Role of implicit learning abilities in metaphor understanding

Abstract

Although the use of metaphors is a central component of language, the processes that sustain their comprehension have yet to be specified. Work in the fields of both metaphors and implicit learning suggests that implicit learning abilities facilitate the comprehension of metaphors. However, to date, no study has directly explored the relationships between the understanding of metaphors and so-called implicit learning tasks. We used a meaning decision task comparing literal, metaphorical and meaningless expressions to assess metaphor understanding and a probabilistic serial reaction time task for assessing implicit learning. Our results show that implicit learning positively predicts the time gap between responses to literal and metaphorical expressions and negatively predicts the difference between metaphorical and meaningless expressions. Thus, when confronted with novel metaphors, participants with higher implicit learning abilities are better able to identify that the expressions have some meaning. These results are interpreted in the context of metaphor understanding and psycholinguistic theories.

Processing Verb Meanings and the Declarative/Procedural Model: A Developmental Study

“…This interpretation of our results is supported by a previous study ( Drouillet et al, 2018 ) in which we showed that the gap between typical patients and meaningless patients was predicted by individual differences in implicit procedural memory abilities. We also showed that these individual differences predicted the ability to understand verbal metaphors, namely metaphors involving a verb and a patient (e.g., “catapulted his words”).…”

“…Nevertheless, another view could be that this effect (also) depends on declarative memory. Indeed, when a verb is activated, some of its activation is thought to spread to its most typical patients due to the spreading activation process ( Kintsch, 2001 ; Drouillet et al, 2018 ). The developmental invariance hypothesis can help to delineate between these two memory systems.…”

“…Both systems should then determine whether a meaning can be constructed for this new utterance. When this is the case, for instance with new metaphors ( Drouillet et al, 2018 ), both declarative and procedural memory must be updated: the former to create a relevant meaning and the latter to update the kinds of patients that are allowed. When the patient is unusual, no meaning can be generated, and the allowable patients for the presented verb cannot be updated in procedural memory.…”

Integration of waking experience through dreams considered in light of individual differences in implicit learning ability

“…Another potential way to understand this result may be found in regarding individual differences in the ability to identify the correlation between waking events and dream reports. There is evidence suggesting that when confronted with novel metaphors, participants with higher implicit learning abilities are better able to identify that the expressions have some meaning (Drouillet, Stefaniak, Declercq, & Obert, 2018). Lakoff (1993) proposes that dreams are structured by an unconscious metaphor system, picturing waking‐life experiences and emotions in non‐literal, figurative ways.…”

“…Another potential way to understand this result may be found in regarding individual differences in the ability to identify the correlation F I G U R E 3 The correlation between implicit learning ability and the averaged Similar-Feature-score between personally significant event and dream report TA B L E 1 Regression analysis for the averaged Matching-Score of PSEs-dreams pairs as predicted by the implicit learning ability, averaged dream length and the averaged Event-Emotionality-score between waking events and dream reports. There is evidence suggesting that when confronted with novel metaphors, participants with higher implicit learning abilities are better able to identify that the expressions have some meaning (Drouillet, Stefaniak, Declercq, & Obert, 2018). Lakoff (1993) proposes that dreams are structured by an unconscious metaphor system, picturing waking-life experiences and emotions in non-literal, figurative ways.…”