Dogs Recognize Sound-Shape Patterns Like Humans

A longstanding psychology finding demonstrates that people universally associate the nonsense word ‘Bouba’ with round shapes and ‘Kiki’ with angular ones, suggesting a deep cross-sensory connection in human brains. Researchers decided to test whether dogs display the same pattern. Seventy dogs participated in two experiments involving screens displaying round or spiky shapes paired with audio of the words. An AI system tracked the dogs’ gaze using video recordings to detect statistically significant patterns beyond random chance.

In the first experiment with 51 dog-owner pairs, dogs looked significantly longer at rounded shapes during ‘Bouba’ playback and at spiky shapes during ‘Kiki,’ mirroring the human preference. A second trial with 19 different dogs placed owners in headphones playing music to block the word sounds and prevent unintentional behavioral cues. The dogs continued matching sounds to shapes, though the general bias toward spiky shapes found in the first experiment disappeared, ruling out some owner influence.

The results suggest dogs may genuinely recognize sound-shape correspondences rather than simply following owner cues. However, other factors could explain the pattern—dogs possess more angular facial features than humans, which might predispose them toward spiky shapes differently than humans with their rounder infant-like appearance. The findings raise broader questions about how dogs acquired language sensitivity and evolved into human companions.