Speed Laura J, Croijmans Ilja, Dolscheid Sarah, Majid Asifa
Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Iperception. 2021 Dec 6;12(6):20416695211048513. doi: 10.1177/20416695211048513. eCollection 2021 Nov.
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，但这种联系发生的机制尚不清楚。这种联系被认为源于大脑中固有的结构联系、环境中的统计联系、通过共享的情感内容或通过语言。从发展的角度看待跨模态联系有助于确定哪些解释更适用于特定的联系。某些与音高的联系（如音高-高度）在婴儿早期就已被观察到，但其他联系可能直到童年后期才会出现（如音高-大小）。相比之下，触觉-色度联系在儿童中已被观察到，但在成人中则未被观察到。嗅觉是一种在发展过程中很少受到关注的模态。在本研究中，我们通过测试广泛的参与者，探索了从声音、触觉刺激和气味到一系列刺激的跨模态联系。在这三种模态中，我们几乎没有发现幼儿存在跨模态联系的证据。这表明基于固有结构的解释不太可能成立。相反，联系的数量和强度在整个生命周期中都有所增加。这表明经验在从声音、触觉和嗅觉到其他感官的跨模态联系中起着至关重要的作用。
