Metaphor and metonymy in ASD children: A critical review from a developmental perspective

Melogno, Sergio; Pinto, Maria Antonietta; Levi, Gabriel

doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2012.04.004

Cited by 47 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…In this article, we presented a preliminary study on training whose aim was to enhance the comprehension of sensory and physico-psychological metaphors in children with ASD. The distinction between these two types of metaphors is based on developmental literature, where it appears that explaining metaphors in childhood may vary as a function of the semantic complexity of these metaphors, with an advantage for the sensory type [ 20 , 28 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In our study, instead, the sample was considerably homogeneous in terms of age range, IQ, and basic semantic and grammatical competencies, which were all adequate. The apparent adequacy of the profile of this subgroup reopens the debate on the type of cognitive and linguistic skills that are necessary to understand figurative language, or on the integration of these skills [ 9 , 14 , 25 , 28 , 30 ]. On the other hand, the outcomes of our study suggest that a clinical treatment can at least partially contribute to the evolution of metaphor comprehension in these children with ASD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some children with ASD [ 14 , 15 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ], instead, tend to adhere to literal meanings. When requested to explain their position, they often say that the association between X and Y is just impossible and must be refused.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sensory and Physico-Psychological Metaphor Comprehension in Children with ASD: A Preliminary Study on the Outcomes of a Treatment

2017

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Recent research into difficulties in figurative language in children with ASD highlighted that it is possible to devise training interventions to overcome these difficulties by teaching specific strategies. This study describes how children with ASD can improve their capability to explain metaphors with a treatment. Two types of metaphors, in the “X is Y” form, were addressed: sensory and physico-psychological. To face the difficulties posed by these metaphors, the adult taught two strategies: inserting the connective “is like” between “X” and “Y”, which transforms the metaphor into a simile; comparing “X” and “Y” by means of thinking maps. Two tests of metaphor comprehension were used, one based on sensory and the other on physico-psychological metaphors. Sixteen 10 year-old children participated into the study, including an experimental group formed by 8 children with ASD (n = 4) which had received the treatment, and a control group (n = 4) which had not, and 8 typically-developing (TD) children. At the post-test, the experimental group significantly outperformed the controls in explaining both types of metaphors, but only in the sensory metaphors did their performances reach TD children’s levels. These results illuminate how clinical treatment can positively influence the developmental trajectories of metaphor comprehension.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sensory and Physico-Psychological Metaphor Comprehension in Children with ASD: A Preliminary Study on the Outcomes of a Treatment

2017

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“…Metaphor comprehension difficulties in high-functioning children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD, henceforth) are well documented (Happé, 1993, 1995; Norbury, 2005; Rundblad and Annaz, 2010; Melogno et al, 2012a,c; Kasirer and Mashal, 2014; Vulchanova et al, 2015). Faced with metaphors, children with ASD tend to remain firmly anchored to literal interpretations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Metaphors Comprehension in a Child with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Study on Assessment and Treatment

2017

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Until the first decade of the current millennium, the literature on metaphor comprehension highlighted typical difficulties in children with high-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). More recently, some scholars have devised special programs for enhancing the capability of understanding metaphors in these children. This article presents a case study based on a treatment aiming at enhancing novel metaphor comprehension in a high-functioning child with ASD. M.M., a pseudoacronym for an 8;10 year-old boy, diagnosed with high-functioning ASD, was first assessed with a metaphor comprehension test. This testing (at time T0) highlighted a rigid refusal of metaphors and a marked tendency toward literal interpretation. A baseline treatment (8 sessions of 45–60 min each, twice a week) was implemented, based on a series of recognition, denomination and emotion comprehension activities. M.M.'s metaphor comprehension was assessed a second time (T1), followed by the experimental treatment (same duration and frequency as the first one), specifically focused on metaphor comprehension. Finally, a third assessment of metaphor comprehension took place (T2), followed by a last assessment 4 months later (follow-up, T3). The comparison between the performances at the metaphor comprehension test across the four assessments, from T0 to T3, showed that the baseline treatment produced no effect at all, whereas a significant improvement appeared at T2, just after the experimental treatment, later confirmed at the follow up. Both quantitative and qualitative results showed an evident improvement in the way M.M. handled the semantic issues posed by the metaphors of the test, in line with the strategies he was taught during the treatment.

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“…In addition, metonymy is processed faster than metaphor, probably due to the routinization of metonymic shifts (Bambini, Ghio, Moro, & Schumacher, 2013). Moreover, the majority of the existing reviews utilized a narrative approach (Gernsbacher & Pripas-Kapit, 2012;Melogno, Pinto, et al, 2012;Vulchanova et al, 2015), which differs from our systematic approach in fundamental ways, especially regarding transparency and systematicity of methods used (Borenstein, Hedges, Higgins, & Rothstein, 2009).…”

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confidence: 99%

A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on metaphor comprehension in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: Do task properties matter?

Kalandadze

Bambini

Naess

2019

Applied Psycholinguistics

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Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience difficulty in comprehending metaphors compared to individuals with typical development (TD). However, there is a large variation in the results across studies, possibly related to the properties of the metaphor tasks. This preregistered systematic review and meta-analysis (a) explored the properties of the metaphor tasks used in ASD research, and (b) investigated the group difference between individuals with ASD and TD on metaphor comprehension, as well as the relationship between the task properties and any between-study variation. A systematic search was undertaken in seven relevant databases. Fourteen studies fulfilled our predetermined inclusion criteria. Across tasks, we detected four types of response format and a great variety of metaphors in terms of familiarity, syntactic structure, and linguistic context. Individuals with TD outperformed individuals with ASD on metaphor comprehension (Hedges’ g = −0.63). Verbal explanation response format was utilized in the study showing the largest effect size in the group comparison. However, due to the sparse experimental manipulations, the role of task properties could not be established. Future studies should consider and report task properties to determine their role in metaphor comprehension, and to inform experimental paradigms as well as educational assessment.

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Metaphor and metonymy in ASD children: A critical review from a developmental perspective

Cited by 47 publications

References 51 publications

Sensory and Physico-Psychological Metaphor Comprehension in Children with ASD: A Preliminary Study on the Outcomes of a Treatment

Sensory and Physico-Psychological Metaphor Comprehension in Children with ASD: A Preliminary Study on the Outcomes of a Treatment

Novel Metaphors Comprehension in a Child with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Study on Assessment and Treatment

A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on metaphor comprehension in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: Do task properties matter?

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