A new study suggests domestic dogs may share humans' tendency to associate 'Bouba' with rounded shapes and 'Kiki' with spiky ones. Animal behaviorist Eleonora Biffi at the University of Parma led research involving 70 dogs in two experiments. In the first, 51 dog/owner pairs heard spoken 'Bouba' or 'Kiki' paired with corresponding shapes on screens.
Dogs' gaze was tracked via AI. Results showed dogs looked significantly more at the rounded shape when 'Bouba' played and explored the spiky shape with 'Kiki'. A second experiment with 19 dogs, where owners wore headphones playing rock music to block cues, found the initial bias toward spiky shapes disappeared.
Researchers suggest this indicates owners' unintentional cues may have influenced the first results, or that dogs' own facial features, more angular than human infants', create an opposite bias. While definitive conclusions require more study, the findings offer an interesting starting point for exploring how dogs process human language and their evolution as companions. The research appears in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing