differentiation was used to assess the semantic space of both taste words and shapes. The results suggest a common semantic space containing two principal components (seemingly, intensity and hedonics) and two principal clusters, one including round shapes and the taste word “sweet,” and the other including angular shapes and the taste words “salty,” “sour,” and “bitter.” The former cluster appears more positively-valenced whilst less potent than the latter. In Experiment 2, two speeded classification tasks assessed whether congruent versus incongruent mappings of stimuli and responses (e.g., sweet with round versus sweet with angular) would influence the speed of participants’ responding, to both shapes and taste words. The results revealed an overall effect of congruence with congruent trials yielding faster responses than their incongruent counterparts. These results are consistent with previous evidence suggesting a close relation (or crossmodal correspondence) between tastes and shape curvature that may derive from common semantic coding, perhaps along the intensity and hedonic dimensions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:46:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ae7a6f8d138e450294e1c1909c2bc4a5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:46:36Z |
| publishDate | 2016-02-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-ae7a6f8d138e450294e1c1909c2bc4a52023-12-03T10:35:19ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592016-02-014e164410.7717/peerj.1644The semantic basis of taste-shape associationsCarlos Velasco0Andy T. Woods1Lawrence E. Marks2Adrian David Cheok3Charles Spence4Crossmodal Research Laboratory, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UKCrossmodal Research Laboratory, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UKSensory Information Processing, John B. Pierce Laboratory, New Haven, CT, USAImagineering Institute, Iskandar, MalaysiaCrossmodal Research Laboratory, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UKPrevious research shows that people systematically match tastes with shapes. Here, we assess the extent to which matched taste and shape stimuli share a common semantic space and whether semantically congruent versus incongruent taste/shape associations can influence the speed with which people respond to both shapes and taste words. In Experiment 1, semantic differentiation was used to assess the semantic space of both taste words and shapes. The results suggest a common semantic space containing two principal components (seemingly, intensity and hedonics) and two principal clusters, one including round shapes and the taste word “sweet,” and the other including angular shapes and the taste words “salty,” “sour,” and “bitter.” The former cluster appears more positively-valenced whilst less potent than the latter. In Experiment 2, two speeded classification tasks assessed whether congruent versus incongruent mappings of stimuli and responses (e.g., sweet with round versus sweet with angular) would influence the speed of participants’ responding, to both shapes and taste words. The results revealed an overall effect of congruence with congruent trials yielding faster responses than their incongruent counterparts. These results are consistent with previous evidence suggesting a close relation (or crossmodal correspondence) between tastes and shape curvature that may derive from common semantic coding, perhaps along the intensity and hedonic dimensions.https://peerj.com/articles/1644.pdfSemantic differentiationShapesCrossmodal correspondencesTastesCongruency effects |
| spellingShingle | Carlos Velasco Andy T. Woods Lawrence E. Marks Adrian David Cheok Charles Spence The semantic basis of taste-shape associations PeerJ Semantic differentiation Shapes Crossmodal correspondences Tastes Congruency effects |
| title | The semantic basis of taste-shape associations |
| title_full | The semantic basis of taste-shape associations |
| title_fullStr | The semantic basis of taste-shape associations |
| title_full_unstemmed | The semantic basis of taste-shape associations |
| title_short | The semantic basis of taste-shape associations |
| title_sort | semantic basis of taste shape associations |
| topic | Semantic differentiation Shapes Crossmodal correspondences Tastes Congruency effects |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/1644.pdf |
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