Cross-Modal Correspondence Between Sound Pitch and Shape Controlled by Shape Feature Indices

Recently, cross-modal correspondences, which is compatibility effects between attributes or dimensions of stimuli in different sensory modalities, have been drawing attention. In the case of the correspondences between sound and shape, the effect of “angularity” of shapes on sound pitch has been widely studied while there has been little research on the other features of shapes. Previous studies have shown that the human emotion mediates the cross-modal correspondences. Therefore, this study focuses on the complexity and order of shapes, which is said to influence human emotion, and aims to examine the cross-modal correspondences induced by its sensation. First, indices of complexity and order are selected. Next, shapes are selected based on each index. Finally, an experiment was conducted to investigate the correspondence between shapes and sound pitches. As a result, the correspondence between the complexity of shapes and higher pitches were found. On the other hand, the correspondence between the order of shape and lower pitches were not found.