A sweet sound? Food names reveal implicit associations between taste and pitch

Perception. 2010;39(3):417-25. doi: 10.1068/p6574.

Abstract

Sounds (high- and low-pitched) have been shown to be implicitly associated with basic tastes (sour and bitter-see Crisinel and Spence, 2009 Neuroscience Letters 464 39-42). In the present study, a version of the implicit association test was used to assess the strength of the association between high-pitched sounds and names of sweet-tasting foodstuffs, and between low-pitched sounds and names of salty-tasting foodstuffs (experiment 1). A similar task, the go/no-go association task was then used to evaluate the relative strengths of these associations (experiment 2). Analysis of the sensitivity of participants' responses suggested that both sour- and sweet-tasting (names of) food items were associated with high-pitched sounds. This result highlights the existence of robust cross-modal associations between certain sounds and basic tastes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acoustic Stimulation
  • Adult
  • Association
  • Candy
  • Female
  • Food*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Pitch Discrimination*
  • Sodium Chloride, Dietary
  • Taste*
  • Terminology as Topic*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Sodium Chloride, Dietary