Hobbies And Interests
Vision Processing
Although many people mistakenly assume vision is processed in the eyes, it is actually completely processed in the brain. The eyes merely serve as a receptor for vision. The real mystery occurs in the brain, where the processing of all the senses occurs. Each sense has a certain amount of overlap, meaning that a vision stimulus has an effect upon hearing cognition.
Experiment Setup
The Bouba-Kiki effect will work for all ages. To start, you need to cut out two large objects of the same type of paper, making the objects close in size as well. One cutout should feature sharp edges and ultimately look like a jagged star. The key to cutting this object is to ensure that no curved edges exist. For the second object, do the opposite, make the edges curved and wavy, ensuring that no jagged edges or points exist.
Experiment Method
Place both cutouts in front of a group of people. Pass out a piece of paper with two blank spaces. Two meaningless words are chosen for the experiment, each of which is used for its distinct sounds. In space one, point to the jagged cutout and ask them if they think it is a bouba or a kiki. Tell them to write down their answer. Repeat the question for the second object and have the group write the answer in space two. Have everyone keep the answers private and hand them to you. Tally up the classroom percentage for each answer.
Experiment Explanation
All groups will have drastically lopsided answers. The majority of the group -- without having previous knowledge about the shapes -- will quickly identify each shape correctly. The bouba will correspond to the curved shape and the kiki will represent the jagged shape. The mind responds differently to different visual stimuli, including shapes. The same occurs for hearing and sound. Smooth-shaped objects correlate with long, drawn out sounds. Sharp corners correspond with sharp sounds.