David M. Sidhu

Biography

I was born in Toronto and completed my undergraduate degree at York University. I then moved to Calgary to do my graduate work at the University of Calgary. After that I held a SSHRC-funded postdoctoral position in London at University College London. I joined the psychology department at Carleton University in 2022.

Research Interests

Broadly speaking I am interested in language and cognition, in particular how we process words and represent meaning. I have always been fascinated by connections across modalities: how a sound can seem “bright”, how an image can convey something abstract. This led me to my research focus on the multimodality of language. For example, some words “sound small”, or “feel smooth” as you say them. How do these multimodal properties affect language processing? Relatedly, some words imitate the things that they refer to (e.g., onomatopoeia like “splash” or “meow”). Are these kinds of words processed differently? What does this mean for the development and evolution of language? I have also had a long interest in the fields of embodied cognition and conceptual metaphor theory.

Research Topics

language processing; sound symbolism; iconicity; embodied cognition

Key Representative Publications

Sidhu, D. M., Vigliocco, G., & Pexman, P. (2022). Higher order factors in sound symbolism. Journal of Memory and Language. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2022.104323

Sidhu, D. M., Westbury, C., Hollis, G., & Pexman, P. M. (2021). Sound symbolism shapes the English language: The maluma/takete effect in English nouns. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-021-01883-3

Sidhu, D. M., Vigliocco, G., & Pexman, P. M. (2019). Effects of iconicity in lexical decision. Language and Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1017/langcog.2019.36

Sidhu, D. M., & Pexman, P. M. (2019). The sound symbolism of names. Current Directions in Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721419850134

Muraki, E., Sidhu, D. M., & Pexman, P. M. (2019). Mapping semantic space: Property norms and semantic richness. Cognitive Processing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-019-00933-y

Recent Publications

Sidhu, D. M., Wingate, T. G., Bourdage, J. S., & Pexman, P. M. (2025). Would you hire Liam over Kirk? Name sound symbolism and hiring. Acta Psychologica. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.104978

Sidhu, D. M. & Peetz, J. (2024). Sounds of the future and past. British Journal of Psychology. doi: 10.1111/bjop.12753

Sidhu, D. M. (2024). Sound symbolism in the lexicon: A review of iconic-systematicity. Language and Linguistics Compass. https://doi.org/10.1111/lnc3.70006

Popular Science Articles

Wordle – the best word to start the game. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/wordle-the-best-word-to-start-the-game-according-to-a-language-researcher-175114

Judge me by my name do you? The symbolism behind Baby Yoda’s name. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/judge-me-by-my-name-do-you-the-symbolism-behind-baby-yodas-name-151642

What’s in a name? How the sound of names can bias hiring decisions. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/whats-in-a-name-how-the-sound-of-names-can-bias-hiring-decisions-263607