David Sidhu – The Conversation

People tend to associate some sounds like ‘ee’ or ‘t’ with smaller sizes, and others like ‘oh’ or ‘b’ with larger sizes. New research finds this impacts how we perceive our snacks. (Unsplash)

September 23, 2026

Snack names influence how filling we imagine they will be — new research

David Sidhu, Carleton University; Johanna Peetz, Carleton University, and Rachel Burns, Carleton University

Most people are likely unaware of how the sounds of brand names affect them.

The shape of the word bubble resembles the shape of an actual bubble, according to research participants. (Unsplash)

May 13, 2026

When words look like their meaning, we process them faster, new research reveals

David Sidhu, Carleton University

Bubble, hoop, wiggle, bed: Some words bear an uncanny resemblance to the shape of the object or action they describe. And we tend to process them faster.

There is also a great deal of evidence that sociodemographic cues in a name — such as race and age — can affect whose resume gets a callback. The sound of a name itself could be another potential source of bias. (Getty Images/Unsplash+)

August 28, 2025

What’s in a name? How the sound of names can bias hiring decisions

David Sidhu, Carleton University and Penny Pexman, Western University

New research shows that even the sound of a name can influence how job candidates are judged.

Anna Watson/Alamy

January 28, 2022

Wordle – the best word to start the game, according to a language researcher

David Sidhu, UCL

Certain letters appear more frequently in words so starting with this one increases your chances of getting more correct letters on your first go.

Grogu, better known as Baby Yoda, has a name designed to sound soft and baby-like. (Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution)

December 20, 2020

Judge me by my name do you? The symbolism behind Baby Yoda’s name

David Sidhu, UCL

How does Baby Yoda’s name measure up as a fictional character’s name? Research has shown that sounds carry associations — what does Baby Yoda’s name communicate?

Does it matter what something or someone is called? Shutterstock

August 7, 2019

Baby naming time? Here’s how people judge what’s in a name

Penny Pexman, University of Calgary and David Sidhu, University of Calgary

New research shows that there’s much in a name: people will use the sounds in names to infer someone’s physical and personality traits.

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