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The Bouba/Kiki test

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kxmode
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11 Jan 2011, 12:35 pm

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Which shape would you call "Bouba" and which "Kiki" and why? If you answer correctly you might have a form of synesthesia; the interactions between two or more different senses.

I answered this correctly. To me the shape of the object looks like the name.



Orwell
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11 Jan 2011, 12:48 pm

The one on the left is kiki. The 'k' sound is evocative of spikes, and so is the vowel sound. 'Bouba' is a much rounder, gentler word.


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11 Jan 2011, 3:10 pm

Orwell wrote:
The one on the left is kiki. The 'k' sound is evocative of spikes, and so is the vowel sound. 'Bouba' is a much rounder, gentler word.


Agreed. Plus the one of the left looks more like a bubble.



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11 Jan 2011, 5:04 pm

No, Bouba is the sharp one. I see your logic, but the sharpness is not the determining factor.


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11 Jan 2011, 5:12 pm

Fuzzy wrote:
No, Bouba is the sharp one. I see your logic, but the sharpness is not the determining factor.


What is?



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11 Jan 2011, 6:31 pm

kxmode wrote:
Image

Which shape would you call "Bouba" and which "Kiki" and why? If you answer correctly you might have a form of synesthesia; the interactions between two or more different senses.

I answered this correctly. To me the shape of the object looks like the name.


I answered as the others.

Explanation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouba/kiki_effect



Last edited by Mdyar on 11 Jan 2011, 6:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Arman_Khodaei
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11 Jan 2011, 6:31 pm

I think Kiki is the one on the left.


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11 Jan 2011, 6:39 pm

MidlifeAspie wrote:
Fuzzy wrote:
No, Bouba is the sharp one. I see your logic, but the sharpness is not the determining factor.


What is?


Volume!

Oh I am just talking nonsense. With two names and two shapes, there are only two combinations anyone can make, so any idea of alignment with special neurology is ridiculous.

All it is saying is that 98% of people are synesthesic? Thats like saying 98% of people have two arms and two legs.


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kxmode
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11 Jan 2011, 7:20 pm

"Kiki" is the shape on the left. "Bouba" is the shape on the right. How the name is assigned to which shape has much to do with shape/sound perception. "Kiki" is pronounced with a strong, double "k" sound. K sounds rough, flemish, and at times feels unnatural and "spiky". "Bouba" has a soft "b" sound. B sounds organic and "round". My mind made a mental image of the sounds produced. I "saw" a spiky shape when saying "Kiki" and a cloud shape when saying "Bouba". I'm not a synesthesia but this is clear evidence of synesthesia-like abilities. If you saw these shapes when pronouncing these names you probably have synesthesia-like abilities too.



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11 Jan 2011, 7:52 pm

The one on the right looks like a blob of kaka which almost rhymes with kiki.

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11 Jan 2011, 9:02 pm

kxmode wrote:
"Kiki" is the shape on the left. "Bouba" is the shape on the right. How the name is assigned to which shape has much to do with shape/sound perception. "Kiki" is pronounced with a strong, double "k" sound. K sounds rough, flemish, and at times feels unnatural and "spiky". "Bouba" has a soft "b" sound. B sounds organic and "round". My mind made a mental image of the sounds produced. I "saw" a spiky shape when saying "Kiki" and a cloud shape when saying "Bouba". I'm not a synesthesia but this is clear evidence of synesthesia-like abilities. If you saw these shapes when pronouncing these names you probably have synesthesia-like abilities too.


The point is that 98% of human beings do too, so what you say is factual but completely useless. (near)Everyone is a Synesthete? This neither improves our understanding of the world, nor makes anyone special.


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11 Jan 2011, 10:15 pm

Fuzzy wrote:
kxmode wrote:
"Kiki" is the shape on the left. "Bouba" is the shape on the right. How the name is assigned to which shape has much to do with shape/sound perception. "Kiki" is pronounced with a strong, double "k" sound. K sounds rough, flemish, and at times feels unnatural and "spiky". "Bouba" has a soft "b" sound. B sounds organic and "round". My mind made a mental image of the sounds produced. I "saw" a spiky shape when saying "Kiki" and a cloud shape when saying "Bouba". I'm not a synesthesia but this is clear evidence of synesthesia-like abilities. If you saw these shapes when pronouncing these names you probably have synesthesia-like abilities too.


The point is that 98% of human beings do too, so what you say is factual but completely useless. (near)Everyone is a Synesthete? This neither improves our understanding of the world, nor makes anyone special.

According to the wiki article, only about 60% of autistics agree with those designations. Given that synesthesia is supposedly more commong among autistics, that would make it seem unlikely that this "bouba/kiki" test is reflective of synesthesia.


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12 Jan 2011, 5:25 am

Orwell wrote:
Fuzzy wrote:
kxmode wrote:
"Kiki" is the shape on the left. "Bouba" is the shape on the right. How the name is assigned to which shape has much to do with shape/sound perception. "Kiki" is pronounced with a strong, double "k" sound. K sounds rough, flemish, and at times feels unnatural and "spiky". "Bouba" has a soft "b" sound. B sounds organic and "round". My mind made a mental image of the sounds produced. I "saw" a spiky shape when saying "Kiki" and a cloud shape when saying "Bouba". I'm not a synesthesia but this is clear evidence of synesthesia-like abilities. If you saw these shapes when pronouncing these names you probably have synesthesia-like abilities too.


The point is that 98% of human beings do too, so what you say is factual but completely useless. (near)Everyone is a Synesthete? This neither improves our understanding of the world, nor makes anyone special.

According to the wiki article, only about 60% of autistics agree with those designations. Given that synesthesia is supposedly more commong among autistics, that would make it seem unlikely that this "bouba/kiki" test is reflective of synesthesia.


This "test" is utter balderdash.

ruveyn



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12 Jan 2011, 10:46 am

ruveyn wrote:
This "test" is utter balderdash.


"Ah! yet doth beauty, like a dial-hand, Steal from his figure and no pace perceived; So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand, Hath motion and mine eye may be deceived." ~ William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

"People only see what they are prepared to see." ~ Ralph Waldo



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13 Jan 2011, 10:46 am

Orwell wrote:
Fuzzy wrote:
kxmode wrote:
"Kiki" is the shape on the left. "Bouba" is the shape on the right. How the name is assigned to which shape has much to do with shape/sound perception. "Kiki" is pronounced with a strong, double "k" sound. K sounds rough, flemish, and at times feels unnatural and "spiky". "Bouba" has a soft "b" sound. B sounds organic and "round". My mind made a mental image of the sounds produced. I "saw" a spiky shape when saying "Kiki" and a cloud shape when saying "Bouba". I'm not a synesthesia but this is clear evidence of synesthesia-like abilities. If you saw these shapes when pronouncing these names you probably have synesthesia-like abilities too.


The point is that 98% of human beings do too, so what you say is factual but completely useless. (near)Everyone is a Synesthete? This neither improves our understanding of the world, nor makes anyone special.

According to the wiki article, only about 60% of autistics agree with those designations. Given that synesthesia is supposedly more commong among autistics, that would make it seem unlikely that this "bouba/kiki" test is reflective of synesthesia.


Yes, synesthesia doesn't seem to have anything to do with it. Like others, I chose kiki as the spiky one. What it really seems to be illustrating is the human tendency towards something like a visual onomotapeia (there must be a word for it).