Material Dependency of Crossmodal Correspondences in Shitsukan (with a Focus on Food)

Abstract In this narrative (historical) review, the emerging literature documenting those crossmodal correspondences that involve material properties such as texture and viscosity, as well as object properties, including shape and size, are both summarized and critically evaluated. Emphasis is placed on those cues to material properties that are available to the nonvisual senses. In this review, we explicitly connect the literature on multisensory shitsukan with the growing literature on crossmodal correspondences, specifically those involving material properties. This narrative historical review also draws attention to the possible material dependence of crossmodal correspondences — meaning, for example, that the existence of specific shape–taste crossmodal correspondences may depend on the material from which an object appears to have been made. This suggestion can be framed in terms of the context dependency of crossmodal correspondences, as has also been highlighted elsewhere in the literature.