1. Can we synestheticallyname a
chocolate texture?
Anexplanationofcross-modalcorrespondenceinlanguageandtexture
Elizabeth Gabbott

2. Prediction
• Aim:
To create a synaesthetic experience
• Hypothesis
When participants are asked to name the soft texture of the
marshmallow they will name it the soft sounding name of
Loupa, and when they are asked to name the hard texture of the
mint chocolate they will name it the hard sounding name of Batik

3. Introduction
Video by Michael Douglas (former UCBC student)

4. Introduction
• 54 different types of synaesthesia
• Synaesthesia is the cause of neonatal developments which have not
been pruned.

5. Introduction – why I chose it
• I am a colour synaesthete
• My numbers
• My days of the week

6. Background
• Extension of Ramachandran and Hubbard (2001) word and object
associations
• Yorkston and Menon (2004) perceived texture and word association

7. Background
• Sound symbolism has recently been recognised as an
important factor in how individuals derive specific meanings
from an unfamiliar brand name.
• Brand names can have an impact on what a person expects
the product to contain.

8. Recipe
• 500g of marshmallow
• 336g of Trebor™ Extra-Strong Mints™
• 4000g of Galaxy™ chocolate
• Two nonsense names were created for the
purpose of the experiment.
• 112 adult participants and 20 children were
selected

9. Results

10. Results

11. Discussion
• Unique extension of previous research providing evidence to suggest
that synesthesia can be induced in the association between words
and the texture of chocolate.
Batik Loupa

12. Discussion
• There are systematic ways in which sensory information is
processed throughout development
• We really can synaesthetically name a chocolate texture

13. Thank you for listening
Any questions?

14. References
Ramachandran, V. S., & Hubbard, E. M. (2001). Synaesthesia--a window into perception,
thought and language. Ingenta Connect, 8(12), 3-34.
Simner, J., & Ward, J. (2006). Synaesthesia: The taste of words on the tip of the
tongue. Nature, 438-438. doi: 10.1038/444438a
Spector, F., & Maurer, D. (2009). Synesthesia: a new approach to understanding the
development of perception. American Psychology Association, 45(1), 175-189.
Spence, C. (2012). Managing sensory expectations concerning products and brands:
Capitalizing on the potential of sound and shape symbolism. Science
Direct, 22(1), 37-54. doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2011.09.004
Yorkston, E., & Menon, G. (2004). A sound idea: Phonetic effects of brand names on
consumer judgments. Journal Storage, 31(1), 43-51. doi: 10.1086/38342