Associations between color and shape in Japanese observers

Albertazzi et al. (2013) showed naturally biased associations between geometric shapes and colors in Italian participants, suggesting that the "warmth" and "lightness" of color might account for the color-shape associations. In the present study, we replicated the previous study in Japanese participants to examine whether color-shape associations were unlikely influenced by differences between languages and cultures. Results showed that Japanese participants associated shapes with specific colors, and these color-shape associations, by and large, were consistent with those in the previous literature. In addition, correspondence analysis indicated that most of the color-shape associations could be interpreted by congruent "warmth" perception for colors and shapes. Therefore, semantic associations between visual features of color and shape might lead to the color-shape associations.