Consolidation of crossmodal correspondences between auditory pitch and spatial features in childhood

Crossmodal correspondences between auditory pitch and spatial elevation have been demonstrated extensively in adults. High- and low-pitched sounds tend to be mapped onto upper and lower spatial positions, respectively. We hypothesised that this crossmodal link could be influenced by the development of spatial and linguistic abilities during childhood. To explore this possibility, 70 children (9-12 years old) divided into three groups (4th, 5th and 6th grade of primary school) completed a crossmodal test to evaluate the perceptual correspondence between pure tones and spatial elevation. Additionally, we addressed possible correlations between the students’ performance in this crossmodal task and other auditory, spatial and linguistic measures. The participants’ auditory pitch performance was measured in a frequency classification test. The participants also completed three tests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (WISC-IV): (1) Vocabulary, to assess verbal intelligence, (2) Matrix reasoning, to measure visuospatial reasoning and (3) Blocks design, to analyse visuospatial/motor skills. The results revealed crossmodal effects between pitch and spatial elevation. Additionally, we found a correlation between the performance in the block design subtest with the pitch-elevation crossmodal correspondence and the auditory frequency classification test. No correlation was observed between auditory tasks with matrix and vocabulary subtests. This suggests (1) that the crossmodal correspondence between pitch and spatial elevation is already consolidated at the age of 9 and also (2) that good performance in a pitch-based auditory task is mildly associated, in childhood, with good performance in visuospatial/motor tasks.