Audio–visual crossmodal correspondences in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris)
Audio–visual crossmodal correspondences in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris)
Crossmodal correspondences are intuitively held relationships between non-redundant features of a stimulus, such as auditory pitch and visual illumination. While a number of correspondences have been identified in humans to date (e.g. high pitch is intuitively felt to be luminant, angular and elevated in space), their evolutionary and developmental origins remain unclear. Here, we investigated the existence of audio–visual crossmodal correspondences in domestic dogs, and specifically, the known human correspondence in which high auditory pitch is associated with elevated spatial position. In an audio–visual attention task, we found that dogs engaged more with audio–visual stimuli that were congruent with human intuitions (high auditory pitch paired with a spatially elevated visual stimulus) compared to incongruent (low pitch paired with elevated visual stimulus). This result suggests that crossmodal correspondences are not a uniquely human or primate phenomenon and they cannot easily be dismissed as merely lexical conventions (i.e. matching ‘high’ pitch with ‘high’ elevation).
Korzeniowska, A. T.
6419ff9e-543f-4e41-8d14-1f4b05e231af
Root-Gutteridge, H.
80e370f8-0e13-420f-8acf-a225f143b359
Simner, J.
bb2156da-4da1-4485-8583-4b456b262541
Reby, D.
3bf4c3ea-9eb0-4b1a-9fe8-bc7a5406387c
13 November 2019
Korzeniowska, A. T.
6419ff9e-543f-4e41-8d14-1f4b05e231af
Root-Gutteridge, H.
80e370f8-0e13-420f-8acf-a225f143b359
Simner, J.
bb2156da-4da1-4485-8583-4b456b262541
Reby, D.
3bf4c3ea-9eb0-4b1a-9fe8-bc7a5406387c
Korzeniowska, A. T., Root-Gutteridge, H., Simner, J. and Reby, D.
(2019)
Audio–visual crossmodal correspondences in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris).
Biology Letters, 15 (11).
(doi:10.1098/rsbl.2019.0564).
Abstract
Crossmodal correspondences are intuitively held relationships between non-redundant features of a stimulus, such as auditory pitch and visual illumination. While a number of correspondences have been identified in humans to date (e.g. high pitch is intuitively felt to be luminant, angular and elevated in space), their evolutionary and developmental origins remain unclear. Here, we investigated the existence of audio–visual crossmodal correspondences in domestic dogs, and specifically, the known human correspondence in which high auditory pitch is associated with elevated spatial position. In an audio–visual attention task, we found that dogs engaged more with audio–visual stimuli that were congruent with human intuitions (high auditory pitch paired with a spatially elevated visual stimulus) compared to incongruent (low pitch paired with elevated visual stimulus). This result suggests that crossmodal correspondences are not a uniquely human or primate phenomenon and they cannot easily be dismissed as merely lexical conventions (i.e. matching ‘high’ pitch with ‘high’ elevation).
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korzeniowska-et-al-2019-audio-visual-crossmodal-correspondences-in-domestic-dogs-(canis-familiaris)
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Accepted/In Press date: 17 October 2019
Published date: 13 November 2019
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Local EPrints ID: 506398
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/506398
ISSN: 1744-9561
PURE UUID: ee8d59a8-99e9-45ac-adf3-1312a60698d8
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Date deposited: 05 Nov 2025 18:05
Last modified: 06 Nov 2025 03:08
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Author:
A. T. Korzeniowska
Author:
H. Root-Gutteridge
Author:
J. Simner
Author:
D. Reby
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