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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 2, 2026

Investigating the Effect of Visual Imagery and Learning Shape-Audio Regularities on Bouba and Kiki

Investigating the Effect of Visual Imagery and Learning Shape-Audio Regularities on Bouba and Kiki

Published on: September 13, 2019

Asymmetrical interference effects between two-dimensional geometric shapes and their corresponding shape words.

Bradley R Sturz¹, Joshua E Edwards¹, Ty W Boyer¹

¹Department of Psychology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, United States of America.

|March 22, 2014

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study suggests innate geometric knowledge exists independently of language. Shape words activate spatial understanding, but geometric shapes do not activate word representations, supporting a separate cognitive system for geometry.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Science
Developmental Psychology
Linguistics

Background:

Nativist theories propose innate geometric knowledge predating language.
Testing this requires isolating geometric processing from linguistic influence.
Previous research faced challenges in disentangling these cognitive domains.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the independence of geometric processing from linguistic representation.
To test whether spatial representations of shapes are activated by shape words.
To examine if geometric shapes activate linguistic representations of their names.

Main Methods:

Utilized a modified matching interference paradigm.
Assessed interference between two-dimensional geometric shapes and their corresponding shape words.
Measured reaction times and accuracy in identifying shapes and words under incongruent conditions.

Main Results:

Incongruent shape words interfered with identifying geometric shapes.
Incongruent geometric shapes did not interfere with identifying shape words.
Demonstrated an asymmetry in interference effects between visual shapes and linguistic labels.

Conclusions:

Shape words activate spatial representations, but geometric shapes do not activate linguistic representations.
Findings support the existence of a cognitive system for geometric processing isolated from language.
Provides evidence for innate knowledge of geometric properties predating symbolic thought.