People associate information with different senses but the mechanism by which this happens is unclear. Such associations are thought to arise from innate structural associations in the brain, statistical associations in the environment, via shared affective content, or through language. A developmental perspective on crossmodal associations can help determine which explanations are more likely for specific associations. Certain associations with pitch (e.g., pitch–height) have been observed early in infancy, but others may only occur late into childhood (e.g., pitch–size). In contrast, tactile–chroma associations have been observed in children, but not adults. One modality that has received little attention developmentally is olfaction. In the present investigation, we explored crossmodal associations from sound, tactile stimuli, and odor to a range of stimuli by testing a broad range of participants. Across the three modalities, we found little evidence for crossmodal associations in young children. This suggests an account based on innate structures is unlikely. Instead, the number and strength of associations increased over the lifespan. This suggests that experience plays a crucial role in crossmodal associations from sound, touch, and smell to other senses.

人们将信息与不同的感官联系起来，但发生这种情况的机制尚不清楚。这种关联被认为是由大脑中固有的结构关联、环境中的统计关联、通过共享的情感内容或通过语言产生的。跨模态关联的发展视角可以帮助确定哪些解释更可能适用于特定关联。在婴儿早期就观察到了与音高的某些关联（例如音高-高度），但其他可能仅在儿童后期才出现（例如音高-大小）。相比之下，在儿童中观察到触觉色度关联，但在成人中未观察到。一种在发展上很少受到关注的方式是嗅觉。在目前的调查中，我们从声音、触觉刺激、通过测试广泛的参与者，对一系列刺激物产生气味。在这三种模式中，我们几乎没有发现幼儿跨模式关联的证据。这表明基于先天结构的帐户不太可能。相反，关联的数量和强度在整个生命周期中都在增加。这表明经验在从声音、触觉和嗅觉到其他感官的跨模式关联中起着至关重要的作用。