Audio–visual crossmodal correspondences in domestic dogs ( Canis familiaris )

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).

High-pitch sounds small for domestic dogs: abstract crossmodal correspondences between auditory pitch and visual size

“…The data is available on Dryad and is accessible under the following link: [36]. The data are provided in the electronic supplementary material [37].…”

“…Another reason why dogs are a good candidate for our investigation is the fact that recently we found that they show evidence for a crossmodal correspondence between acoustic pitch and elevation (spatial height). In our earlier study, they preferentially attended to pitch-elevation pairings that were congruent , as opposed to incongruent [23]—where ‘congruency’ is defined as matching human intuition (i.e. congruent = high-pitched sounds were associated with high spatial elevation, and low-pitched sounds with objects near the ground; incongruent = the reverse).…”

Pitch–Luminance Crossmodal Correspondence in the Baby Chick: An Investigation on Predisposed and Learned Processes

“…A recent line of research focused on the existence of crossmodal correspondences in non-human animals, providing positive evidence in several cases, all within the clade of mammals. For instance, both humans and chimpanzees associate high luminosity with high pitch sounds and low luminosity with low pitch sounds [ 10 ]; rhesus monkeys associate spatial proximity with high pitch sounds and further distance with low pitch sounds [ 11 ]; dogs associate elevated and low spatial positions, and small and large dimensions, with high and low pitch, respectively [ 12 , 13 ]. This congruous body of evidence suggests that crossmodal correspondences might be a mechanism shared among mammals.…”

Embodied Space‐pitch Associations are Shaped by Language

“…There is ongoing debate regarding the ubiquity and universality of a correspondence between spatial height and auditory pitch across cultures (e.g., Dolscheid et al, 2013Dolscheid et al, , 2020Evans & Treisman, 2010;Korzeniowska et al, 2019;Majid et al, 2018;Parise et al, 2014;Parkinson et al, 2012;Shayan et al, 2011;Starr & Srinivasan, 2018). In this study, we used a multimodal communication paradigm in which dyads listened to individual sounds and short melodies and described what they heard to their partner.…”

“…Sound and space are closely connected in language and thought, but the exact nature of this relationship is disputed. Adults and children from the earliest ages respond to correspondences between auditory pitch and various spatial dimensions (Dolscheid, Hunnius, Casasanto, & Majid, 2014; Marks, Hammeal, Bornstein, & Smith, 1987; Möhring, Ramsook, Hirsh‐Pasek, Golinkoff, & Newcombe, 2016; Roffler & Butler, 1968; Rusconi, Kwan, Giordano, Umilta, & Butterworth, 2006; Starr & Srinivasan, 2018; Walker et al., 2010, 2018)—as do non‐human animals, specifically dogs (Korzeniowska, Root‐Gutteridge, Simner, & Reby, 2019)—suggesting there is an inherent connection between these domains. Consistent with this, across the world's languages, spatial metaphors for pitch are ubiquitous (Eitan & Timmers, 2010; Majid et al., 2018).…”