The influence of iconicity and autistic traits on novel word learning: a cross-cultural investigation
The effects of iconicity and autistic traits on novel word learning were investigated through an online experiment involving 1481 healthy adult participants aged between 18 and 40 years from four countries: Brazil (N = 261), India (N = 416), Japan (N = 493) and the USA (N = 311). Participants comple...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Royal Society
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
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| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.242161 |
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| author | Vijayachandra Ramachandra Kairi Sugimoto Kelly Ziskind Ark Verma Irfan Ahmad Mahayana Godoy Katsumi Watanabe |
| author_facet | Vijayachandra Ramachandra Kairi Sugimoto Kelly Ziskind Ark Verma Irfan Ahmad Mahayana Godoy Katsumi Watanabe |
| author_sort | Vijayachandra Ramachandra |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The effects of iconicity and autistic traits on novel word learning were investigated through an online experiment involving 1481 healthy adult participants aged between 18 and 40 years from four countries: Brazil (N = 261), India (N = 416), Japan (N = 493) and the USA (N = 311). Participants completed a bouba–kiki-based word learning task, viewing novel images paired with either iconic names (congruent condition) or arbitrary names (incongruent condition). Word recognition was assessed using a three-alternative forced-choice procedure, and autistic traits were measured with the autism spectrum quotient (AQ). Results showed a significant benefit of iconicity across all countries, with better performance in the congruent condition. While a linear mixed model revealed no significant effect of AQ on bouba–kiki scores overall, a country-specific analysis found a weak but significant positive correlation between AQ scores and bouba–kiki performance in Japanese participants. This country-specific finding should be interpreted cautiously and warrants further exploration. Overall, the findings demonstrate the robustness and universality of the bouba–kiki effect on word learning across both Western and Eastern cultures. However, the relationship between autistic traits and iconicity was not consistent across all countries and may depend on cultural factors. Further research is needed to explore this in more detail. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-da466d22ed25493f86ac8e7b3f714b39 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-da466d22ed25493f86ac8e7b3f714b392025-08-20T03:40:18ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032025-03-0112310.1098/rsos.242161The influence of iconicity and autistic traits on novel word learning: a cross-cultural investigationVijayachandra Ramachandra0Kairi Sugimoto1Kelly Ziskind2Ark Verma3Irfan Ahmad4Mahayana Godoy5Katsumi Watanabe6Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Marywood University, Scranton, PA, USAFaculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, JapanClinical Fellow in Speech-Language Pathology, Theracare, Hackensack, NJ, USADepartment of Cognitive Science, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, IndiaDepartment of Cognitive Science, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, IndiaCenter for the Humanities, Languages and Arts, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, BrazilFaculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, JapanThe effects of iconicity and autistic traits on novel word learning were investigated through an online experiment involving 1481 healthy adult participants aged between 18 and 40 years from four countries: Brazil (N = 261), India (N = 416), Japan (N = 493) and the USA (N = 311). Participants completed a bouba–kiki-based word learning task, viewing novel images paired with either iconic names (congruent condition) or arbitrary names (incongruent condition). Word recognition was assessed using a three-alternative forced-choice procedure, and autistic traits were measured with the autism spectrum quotient (AQ). Results showed a significant benefit of iconicity across all countries, with better performance in the congruent condition. While a linear mixed model revealed no significant effect of AQ on bouba–kiki scores overall, a country-specific analysis found a weak but significant positive correlation between AQ scores and bouba–kiki performance in Japanese participants. This country-specific finding should be interpreted cautiously and warrants further exploration. Overall, the findings demonstrate the robustness and universality of the bouba–kiki effect on word learning across both Western and Eastern cultures. However, the relationship between autistic traits and iconicity was not consistent across all countries and may depend on cultural factors. Further research is needed to explore this in more detail.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.242161iconicityautistic traitssound symbolismnovel word learningautism spectrum quotient |
| spellingShingle | Vijayachandra Ramachandra Kairi Sugimoto Kelly Ziskind Ark Verma Irfan Ahmad Mahayana Godoy Katsumi Watanabe The influence of iconicity and autistic traits on novel word learning: a cross-cultural investigation Royal Society Open Science iconicity autistic traits sound symbolism novel word learning autism spectrum quotient |
| title | The influence of iconicity and autistic traits on novel word learning: a cross-cultural investigation |
| title_full | The influence of iconicity and autistic traits on novel word learning: a cross-cultural investigation |
| title_fullStr | The influence of iconicity and autistic traits on novel word learning: a cross-cultural investigation |
| title_full_unstemmed | The influence of iconicity and autistic traits on novel word learning: a cross-cultural investigation |
| title_short | The influence of iconicity and autistic traits on novel word learning: a cross-cultural investigation |
| title_sort | influence of iconicity and autistic traits on novel word learning a cross cultural investigation |
| topic | iconicity autistic traits sound symbolism novel word learning autism spectrum quotient |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.242161 |
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