ABSTRACT

The “bouba–kiki effect” refers to the correspondence between arbitrary visual and auditory stimuli. Previous studies have demonstrated that neurodevelopmental conditions and sensory impairment affect subjects’ performance on the bouba–kiki task. This study examined the bouba–kiki effect in participants with severe-to-profound hearing loss. Sixteen participants with severe- to- profound hearing loss who were habilitated aurally and used oral language for everyday communication and 16 matched hearing peers were presented with the bouba–kiki task auditorily and orthographically. Verbal intelligence (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Third Edition) was determined for all participants and was similar in both groups. Our results demonstrate a reduced bouba–kiki effect in participants with severe-to-profound hearing loss compared to their hearing peers, though they performed above chance level. Moreover, the age at the first use of a hearing device was associated with participants’ performance on the bouba–kiki task in adulthood. Better performance was shown in participants who used a hearing device at infancy before 23 months of age. These results support a relationship between early auditory or linguistic deprivation, and performance on the bouba–kiki task, and are discussed in the light of the role of a sensitive period on the development of the effect. This study is the first to show that prelingual deafness affects cross-modal auditory–visual correspondence resulting in reduced sound symbolism.

摘要

“ bouba–kiki效应”是指任意视觉和听觉刺激之间的对应关系。先前的研究表明，神经发育状况和感觉障碍会影响受试者在bouba-kiki任务上的表现。这项研究检查了重度至深重听力损失参与者的bouba-kiki效应。通过听觉和正字法向16名重度至重度听力下降的参与者进行听觉训练，并通过口语进行日常交流，并对16位相匹配的听力同伴进行bouba-kiki任务。确定了所有参与者的口头智力（韦氏成人智力量表，第三版），两组相似。我们的研究结果表明，与听力同龄人相比，重度至深重听力损失的参与者的bouba-kiki效应降低，尽管他们的表现高于机会水平。此外，初次使用助听器的年龄与参与者成年后执行bouba-kiki任务的表现有关。在23个月大之前使用婴儿助听器的参与者表现出更好的表现。这些结果支持了早期听觉或语言剥夺与bouba-kiki任务的执行之间的关系，并根据敏感时期对影响发展的作用进行了讨论。这项研究首次表明舌前耳聋会影响跨模态听觉-视觉对应，从而降低声音的象征意义。在23个月大之前使用婴儿助听器的参与者表现出更好的表现。这些结果支持了早期听觉或语言剥夺与bouba-kiki任务的执行之间的关系，并根据敏感时期对影响发展的作用进行了讨论。这项研究首次表明舌前耳聋会影响跨模态听觉-视觉对应，从而降低声音的象征意义。在23个月大之前使用婴儿助听器的参与者表现出更好的表现。这些结果支持了早期听觉或语言剥夺与bouba-kiki任务的执行之间的关系，并根据敏感时期对影响发展的作用进行了讨论。这项研究首次表明舌前耳聋会影响跨模态听觉-视觉对应，从而降低声音的象征意义。