Complexity Mediated Cross-modal Correspondence between Tone Sequences and Shapes

Abstract

Recent advances in the field of human cognition development have led to increased interest in the study of cross-modal correspondence. In the case of the correspondence between sound and shape, the correspondence between simple sound (e.g., pitch, timbre) and shape angularity of has been studied while there has been little research on the other features. Previous studies have shown that the emotion mediates cross-modal correspondences. Therefore, this study focuses on the complexity of tone sequences and shapes, which is said to have more influence on emotion than simple sound or shape angularity, and aims to examine the correspondences mediated by their complexity. First, indices for shape complexity (curvature entropy) and tone sequence complexity (information entropy) are selected. Then, an experiment was conducted to investigate the correspondence between shapes and tone sequences. As a result, the correspondence between the complexity of shapes and tone sequences was found.