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A study of 70 domestic dogs found that they looked more at a rounded shape when they heard “Bouba” and at a spiky shape when they heard “Kiki.” The results suggest dogs may link speech sounds with visual shapes, but the study is an initial finding and does not establish how or why the association occurs.
A study of 70 domestic dogs found that they looked more at a rounded shape when a speaker played the made-up word “Bouba” and at a spiky shape when it played “Kiki.” The results, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, suggest dogs may associate speech sounds with visual forms, though researchers say more work is needed to establish the pattern and explain it.
Animal behaviorist Eleonora Biffi of the University of Parma in Italy led the research. The team tested dogs in two experiments using a room with a screen and speaker on either side. The setup paired spoken recordings of “Bouba” or “Kiki” with images of rounded and spiky shapes, which changed sides during the trials.
The first experiment included 51 dogs with their owners in the room. Researchers recorded the dogs and later used an artificial-intelligence system to track their head direction as an estimate of where they were looking. In a second experiment, 19 other dogs took part while their owners wore headphones playing rock music, intended to prevent the owners from hearing the words and potentially cueing the dogs.
Across the study, the researchers reported that dogs looked significantly more at the rounded shape while “Bouba” was played and looked at and explored the spiky shape when they heard “Kiki.” The first experiment also showed a general tendency to look at spiky shapes; that tendency was absent in the second experiment. The difference means the findings need interpretation rather than a simple claim that dogs have a fixed preference for either shape.
A Possible Sound-Shape Link in Dogs
The results point to a possible kind of cross-modal association: linking information heard through one sense with something seen through another. In people, the “Bouba/Kiki” effect is a familiar example, with many participants matching “Bouba” to rounded forms and “Kiki” to angular ones. Finding a similar pattern in dogs could help researchers investigate whether some sound-shape associations extend beyond humans.
That possibility matters because dogs live closely with people and can respond to human speech, but this experiment does not show that they understand the words’ meanings. “Bouba” and “Kiki” were made-up labels, and the measured outcome was where dogs directed their heads and whether they explored a shape. The study offers a testable lead about how dogs process sound and visual information, not proof of language comprehension or of a shared human-canine concept system.
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How the Bouba-Kiki Test Works
The Bouba/Kiki task asks people to match invented words to shapes, often one rounded and one angular. Because the words have no established meanings, researchers can examine whether the sounds themselves are associated with particular visual qualities. The source report describes the effect as appearing across people who speak or write in different languages, while emphasizing that the words are invented.
Biffi’s team adapted that basic comparison for dogs. The animals had to respond in a room where the words and shapes were presented together, and the researchers used recorded head direction as a practical measure of visual attention. The second experiment was designed to address one possible complication: owners might unintentionally influence a dog’s behavior if they can hear what is being played.
““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.””
— Eleonora Biffi and colleagues, in the study
What the Experiments Cannot Establish
The study does not show why the dogs responded as they did, or whether the result would hold across other dogs, settings, spoken voices, or visual stimuli. Head direction was used as a stand-in for looking, so the measure does not directly reveal what a dog understood or experienced. The available report also does not establish that dogs attach meanings to the words themselves.
The differing shape bias between the two experiments remains unresolved. The researchers raise possible explanations, including unintentional owner cues and differences in the facial features of dogs and humans, but neither is established by these results. The findings support further investigation, not a definitive conclusion that dogs associate “Bouba” with roundness and “Kiki” with sharpness.
Further Tests of Canine Associations
The immediate next step for researchers is to test the reported pattern in additional studies and determine whether it persists when possible influences are better controlled. Replication with more dogs and variations in how the sounds and shapes are presented could help distinguish a consistent sound-shape association from attention biases or features of this particular setup.
Further research could also examine what the association might reveal about dogs’ responses to human speech. For now, the published study is an early result: it reports a measurable difference in dogs’ attention during the trials, while leaving its cause and broader significance open.
Key Questions
What did the dogs do in the study?
Researchers reported that dogs looked more at a rounded shape when they heard “Bouba” and looked at and explored a spiky shape when they heard “Kiki.”
How many dogs took part?
Seventy dogs participated: 51 in the first experiment and 19 in a second experiment in which owners wore headphones playing rock music.
Does this mean dogs understand the words?
No. The words were invented labels, and the study measured dogs’ visual attention and exploration. It does not establish that dogs understood the words’ meanings.
Why did owners wear headphones in the second experiment?
The researchers used the headphones to prevent owners from hearing “Bouba” and “Kiki,” reducing the possibility that owners might unintentionally cue their dogs.
Is the finding conclusive?
No. The authors describe the results as a starting point. The cause of the dogs’ responses and whether the pattern generalizes beyond these experiments remain uncertain.
Source: hn
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