Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42869483›Full record

ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2026

Hearing shapes: the Bouba-Kiki effect in adult domestic dogs.

Eleonora Biffi, Giulia Pedretti, Simona Normando, Teddy Lazebnik, Maria Loconsole, Paola Valsecchi

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Eleonora BiffiDepartment of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma , Parma 43126, Italy.ORCID 0009-0006-3346-708X
Giulia PedrettiDepartment of Chemistry, Life Science and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma , Parma 43124, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-4440-351X
Simona NormandoDepartment of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padova , Legnaro 35020, Italy.
Teddy LazebnikDepartment of Information Systems, University of Haifa Department of Israel Studies , Haifa 3498838, Israel.ORCID 0000-0002-7851-8147
Maria LoconsoleDepartment of General Psychology, University of Padova , Padova 35131, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-0024-2670
Paola ValsecchiDepartment of Chemistry, Life Science and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma , Parma 43124, Italy.

Funding

European Union - NextGenerationEUPRIN 2022 (Progetti di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale)University of Padua under the 2023 STARS Grants@Unipd programmeUniversity of Parma
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The 'Bouba-Kiki effect' is an example of spontaneous association between auditory and visual stimuli, described in humans as a case of sound symbolism, a predisposition linked to language. Recent evidence showed that 3-day-old chicks also exhibit a spontaneous association between round and spiky shapes and the sounds 'Bouba' and 'Kiki,' respectively, thus suggesting that the effect may rather be an instance of a more widespread cross-modal correspondence. We investigated whether the Bouba-Kiki effect is present in adult domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) by investigating dogs' spontaneous tendency to associate a spiky or a rounded shape to the 'Bouba' and 'Kiki' sounds. Dogs looked significantly more at the rounded shape while 'Bouba' was played, and they looked at and explored the spiky shape when 'Kiki' was played. Our results suggest that a spontaneous sound-shape association akin to that of humans is also present in adult domestic dogs. Further studies are needed to investigate the function and ontogenesis of this cognitive process.

Indexed as

Auditory PerceptionHearingAcoustic StimulationAnimalsDogsFemaleMaleSoundBouba–Kiki effectcross-modal correspondencedomestic dogsound symbolism

Identifiers

PMID42869483
PMCPMC13678620

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.