How Context Makes Metaphor Comprehension Seem 'Special'
Psycholinguistic research has shown that, with appropriate context, people take no longer to understand metaphors than to understand semantically comparable literal language. This finding is often taken to suggest that identical mental processes drive the comprehension of both literal and metaphoric...
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| Published in | Metaphor and symbolic activity Vol. 4; no. 3; pp. 145 - 158 |
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| Main Authors | , |
| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc
01.09.1989
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| Subjects | |
| Online Access | Get full text |
| ISSN | 0885-7253 |
| DOI | 10.1207/s15327868ms0403_3 |
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| Abstract | Psycholinguistic research has shown that, with appropriate context, people take no longer to understand metaphors than to understand semantically comparable literal language. This finding is often taken to suggest that identical mental processes drive the comprehension of both literal and metaphorical utterances. We suggest that this claim does not necessarily follow from the experimental results. Various masking processes could foster the "incorrect illusion" of equivalence. However, a parsimonious account of the processes underlying comprehension can be motivated for both metaphorical and literal utterances. What makes metaphor "special" is in the products of comprehension, not in the process by which metaphorical meanings are understood. |
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| AbstractList | Psycholinguistic research has shown that, with appropriate context, people take no longer to understand metaphors than to understand semantically comparable literal language. This finding is often taken to suggest that identical mental processes drive the comprehension of both literal and metaphorical utterances. We suggest that this claim does not necessarily follow from the experimental results. Various masking processes could foster the "incorrect illusion" of equivalence. However, a parsimonious account of the processes underlying comprehension can be motivated for both metaphorical and literal utterances. What makes metaphor "special" is in the products of comprehension, not in the process by which metaphorical meanings are understood. Psycholinguistic research has shown that, with appropriate context, people take no longer to understand metaphors than to understand semantically comparable literal language. This finding is often taken to suggest that identical mental processes drive the comprehension of both literal & metaphorical utterances. It is suggested that this claim does not necessarily follow from the experimental results. Various masking processes could foster the "incorrect illusion" of equivalence. However, a parsimonious account of the processes underlying comprehension can be motivated for both metaphorical & literal utterances. What makes metaphor "special" is in the products of comprehension, not in the process by which metaphorical meanings are understood. 31 References. HA |
| Author | Gerrig, Richard J. Gibbs Jr, Raymond W. |
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| Cites_doi | 10.3758/BF03213418 10.1207/s15327868ms0301_1 10.1016/0001-6918(86)90004-1 10.1016/S0364-0213(84)80004-X 10.1037//0278-7393.9.4.667 10.2307/2182440 10.1353/phl.1986.0033 10.1037//0096-3445.115.1.3 10.1080/01638538609544629 10.1016/S0022-5371(82)90467-4 10.1037//0278-7393.9.3.524 10.1016/S0022-5371(79)90284-6 10.1080/01638537909544450 10.1007/BF01068037 10.1016/S0022-5371(78)90283-9 10.3758/BF03213344 10.1177/002383098502800206 10.1016/S0022-5371(83)90355-9 10.3758/BF03335150 10.7591/9781501741326 |
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| References | p_9_44 p_5_40 p_7_42 Grice H. P. (p_22_57) 1968; 4 p_31_66 p_1_36 p_3_38 p_13_48 Gibbs R. (p_18_53) 1985; 28 p_29_64 p_27_62 p_20_55 Grice H. P. (p_21_56) 1957; 66 Harris R. (p_24_59) 1976; 8 p_8_43 p_19_54 p_17_52 Gibbs R. (p_11_46) 1980; 8 p_15_50 p_6_41 Gibbs R. (p_10_45) 1979; 2 p_30_65 Inhoff A. (p_26_61) 1984; 12 p_2_37 p_4_39 p_12_47 p_14_49 p_28_63 Harrison B. (p_25_60) 1986; 10 Gibbs R. (p_16_51) 1986; 9 p_23_58 |
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| Title | How Context Makes Metaphor Comprehension Seem 'Special' |
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