Do metaphorical sharks bite? Simulation and abstraction in metaphor processing

Al-Azary, Hamad; Katz, Albert N.

doi:10.3758/s13421-020-01109-2

Cited by 17 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…In this study, by comparing the two types of verbal metaphors and the corresponding processing of literal-concrete and literal-abstract meanings, the results support the simulation-abstraction hybrid view, that is, both simulation and abstraction are viable mechanisms for processing metaphorical meaning ( Al-Azary and Katz, 2020 ). Verbal metaphor comprehension is not entirely based on sensorimotor simulation but also counts on semantic abstraction.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

“…Recent studies confirm that the involvement of sensorimotor network and abstraction process is dynamic in metaphor comprehension ( Al-Azary and Katz, 2020 ). Based on previous research, the present study further compares the activation of concrete and abstract meanings in the processing of subject-verb metaphors and verb-object metaphors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Accordingly, a verbal metaphor is processed as a simulation in which the activation of literal concrete meaning plays an important role. While other researchers argue that abstract semantic processing also has a crucial role in verbal metaphor comprehension, in addition to the activation of literal-concrete meaning (Jamrozik et al, 2016;Al-Azary and Katz, 2020). In line with the latter view, our findings found that the verb-object metaphors elicited an N400 effect similar to the literal-concrete condition, while the subject-verb metaphors induced a P600/LPC effect similar to the literalabstract condition in the verb processing stage, confirming a combination of simulation and abstraction processing in verbal metaphor comprehension.…”

Section: Activation Of Concrete and Abstract Meanings In Verbal Metap...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is the Processing of Chinese Verbal Metaphors Simulated or Abstracted? Evidence From an ERP Study

Liu

Wang

et al. 2022

Front. Psychol.

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The theory of embodied semantics holds that verbal metaphors are strongly grounded in sensorimotor experience. Many studies have proven that besides sensorimotor simulation, the comprehension of verbal metaphors also requires semantic abstraction. But the interaction between simulation and abstraction, as well as the time course of metaphorical meaning integration, is not well understood. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether embodiment or abstraction, or both, is employed in the processing of Chinese verbal metaphor. Participants were asked to read subject-verb metaphorical, verb-object metaphorical, literal-concrete and literal-abstract sentences, and the target words were measured at the verb and the object of each sentence. The results revealed that a similar N400 effect was elicited by the target verbs in the verb-object metaphorical and the literal-concrete sentences, and a similar P600/LPC effect was induced by the target verbs in the subject-verb metaphorical and the literal-abstract sentences, reflecting that the verb-object metaphors trigger a simulation process, while the subject-verb metaphors trigger an abstraction process in the verb processing stage. Moreover, the subject-verb metaphors elicited a stronger P600/LPC effect by the target verbs than the verb-object metaphors, but there was no difference of the P600/LPC caused by the target objects between the two kinds of metaphors, revealing that the metaphorical meaning of a subject-verb metaphor is integrated in the verb processing stage, while that of a verb-object metaphor is reanalyzed in the object processing stage. These results suggest that a verbal metaphor is processed both by simulation and abstraction, and the metaphorical meaning is integrated immediately with the unfolding of the sentence meaning. The position where the semantic conflict lies in a sentence (verb vs. object) modulates the time course of metaphor sentence comprehension.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Activation Of Concrete and Abstract Meanings In Verbal Metap...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is the Processing of Chinese Verbal Metaphors Simulated or Abstracted? Evidence From an ERP Study

Liu

Wang

et al. 2022

Front. Psychol.

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“…The results reported in Table 3 are significantly in line with this view. This suggests that, in terms of mechanisms of embodied understanding, metaphorical and literal statements are similar [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Some examples of similarity between the embodied/gestural realization of each metaphorical category and the embodied/gestural realization of its corresponding literal category have been shown in Figure 1 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study of the Use of Iconic and Metaphoric Gestures with Motion-Based, Static Space-Based, Static Object-Based, and Static Event-Based Statements

Khatin‐Zadeh

Farsani

Banaruee

2022

Behavioral Sciences

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In this article, we extend our previously suggested categorization of metaphors to literal statements, and categorize metaphorical and literal statements into four pairs of corresponding metaphorical and literal statements: (1) motion-based metaphorical/literal statements; (2) static space-based metaphorical/literal statements; (3) static object-based metaphorical/literal statements; (4) static event-based metaphorical/literal statements. Then, we report a study that investigated the use of metaphoric and iconic gestures with these corresponding categories during the retelling of a set of stories by a group of thirty participants. The participants listened to five audio short stories. Each story contained one statement of each metaphoric category and one statement of each literal category. After listening to each story, they retold it in their own language in front of a camera. The results showed that event-based metaphors and event-based literal statements were accompanied by the smallest number of metaphoric and iconic gestures. Furthermore, there was a significant similarity between each metaphorical category and its corresponding literal category in the number of gestures that were used with these categories. This similarity supports the idea that the mechanisms underlying the embodiment of metaphorical and literal statements are essentially similar.

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“…Such a questionnaire might allow the maintenance of the 'breadth' of emotions we were seeking to assess while still measuring a degree of 'affectiveness'. Additionally, aligning reported aesthetic experiences with neural activity (e.g., increased sensorimotor simulation [45] or bihemispheric activity [46]) might represent another step in further understanding the curious relationship between optimally difficult metaphors and the feelings they provoke.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Difficulty and pleasure in the comprehension of verb-based metaphor sentences: A behavioral study

2022

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What is difficult is not usually pleasurable. Yet, for certain unfamiliar figurative language, like that which is common in poetry, while comprehension is often more difficult than for more conventional language, it is in many cases more pleasurable. Concentrating our investigation on verb-based metaphors, we examined whether and to what degree the novel variations (in the form of verb changes and extensions) of conventional verb metaphors were both more difficult to comprehend and yet induced more pleasure. To test this relationship, we developed a set of 62 familiar metaphor stimuli, each with corresponding optimal and excessive verb variation and metaphor extension conditions, and normed these stimuli using both objective measures and participant subjective ratings. We then tested the pleasure-difficulty relationship with an online behavioral study. Based on Rachel Giora and her colleagues’ ‘optimal innovation hypothesis’, we anticipated an inverse U-shaped relationship between ease and pleasure, with an optimal degree of difficulty, introduced by metaphor variations, producing the highest degree of pleasure when compared to familiar or excessive conditions. Results, however, revealed a more complex picture, with only metaphor extension conditions (not verb variation conditions) producing the anticipated pleasure effects. Individual differences in semantic cognition and verbal reasoning assessed using the Semantic Similarities Test, while clearly influential, further complicated the pleasure-difficulty relationship, suggesting an important avenue for further investigation.

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Do metaphorical sharks bite? Simulation and abstraction in metaphor processing

Cited by 17 publications

References 45 publications

Is the Processing of Chinese Verbal Metaphors Simulated or Abstracted? Evidence From an ERP Study

Is the Processing of Chinese Verbal Metaphors Simulated or Abstracted? Evidence From an ERP Study

A Study of the Use of Iconic and Metaphoric Gestures with Motion-Based, Static Space-Based, Static Object-Based, and Static Event-Based Statements

Difficulty and pleasure in the comprehension of verb-based metaphor sentences: A behavioral study

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