Abstract This study involves a pupillometric exploration of audiovisual correspondences. Three types of correspondences were examined: the brightness–pitch correspondence, the bouba/kiki effect, and the semantic congruency between spoken color names and pixel colors. Baseline‐corrected pupil size was compared between congruent (e.g., presenting a speech “bouba” and a rounded visual shape) and incongruent (“kiki” with a rounded visual shape) conditions. A larger pupil size was expected for the incongruent condition than for the congruent condition because pupils dilate in response to difficult‐to‐process stimuli that require a high cognitive load. However, no differences were observed between the conditions for any type of correspondence (Experiment 1, passive observation). The absence of the congruency effect on pupil size persisted even when participants performed a pitch‐classification task (Experiments 2A and 3) or provided subjective ratings of the match between the pseudowords and visual shapes (Experiment 2B). No reliable evidence was found to suggest that audiovisual correspondences induce pupillary responses. Audiovisual correspondences likely do not induce changes in cognitive load as strongly as those reflected in pupil size.
Ryosuke Niimi (Tue,) studied this question.