Crossmodal Correspondences in Art and Science: Odours, Poetry, and Music

Stefano, Nicola Di; Murari, Maddalena; Spence, Charles

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-75205-7_10

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 95 publications

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“…By contrast, a lemon odor would activate stimulating representations, thereby inducing a preference for faster excerpts of stimulating music. This would be in line with the rapidly growing literature demonstrating olfactory-auditory cross-modal correspondences (for recent discussions see Di Stefano et al, 2022; Spence & Di Stefano, 2022). This body of research provides evidence of cross-modal matching between olfactory and auditory stimuli.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Relaxing and stimulating ambient odors influence preferences for musical tempo

Baccarani,

Brochard

2023

Musicae Scientiae

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It has recently been shown that relaxing and stimulating odors distort time perception by slowing down or speeding up the pacemaker of the internal clock. Since individuals tend to prefer musical tempo at the rate of the pacemaker, we examined whether relaxing and stimulating ambient odors could bias tempo preference in a study in which the musical stimuli were unfamiliar pleasant musical excerpts. Participants listened to pairs of excerpts played at slightly different tempi and had to indicate which one they preferred. We hypothesized that participants exposed to a relaxing odor (strawberry) would prefer the slower excerpts while participants exposed to a stimulating odor (lemon) would prefer the faster excerpts. As expected, the findings showed that participants in the control (no odor) condition preferred the slower of the fast-tempo pairs of excerpts and the faster of the slow-tempo pairs, indicating a preference bias for moderate tempo. Preferences in both odor conditions differed significantly from those in the control condition such that no such preference bias was observed. There was an interaction between tempo and odor such that participants showed no preference for the slower of the fast-tempo pairs of excerpts in the presence of a lemon odor, and no preference for the faster of the slow-tempo pairs in the presence of a strawberry odor. To our knowledge, this is the first time it has been shown that odors can alter the rate of the pacemaker without participants being conscious of the presence of an olfactory stimulus in the environment.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Relaxing and stimulating ambient odors influence preferences for musical tempo

Baccarani,

Brochard

2023

Musicae Scientiae

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“…Talk of the harmony of the senses has often appeared historically in more of a literary (e.g., von Erhardt-Siebold, 1932 ; see Di Stefano et al, 2022 , for a review), or even spiritual, mystical, or divine, context ( Argüelles, 1972 ; Kandinsky, 1914 ; Kiltinavičiūtė, 2020 ; cf. Zhang, 2007 ).…”

Section: Crossmodal Harmonymentioning

confidence: 99%

Crossmodal Harmony: Looking for the Meaning of Harmony Beyond Hearing

Spence

Stefano

2022

i-Perception

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The notion of harmony was first developed in the context of metaphysics before being applied to the domain of music. However, in recent centuries, the term has often been used to describe especially pleasing combinations of colors by those working in the visual arts too. Similarly, the harmonization of flavors is nowadays often invoked as one of the guiding principles underpinning the deliberate pairing of food and drink. However, beyond the various uses of the term to describe and construct pleasurable unisensory perceptual experiences, it has also been suggested that music and painting may be combined harmoniously (e.g., see the literature on “color music”). Furthermore, those working in the area of “sonic seasoning” sometimes describe certain sonic compositions as harmonizing crossmodally with specific flavor sensations. In this review, we take a critical look at the putative meaning(s) of the term “harmony” when used in a crossmodal, or multisensory, context. Furthermore, we address the question of whether the term's use outside of a strictly unimodal auditory context should be considered literally or merely metaphorically (i.e., as a shorthand to describe those combinations of sensory stimuli that, for whatever reason, appear to go well together, and hence which can be processed especially fluently).

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“…It contributes to our understanding of mechanisms which underly complex cross-modal associations (Spence, 2020b). Previous research investigated other mechanisms which may underly these associations: semantic congruency ( Albertazzi et al, 2020 ), emotion ( Di Stefano et al, 2022 ; Spence, 2020a), stylistic similarities (Hasenfus et al ., 1983). These mechanisms can partly account for cross-modal associations we described in this study, because semantically congruent sounds and paintings, similarly valanced sounds, and paintings, sounds and paintings with similar stylistics can be associated with each other.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-modal associations between paintings and sounds: Effects of embodiment

2022

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The present study investigated cross-modal associations between a series of paintings and sounds. We studied the effects of sound congruency (congruent vs. non-congruent sounds) and embodiment (embodied vs. synthetic sounds) on the evaluation of abstract and figurative paintings. Participants evaluated figurative and abstract paintings paired with congruent and non-congruent embodied and synthetic sounds. They also evaluated the perceived meaningfulness of the paintings, aesthetic value and immersive experience of the paintings. Embodied sounds (sounds associated with bodily sensations, bodily movements and touch) were more strongly associated with figurative paintings, while synthetic sounds (non-embodied sounds) were more strongly associated with abstract paintings. Sound congruency increased the perceived meaningfulness, immersive experience and aesthetic value of paintings. Sound embodiment increased immersive experience of paintings.

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Crossmodal Correspondences in Art and Science: Odours, Poetry, and Music

Cited by 11 publications

References 95 publications

Relaxing and stimulating ambient odors influence preferences for musical tempo

Relaxing and stimulating ambient odors influence preferences for musical tempo

Crossmodal Harmony: Looking for the Meaning of Harmony Beyond Hearing

Cross-modal associations between paintings and sounds: Effects of embodiment

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