The college journey and academic engagement: how metaphor use enhances identity-based motivation.

PubMed

Landau, Mark J; Oyserman, Daphna; Keefer, Lucas A; Smith, George C

2014-05-01

People commonly talk about goals metaphorically as destinations on physical paths extending into the future or as contained in future periods. Does metaphor use have consequences for people's motivation to engage in goal-directed action? Three experiments examine the effect of metaphor use on students' engagement with their academic possible identity: their image of themselves as academically successful graduates. Students primed to frame their academic possible identity using the goal-as-journey metaphor reported stronger academic intention, and displayed increased effort on academic tasks, compared to students primed with a nonacademic possible identity, a different metaphoric framing (goal-as-contained-entity), and past academic achievements (Studies 1-2). This motivating effect persisted up to a week later as reflected in final exam performance (Study 3). Four experiments examine the cognitive processes underlying this effect. Conceptual metaphor theory posits that an accessible metaphor transfers knowledge between dissimilar concepts. As predicted in this paradigm, a journey-metaphoric framing of a possible academic identity transferred confidence in the procedure, or action sequence, required to attain that possible identity, which in turn led participants to perceive that possible identity as more connected to their current identity (Study 4). Drawing on identity-based motivation theory, we hypothesized that strengthened current/possible identity connection would mediate the journey framing's motivating effect. This mediational process predicted students' academic engagement (Study 5) and an online sample's engagement with possible identities in other domains (Study 6). Also as predicted, journey framing increased academic engagement particularly among students reporting a weak connection to their academic possible identity (Study 7).

Pain as metaphor: metaphor and medicine

PubMed Central

Neilson, Shane

2016-01-01

Like many other disciplines, medicine often resorts to metaphor in order to explain complicated concepts that are imperfectly understood. But what happens when medicine's metaphors close off thinking, restricting interpretations and opinions to those of the negative kind? This paper considers the deleterious effects of destructive metaphors that cluster around pain. First, the metaphoric basis of all knowledge is introduced. Next, a particular subset of medical metaphors in the domain of neurology (doors/keys/wires) are shown to encourage mechanistic thinking. Because schematics are often used in medical textbooks to simplify the complex, this paper traces the visual metaphors implied in such schematics. Mechanistic-metaphorical thinking results in the accumulation of vast amounts of data through experimentation, but this paper asks what the real value of the information is since patients can generally only expect modest benefits – or none at all – for relief from chronic pain conditions. Elucidation of mechanism through careful experimentation creates an illusion of vast medical knowledge that, to a significant degree, is metaphor-based. This paper argues that for pain outcomes to change, our metaphors must change first. PMID:26253331

Developmental changes in children's comprehension and explanation of spatial metaphors for time.

PubMed

Stites, Lauren J; Özçalişkan, Şeyda

2013-11-01

Time is frequently expressed with spatial motion, using one of three different metaphor types: moving-time, moving-ego, and sequence-as-position. Previous work shows that children can understand and explain moving-time metaphors by age five (Özçalışkan, 2005). In this study, we focus on all three metaphor types for time, and ask whether metaphor type has an effect on children's metaphor comprehension and explanation abilities. Analysis of the responses of three- to six-year-old children and adults showed that comprehension and explanation of all three metaphor types emerge at an early age. Moreover, children's metaphor comprehension and explanation vary by metaphor type: children perform better in understanding and explaining metaphors that structure time in relation to the observer of time (moving-ego, moving-time) than metaphors that structure time without any relation to the observer of time (sequence-as-position-on-a-path). Our findings suggest that children's bodily experiences might play a role in their developing understanding of the abstract concept of time.

What about Metaphors in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories" Written by Ernest Hemingway

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Na'imah

2015-01-01

It is discovered plenty of various interesting metaphors in the book of "The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories" which were written by Ernest Hemingway. By the metaphorical expressions, one can describe everything much more expressively, imaginatively, effectively, and poetically. Each of the metaphors has always a specific style and…

Neural Correlates of Metaphor Processing: The Roles of Figurativeness, Familiarity and Difficulty

PubMed Central

Schmidt, Gwenda L.; Seger, Carol A.

2009-01-01

There is currently much interest in investigating the neural substrates of metaphor processing. In particular, it has been suggested that the right hemisphere plays a special role in the comprehension of figurative (non-literal) language, and in particular metaphors. However, some studies find no evidence of right hemisphere involvement in metaphor comprehension (e.g. Lee & Dapretto, 2006; Rapp et al., 2004). We suggest that lateralization differences between literal and metaphorical language may be due to factors such as differences in familiarity (Schmidt et al., 2007), or difficulty (Bookheimer, 2002; Rapp et al., 2004) in addition to figurativeness. The purpose of this study was to separate the effects of figurativeness, familiarity, and difficulty on the recruitment of neural systems involved in language, in particular right hemisphere mechanisms. This was achieved by comparing neural activation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) between four conditions: literal sentences, familiar and easy to understand metaphors, unfamiliar and easy to understand metaphors, and unfamiliar and difficult to understand metaphors. Metaphors recruited the right insula, left temporal pole and right inferior frontal gyrus in comparison with literal sentences. Familiar metaphors recruited the right middle frontal gyrus when contrasted with unfamiliar metaphors. Easy metaphors showed higher activation in the left middle frontal gyrus as compared to difficult metaphors, while difficult metaphors showed selective activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus as compared to easy metaphors. We conclude that the right hemisphere is involved in metaphor processing and that the factors of figurativeness, familiarity and difficulty are important in determining neural recruitment of semantic processing. PMID:19586700

Game as a Career Metaphor: A Chaos Theory Career Counselling Application

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pryor, Robert George Leslie; Bright, Jim E. H.

2009-01-01

The potential of game as a career metaphor for use in counselling is explored and it is argued that it has been largely overlooked in the literature to date. This metaphor is then explicitly linked with the Chaos Theory of Careers (CTC), by showing how the notion of attractors within the CTC can be illustrated effectively using games metaphors.…

Defining genes using "blueprint" versus "instruction" metaphors: effects for genetic determinism, response efficacy, and perceived control.

PubMed

Parrott, Roxanne; Smith, Rachel A

2014-01-01

Evidence supports mixed attributions aligned with personal and/or clinical control and gene expression for health in this era of genomic science and health care. We consider variance in these attributions and possible relationships to individual mind sets associated with essentialist beliefs that genes determine health versus threat beliefs that genes increase susceptibility for disease and severity linked to gene-environment interactions. Further, we contribute to theory and empirical research to evaluate the use of metaphors to define genes. Participants (N = 324) read a message that varied the introduction by providing a definition of genes that used either an "instruction" metaphor or a "blueprint" metaphor. The "instruction" metaphor compared to the "blueprint" metaphor promoted stronger threat perceptions, which aligned with both belief in the response efficacy of genetic research for health and perceived behavioral control linked to genes and health. The "blueprint" metaphor compared to the "instruction" metaphor promoted stronger essentialist beliefs, which aligned with more intense positive regard for the efficacy of genetic research and human health. Implications for health communicators include societal effects aligned with stigma and discrimination that such findings portend.

Engagement of the left extrastriate body area during body-part metaphor comprehension.

PubMed

Lacey, Simon; Stilla, Randall; Deshpande, Gopikrishna; Zhao, Sinan; Stephens, Careese; McCormick, Kelly; Kemmerer, David; Sathian, K

2017-03-01

Grounded cognition explanations of metaphor comprehension predict activation of sensorimotor cortices relevant to the metaphor's source domain. We tested this prediction for body-part metaphors using functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants heard sentences containing metaphorical or literal references to body parts, and comparable control sentences. Localizer scans identified body-part-specific motor, somatosensory and visual cortical regions. Both subject- and item-wise analyses showed that, relative to control sentences, metaphorical but not literal sentences evoked limb metaphor-specific activity in the left extrastriate body area (EBA), paralleling the EBA's known visual limb-selectivity. The EBA focus exhibited resting-state functional connectivity with ipsilateral semantic processing regions. In some of these regions, the strength of resting-state connectivity correlated with individual preference for verbal processing. Effective connectivity analyses showed that, during metaphor comprehension, activity in some semantic regions drove that in the EBA. These results provide converging evidence for grounding of metaphor processing in domain-specific sensorimotor cortical activity. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Communicating Zika Risk: Using Metaphor to Increase Perceived Risk Susceptibility.

PubMed

Lu, Hang; Schuldt, Jonathon P

2018-02-27

Effectively communicating the risks associated with emerging zoonotic diseases remains an important challenge. Drawing on research into the psychological effects of metaphoric framing, we explore the conditions under which exposure to the "nation as a body" metaphor influences perceived risk susceptibility, behavioral intentions, and policy support in the context of Zika virus. In a between-subjects experiment, 354 U.S. adults were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions as part of a 2 (severity message: high vs. low) × 2 (U.S. framing: metaphoric vs. literal) design. Results revealed an interaction effect such that metaphoric (vs. literal) framing increased perceived risk susceptibility in the high-severity condition only. Further analyses revealed that perceived risk susceptibility and negative affect mediated the path between the two-way interaction and policy support and behavioral intentions regarding Zika prevention. Overall, these findings complement prior work on the influence of metaphoric framing on risk perceptions, while offering practical insights for risk communicators seeking to communicate about Zika and other zoonotic diseases. © 2018 Society for Risk Analysis.

Metaphors we think with: the role of metaphor in reasoning.

PubMed

Thibodeau, Paul H; Boroditsky, Lera

2011-02-23

The way we talk about complex and abstract ideas is suffused with metaphor. In five experiments, we explore how these metaphors influence the way that we reason about complex issues and forage for further information about them. We find that even the subtlest instantiation of a metaphor (via a single word) can have a powerful influence over how people attempt to solve social problems like crime and how they gather information to make "well-informed" decisions. Interestingly, we find that the influence of the metaphorical framing effect is covert: people do not recognize metaphors as influential in their decisions; instead they point to more "substantive" (often numerical) information as the motivation for their problem-solving decision. Metaphors in language appear to instantiate frame-consistent knowledge structures and invite structurally consistent inferences. Far from being mere rhetorical flourishes, metaphors have profound influences on how we conceptualize and act with respect to important societal issues. We find that exposure to even a single metaphor can induce substantial differences in opinion about how to solve social problems: differences that are larger, for example, than pre-existing differences in opinion between Democrats and Republicans.

To electrify bilingualism: Electrophysiological insights into bilingual metaphor comprehension

PubMed Central

Jankowiak, Katarzyna; Rataj, Karolina; Naskręcki, Ryszard

2017-01-01

Though metaphoric language comprehension has previously been investigated with event-related potentials, little attention has been devoted to extending this research from the monolingual to the bilingual context. In the current study, late proficient unbalanced Polish (L1)–English (L2) bilinguals performed a semantic decision task to novel metaphoric, conventional metaphoric, literal, and anomalous word pairs presented in L1 and L2. The results showed more pronounced P200 amplitudes to L2 than L1, which can be accounted for by differences in the subjective frequency of the native and non-native lexical items. Within the early N400 time window (300–400 ms), L2 word dyads evoked delayed and attenuated amplitudes relative to L1 word pairs, possibly indicating extended lexical search during foreign language processing, and weaker semantic interconnectivity for L2 compared to L1 words within the memory system. The effect of utterance type was observed within the late N400 time window (400–500 ms), with smallest amplitudes evoked by literal, followed by conventional metaphoric, novel metaphoric, and anomalous word dyads. Such findings are interpreted as reflecting more resource intensive cognitive mechanisms governing novel compared to conventional metaphor comprehension in both the native and non-native language. Within the late positivity time window (500–800 ms), Polish novel metaphors evoked reduced amplitudes relative to literal utterances. In English, on the other hand, this effect was observed for both novel and conventional metaphoric word dyads. This finding might indicate continued effort in information retrieval or access to the non-literal route during novel metaphor comprehension in L1, and during novel and conventional metaphor comprehension in L2. Altogether, the present results point to decreased automaticity of cognitive mechanisms engaged in non-native and non-dominant language processing, and suggest a decreased sensitivity to the levels of conventionality of metaphoric meanings in late proficient unbalanced bilingual speakers. PMID:28414742

The shaping of information by visual metaphors.

PubMed

Ziemkiewicz, Caroline; Kosara, Robert

2008-01-01

The nature of an information visualization can be considered to lie in the visual metaphors it uses to structure information. The process of understanding a visualization therefore involves an interaction between these external visual metaphors and the user's internal knowledge representations. To investigate this claim, we conducted an experiment to test the effects of visual metaphor and verbal metaphor on the understanding of tree visualizations. Participants answered simple data comprehension questions while viewing either a treemap or a node-link diagram. Questions were worded to reflect a verbal metaphor that was either compatible or incompatible with the visualization a participant was using. The results (based on correctness and response time) suggest that the visual metaphor indeed affects how a user derives information from a visualization. Additionally, we found that the degree to which a user is affected by the metaphor is strongly correlated with the user's ability to answer task questions correctly. These findings are a first step towards illuminating how visual metaphors shape user understanding, and have significant implications for the evaluation, application, and theory of visualization.

Mixing Metaphors in the Cerebral Hemispheres: What Happens When Careers Collide?

PubMed Central

Chettih, Selmaan; Durgin, Frank H.; Grodner, Daniel J.

2014-01-01

Are processes of figurative comparison and figurative categorization different? An experiment combining alternative-sense and matched-sense metaphor priming with a divided visual field assessment technique sought to isolate processes of comparison and categorization in the two cerebral hemispheres. For target metaphors presented in the RVF/LH, only matched-sense primes were facilitative. Literal primes and alternative-sense primes had no effect on comprehension time compared to the unprimed baseline. The effects of matched-sense primes were additive with the rated conventionality of the targets. For target metaphors presented to the LVF/RH, matched-sense primes were again additively facilitative. However, alternative-sense primes, though facilitative overall, seemed to eliminate the pre-existing advantages of conventional target metaphor senses in the LVF/RH in favor of metaphoric senses similar to those of the primes. These findings are consistent with tightly controlled categorical coding in the LH and coarse, and flexible, context dependent coding in the RH. PMID:22103787

The online use of Violence and Journey metaphors by patients with cancer, as compared with health professionals: a mixed methods study

PubMed Central

Semino, Elena; Demjén, Zsófia; Demmen, Jane; Koller, Veronika; Payne, Sheila; Hardie, Andrew; Rayson, Paul

2017-01-01

Objective To compare the frequencies with which patients with cancer and health professionals use Violence and Journey metaphors when writing online; and to investigate the use of these metaphors by patients with cancer, in view of critiques of war-related metaphors for cancer and the adoption of the notion of the ‘cancer journey’ in UK policy documents. Design Computer-assisted quantitative and qualitative study of two data sets totalling 753 302 words. Setting A UK-based online forum for patients with cancer (500 134 words) and a UK-based website for health professionals (253 168 words). Participants 56 patients with cancer writing online between 2007 and 2012; and 307 health professionals writing online between 2008 and 2013. Results Patients with cancer use both Violence metaphors and Journey metaphors approximately 1.5 times per 1000 words to describe their illness experience. In similar online writing, health professionals use each type of metaphor significantly less frequently. Patients’ Violence metaphors can express and reinforce negative feelings, but they can also be used in empowering ways. Journey metaphors can express and reinforce positive feelings, but can also be used in disempowering ways. Conclusions Violence metaphors are not by default negative and Journey metaphors are not by default a positive means of conceptualising cancer. A blanket rejection of Violence metaphors and an uncritical promotion of Journey metaphors would deprive patients of the positive functions of the former and ignore the potential pitfalls of the latter. Instead, greater awareness of the function (empowering or disempowering) of patients’ metaphor use can lead to more effective communication about the experience of cancer. PMID:25743439

Living on a Lifeboat

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hardin, Garrett

1974-01-01

The author suggests the metaphor "Spaceship Earth" has difficulties within a world that has no captain nor an executive committee. He suggests an alternative metaphor, that of a lifeboat. The lifeboat metaphor is applied to various nations and effects of policies related to population growth, food production, food distribution, immigration and…

How vertical hand movements impact brain activity elicited by literally and metaphorically related words: an ERP study of embodied metaphor

PubMed Central

Bardolph, Megan; Coulson, Seana

2014-01-01

Embodied metaphor theory suggests abstract concepts are metaphorically linked to more experientially basic ones and recruit sensorimotor cortex for their comprehension. To test whether words associated with spatial attributes reactivate traces in sensorimotor cortex, we recorded EEG from the scalp of healthy adults as they read words while performing a concurrent task involving either upward- or downward- directed arm movements. ERPs were time-locked to words associated with vertical space—either literally (ascend, descend) or metaphorically (inspire, defeat)—as participants made vertical movements that were either congruent or incongruent with the words. Congruency effects emerged 200–300 ms after word onset for literal words, but not until after 500 ms post-onset for metaphorically related words. Results argue against a strong version of embodied metaphor theory, but support a role for sensorimotor simulation in concrete language. PMID:25566041

Neural correlates of metaphor processing: the roles of figurativeness, familiarity and difficulty.

PubMed

Schmidt, Gwenda L; Seger, Carol A

2009-12-01

There is currently much interest in investigating the neural substrates of metaphor processing. In particular, it has been suggested that the right hemisphere plays a special role in the comprehension of figurative (non-literal) language, and in particular metaphors. However, some studies find no evidence of right hemisphere involvement in metaphor comprehension (e.g. [Lee, S. S., & Dapretto, M. (2006). Metaphorical vs. literal word meanings: fMRI evidence against a selective role of the right hemisphere. NeuroImage, 29, 536-544; Rapp, A. M., Leube, D. T., Erb, M., Grodd, W., & Kircher, T. T. J. (2004). Neural correlates of metaphor processing. Cognitive Brain Research, 20, 395-402]). We suggest that lateralization differences between literal and metaphorical language may be due to factors such as differences in familiarity ([Schmidt, G. L., DeBuse, C. J., & Seger, C. A. (2007). Right hemisphere metaphor processing? Characterizing the lateralization of semantic processes. Brain and Language, 100, 127-141]), or difficulty ([Bookheimer, S. (2002). Functional MRI of language: New approaches to understanding the cortical organization of semantic processing. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 25, 151-188; Rapp, A. M., Leube, D. T., Erb, M., Grodd, W., & Kircher, T. T. J. (2004). Neural correlates of metaphor processing. Cognitive Brain Research, 20, 395-402]) in addition to figurativeness. The purpose of this study was to separate the effects of figurativeness, familiarity, and difficulty on the recruitment of neural systems involved in language, in particular right hemisphere mechanisms. This was achieved by comparing neural activation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) between four conditions: literal sentences, familiar and easy to understand metaphors, unfamiliar and easy to understand metaphors, and unfamiliar and difficult to understand metaphors. Metaphors recruited the right insula, left temporal pole and right inferior frontal gyrus in comparison with literal sentences. Familiar metaphors recruited the right middle frontal gyrus when contrasted with unfamiliar metaphors. Easy metaphors showed higher activation in the left middle frontal gyrus as compared to difficult metaphors, while difficult metaphors showed selective activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus as compared to easy metaphors. We conclude that the right hemisphere is involved in metaphor processing and that the factors of figurativeness, familiarity and difficulty are important in determining neural recruitment of semantic processing.

Enhancing Health Message Framing With Metaphor and Cultural Values: Impact on Latinas' Cervical Cancer Screening.

PubMed

Spina, Melissa; Arndt, Jamie; Landau, Mark J; Cameron, Linda D

2018-02-05

An integration of message framing and sociocultural literature suggests that ethnic health disparities may be reduced by incorporating minority groups' cultural values into persuasive health messages. Framing messages with metaphors represents one promising strategy for harnessing cultural values to change health outcomes. Still, the effectiveness of metaphoric health messages in minority populations has received virtually no empirical attention. To fill this gap, the present study tested whether a health message using a cancer-screening metaphor targeting collectivism and familism values would engage individual differences in these values to predict Papanicolaou (Pap) smear intentions among Latinas. Latina women (N = 168) completed an online survey including measures of collectivism and familism. They were randomized to read a message about Pap smears featuring the metaphor the body is a family or no metaphor before reporting their Pap smear intentions. Regression analyses revealed a pattern of interactions suggesting metaphoric messages engage targeted cultural values: For Latinas reading the family metaphor message, collectivism and familism positively predicted Pap smear intentions, whereas for Latinas reading the no-metaphor message, these values did not predict intentions. This study offers a foundation for further examination of the potential for metaphoric health messages that connect to cultural values to reduce ethnic health disparities. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Disentangling Metaphor from Context: An ERP Study.

PubMed

Bambini, Valentina; Bertini, Chiara; Schaeken, Walter; Stella, Alessandra; Di Russo, Francesco

2016-01-01

A large body of electrophysiological literature showed that metaphor comprehension elicits two different event-related brain potential responses, namely the so-called N400 and P600 components. Yet most of these studies test metaphor in isolation while in natural conversation metaphors do not come out of the blue but embedded in linguistic and extra-linguistic context. This study aimed at assessing the role of context in the metaphor comprehension process. We recorded EEG activity while participants were presented with metaphors and equivalent literal expressions in a minimal context (Experiment 1) and in a supportive context where the word expressing the ground between the metaphor's topic and vehicle was made explicit (Experiment 2). The N400 effect was visible only in minimal context, whereas the P600 was visible both in the absence and in the presence of contextual cues. These findings suggest that the N400 observed for metaphor is related to contextual aspects, possibly indexing contextual expectations on upcoming words that guide lexical access and retrieval, while the P600 seems to reflect truly pragmatic interpretative processes needed to make sense of a metaphor and derive the speaker's meaning, also in the presence of contextual cues. In sum, previous information in the linguistic context biases toward a metaphorical interpretation but does not suppress interpretative pragmatic mechanisms to establish the intended meaning.

Metaphors are Embodied, and so are Their Literal Counterparts

PubMed Central

Santana, Eduardo; de Vega, Manuel

2011-01-01

This study investigates whether understanding up/down metaphors as well as semantically homologous literal sentences activates embodied representations online. Participants read orientational literal sentences (e.g., she climbed up the hill), metaphors (e.g., she climbed up in the company), and abstract sentences with similar meaning to the metaphors (e.g., she succeeded in the company). In Experiments 1 and 2, participants were asked to perform a speeded upward or downward hand motion while they were reading the sentence verb. The hand motion either matched or mismatched the direction connoted by the sentence. The results showed a meaning-action effect for metaphors and literals, that is, faster hand motion responses in the matching conditions. Notably, the matching advantage was also found for homologous abstract sentences, indicating that some abstract ideas are conceptually organized in the vertical dimension, even when they are expressed by means of literal sentences. In Experiment 3, participants responded to an upward or downward visual motion associated with the sentence verb by pressing a single key. In this case, the facilitation effect for matching visual motion-sentence meaning faded, indicating that the visual motion component is less important than the action component in conceptual metaphors. Most up and down metaphors convey emotionally positive and negative information, respectively. We suggest that metaphorical meaning elicits upward/downward movements because they are grounded on the bodily expression of the corresponding emotions. PMID:21687459

Enhancing the comprehension of visual metaphors in individuals with intellectual disability with or without down syndrome.

PubMed

Shnitzer-Meirovich, Shlomit; Lifshitz, Hefziba; Mashal, Nira

2018-03-01

This study is the first to investigate the effectiveness of deep and shallow intervention programs in the acquisition of visual metaphor comprehension in individuals with non-specific intellectual disability (NSID; aged 15-59, N = 53) or Down syndrome (DS; aged 15-52, N = 50). The deep intervention program was based on dynamic assessment model for enhancing analogical thinking. The shallow intervention program involves memorizing a metaphorical relationship between pairs of pictures. Visual metaphor comprehension was measured by the construction of a metaphorical connection between pairs of pictures. The results indicated that both etiology groups exhibited poor understanding of visual metaphors before the intervention. A significant improvement was observed in both interventions and both etiology groups, with greater improvement among individuals who underwent the deep processing. Moreover, the latter procedure led to greater generalization ability. The results also indicated that vocabulary contributed significantly to understanding unstudied metaphors and that participants with poorer linguistic abilities exhibited greater improvement in their metaphorical thinking. Thus, individuals with ID with or without DS are able to recruit the higher-order cognitive abilities required for visual metaphor comprehension. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Semantic Interference and Facilitation: Understanding the Integration of Spatial Distance and Conceptual Similarity During Sentence Reading.

PubMed

Guerra, Ernesto; Knoeferle, Pia

2018-01-01

Existing evidence has shown a processing advantage (or facilitation) when representations derived from a non-linguistic context (spatial proximity depicted by gambling cards moving together) match the semantic content of an ensuing sentence. A match, inspired by conceptual metaphors such as 'similarity is closeness' would, for instance, involve cards moving closer together and the sentence relates similarity between abstract concepts such as war and battle. However, other studies have reported a disadvantage (or interference) for congruence between the semantic content of a sentence and representations of spatial distance derived from this sort of non-linguistic context. In the present article, we investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying the interaction between the representations of spatial distance and sentence processing. In two eye-tracking experiments, we tested the predictions of a mechanism that considers the competition, activation, and decay of visually and linguistically derived representations as key aspects in determining the qualitative pattern and time course of that interaction. Critical trials presented two playing cards, each showing a written abstract noun; the cards turned around, obscuring the nouns, and moved either farther apart or closer together. Participants then read a sentence expressing either semantic similarity or difference between these two nouns. When instructed to attend to the nouns on the cards (Experiment 1), participants' total reading times revealed interference between spatial distance (e.g., closeness) and semantic relations (similarity) as soon as the sentence explicitly conveyed similarity. But when instructed to attend to the cards (Experiment 2), cards approaching (vs. moving apart) elicited first interference (when similarity was implicit) and then facilitation (when similarity was made explicit) during sentence reading. We discuss these findings in the context of a competition mechanism of interference and facilitation effects.

Literally experts: expertise and the processing of analogical metaphors in pharmaceutical advertising.

PubMed

Delbaere, Marjorie; Smith, Malcolm C

2014-01-01

This research examined differences between novices and experts in processing analogical metaphors appearing in prescription drug advertisements. In contrast to previous studies on knowledge transfer, no evidence of the superiority of experts in processing metaphors was found. The results from an experiment suggest that expert consumers were more likely to process a metaphor in an ad literally than novices. Our findings point to a condition in which the expertise effect with processing analogies is not the linear relationship assumed in previous studies.

Applying Visual Metaphors to Career Transitions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barner, Robert William

2011-01-01

This article makes use of a case study involving two career professionals to show how visual metaphors can be used as an important part of a constructivist approach to career counseling. It discusses how visual metaphors can serve as an effective methodology for encouraging adults to engage in the self-review of career transitions, discusses…

Effects of social anxiety on metaphorical associations between emotional valence and clothing brightness.

PubMed

Ishikawa, Kenta; Suzuki, Hikaru; Okubo, Matia

2018-06-05

Individuals with social anxiety have various types of deficiencies in emotional processing. Diversity of deficiencies may imply that socially anxious individuals have malfunctions in fundamental parts of emotional processing. Therefore, we hypothesized that social anxiety contributes to deficiencies in building on the metaphorical relationship between emotional experience and brightness. We conducted a judgment task of valences of faces with manipulated clothing brightness (bright or dark). A congruency effect between the emotional valence and clothing brightness was observed in participants with low social anxiety. However, this pattern was not found in participants with high social anxiety. The results suggested that a deficiency in metaphorical associations leads to maladaptive emotional processing in individuals with social anxiety. Our findings cannot be directly generalized to clinical populations. Such populations should be tested in the future studies. We may expand Lakoff and Johnson's (1999) conceptual metaphor theory by showing the relationships between social anxiety and malfunction in metaphorical processing. Malfunctions in metaphorical processing could lead to various types of psychological disorders which have deficiencies in emotional processing. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Disentangling Metaphor from Context: An ERP Study

PubMed Central

Bambini, Valentina; Bertini, Chiara; Schaeken, Walter; Stella, Alessandra; Di Russo, Francesco

2016-01-01

A large body of electrophysiological literature showed that metaphor comprehension elicits two different event-related brain potential responses, namely the so-called N400 and P600 components. Yet most of these studies test metaphor in isolation while in natural conversation metaphors do not come out of the blue but embedded in linguistic and extra-linguistic context. This study aimed at assessing the role of context in the metaphor comprehension process. We recorded EEG activity while participants were presented with metaphors and equivalent literal expressions in a minimal context (Experiment 1) and in a supportive context where the word expressing the ground between the metaphor's topic and vehicle was made explicit (Experiment 2). The N400 effect was visible only in minimal context, whereas the P600 was visible both in the absence and in the presence of contextual cues. These findings suggest that the N400 observed for metaphor is related to contextual aspects, possibly indexing contextual expectations on upcoming words that guide lexical access and retrieval, while the P600 seems to reflect truly pragmatic interpretative processes needed to make sense of a metaphor and derive the speaker's meaning, also in the presence of contextual cues. In sum, previous information in the linguistic context biases toward a metaphorical interpretation but does not suppress interpretative pragmatic mechanisms to establish the intended meaning. PMID:27199799

Polarity Correspondence in Metaphor Congruency Effects: Structural Overlap Predicts Categorization Times for Bipolar Concepts Presented in Vertical Space

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lakens, Daniel

2012-01-01

Previous research has shown that words presented on metaphor congruent locations (e.g., positive words "up" on the screen and negative words "down" on the screen) are categorized faster than words presented on metaphor incongruent locations (e.g., positive words "down" and negative words "up"). These…

The baby and the bath water: improving metaphors and analogies in high school biology texts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shors, Luke

This dissertation is concerned with understanding how metaphors and analogies function in biology education and whether some of the philosophical critiques of the language used in the field of biology -- and in particular its accompanying metaphors and analogies, have a basis in the educational materials used to teach the subject. This inquiry was carried out through examining the pedagogical features and content of metaphors and analogies from three high school biology textbooks. After identifying over two hundred and twenty-five verbal and pictorial metaphors and analogies, these figures of speech were coded based on prior research that establishes effective characteristics for their use. In tandem with this quantitative analysis, a philosophical analysis considers how well the content of these metaphors and analogies aligns with current scientific understanding and what misunderstandings may be engendered through the use of these metaphors and analogies. The major findings of the analysis include: 1) Textbook authors are much more likely to utilize metaphors and analogies as well as signal their presence to students compared with past analyses; 2) A number of metaphors and analogies either contain errors in analogical mapping or use source analogues that are too antiquated to support today's students; 3) The content of many metaphors and analogies is frequently outdated in reference to current scientific understanding; and 4) Many metaphors and analogies tend to reinforce tacit elements of past scientific paradigms - these are termed 'reinforcing metaphors' in the dissertation and include nature as machine, nature as blueprint or information, nature as business and nature as war. The present work submits several implications for students learning biology as well as the manner in which students come to understand the natural world. The work suggests ways to reduce ineffective metaphors and analogies as well as reliance on reinforcing metaphors. It offers new approaches for the use of metaphors and analogies in biology education as well as specific directions that better reflect a more balanced and modern conception of important topics in biology including viruses, eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, genetics, natural selection and ecology.

Using Metaphors to Explain Molecular Testing to Cancer Patients.

PubMed

Pinheiro, Ana P M; Pocock, Rachel H; Dixon, Margie D; Shaib, Walid L; Ramalingam, Suresh S; Pentz, Rebecca D

2017-04-01

Molecular testing to identify targetable molecular alterations is routine practice for several types of cancer. Explaining the underlying molecular concepts can be difficult, and metaphors historically have been used in medicine to provide a common language between physicians and patients. Although previous studies have highlighted the use and effectiveness of metaphors to help explain germline genetic concepts to the general public, this study is the first to describe the use of metaphors to explain molecular testing to cancer patients in the clinical setting. Oncologist-patient conversations about molecular testing were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded. If a metaphor was used, patients were asked to explain it and assess its helpfulness. Sixty-six patients participated. Nine oncologists used metaphors to describe molecular testing; 25 of 66 (38%) participants heard a metaphor, 13 of 25 (52%) were questioned, 11 of 13 (85%) demonstrated understanding and reported the metaphor as being useful. Seventeen metaphors (bus driver, boss, switch, battery, circuit, broken light switch, gas pedal, key turning off an engine, key opening a lock, food for growth, satellite and antenna, interstate, alternate circuit, traffic jam, blueprint, room names, Florida citrus) were used to explain eight molecular testing terms (driver mutations, targeted therapy, hormones, receptors, resistance, exon specificity, genes, and cancer signatures). Because metaphors have proven to be a useful communication tool in other settings, these 17 metaphors may be useful for oncologists to adapt to their own setting to explain molecular testing terms. The Oncologist 2017;22:445-449 Implications for Practice: This article provides a snapshot of 17 metaphors that proved useful in describing 8 complicated molecular testing terms at 3 sites. As complex tumor sequencing becomes standard of care in clinics and widely used in clinical research, the use of metaphors may prove a useful communication tool, as it has in other settings. Although this study had a small sample, almost all of the patients who were exposed to metaphors in explaining molecular testing reported it as being helpful to their understanding. These 17 metaphors are examples of potentially useful communication tools that oncologists can adapt to their own practice. © AlphaMed Press 2017.

The effect of conceptual metaphors through guided inquiry on student's conceptual change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menia, Meli; Mudzakir, Ahmad; Rochintaniawati, Diana

2017-05-01

The purpose of this study was to identify student's conceptual change of global warming after integrated science learning based guided inquiry through conceptual metaphors. This study used a quasi-experimental with a nonequivalent control group design. The subject was students of two classes of one of MTsN Salido. Data was collected using conceptual change test (pretest and posttest), observation sheet to observe the learning processes, questionnaire sheet to identify students responses, and interview to identifyteacher'srespons of science learning with conceptual metaphors. The results showed that science learning based guided inquiry with conceptual metaphors is better than science learning without conceptual metaphors. The average of posttest experimental class was 79,40 and control class was 66,09. The student's conceptual change for two classes changed significantly byusing mann whitney U testwith P= 0,003(P less than sig. value, P< 0,05). This means that there was differenceson student's conceptual changebeetwen integrated science learning based guided inquiry with conceptual metaphors class and integrated science learning without conceptual metaphors class. The study also showed that teachers and studentsgive positive responsesto implementation of integrated science learning based guided inquiry with conceptual metaphors.

The importance of being apt: metaphor comprehension in Alzheimer's disease

PubMed Central

Roncero, Carlos; de Almeida, Roberto G.

2014-01-01

We investigated the effect of aptness in the comprehension of copular metaphors (e.g., Lawyers are sharks) by Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patients. Aptness is the extent to which the vehicle (e.g., shark) captures salient properties of the topic (e.g., lawyers). A group of AD patients provided interpretations for metaphors that varied both in aptness and familiarity. Compared to healthy controls, AD patients produced worse interpretations, but interpretation ability was related to a metaphor's aptness rather than to its familiarity level, and patients with superior abstraction ability produced better interpretations. Therefore, the ability to construct figurative interpretations for metaphors is not always diminished in AD patients nor is it dependent only on the novelty level of the expression. We show that Alzheimer's patients' capacity to build figurative interpretations for metaphors is related to both item variables, such as aptness, and participant variables, such as abstraction ability. PMID:25520642

The Development of Metaphor Comprehension and Its Relationship with Relational Verbal Reasoning and Executive Function.

PubMed

Carriedo, Nuria; Corral, Antonio; Montoro, Pedro R; Herrero, Laura; Ballestrino, Patricia; Sebastián, Iraia

2016-01-01

Our main objective was to analyse the different contributions of relational verbal reasoning (analogical and class inclusion) and executive functioning to metaphor comprehension across development. We postulated that both relational reasoning and executive functioning should predict individual and developmental differences. However, executive functioning would become increasingly involved when metaphor comprehension is highly demanding, either because of the metaphors' high difficulty (relatively novel metaphors in the absence of a context) or because of the individual's special processing difficulties, such as low levels of reading experience or low semantic knowledge. Three groups of participants, 11-year-olds, 15-year-olds and young adults, were assessed in different relational verbal reasoning tasks-analogical and class-inclusion-and in executive functioning tasks-updating information in working memory, inhibition, and shifting. The results revealed clear progress in metaphor comprehension between ages 11 and 15 and between ages 15 and 21. However, the importance of executive function in metaphor comprehension was evident by age 15 and was restricted to updating information in working memory and cognitive inhibition. Participants seemed to use two different strategies to interpret metaphors: relational verbal reasoning and executive functioning. This was clearly shown when comparing the performance of the "more efficient" participants in metaphor interpretation with that of the "less efficient" ones. Whereas in the first case none of the executive variables or those associated with relational verbal reasoning were significantly related to metaphor comprehension, in the latter case, both groups of variables had a clear predictor effect.

Computers in the Classroom? A Critique of the Digital Computer as a Metaphor for Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibson, Keith

2007-01-01

In this article, the author argues that the computer/artificial intelligence (AI) metaphor dominates current thinking about the operation of the mind among educators and the public, and that the metaphor limits one's understanding of how the mind really works to detrimental effect. In particular, the author posits that ideas about literacy are…

Development of metaphors to explain cognitive behavioural principles for patients with medically unexplained symptoms in Sri Lanka.

PubMed

Sumathipala, Athula

2014-03-01

Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are common in primary care across cultures, accounting for high consultations with multiple providers and unnecessary investigations. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is efficacious for MUS and reduces physical symptoms, psychological distress and disability. Two intervention trials by the author and his group remain the only reported trials from the developing world. A treatment package was designed by modifying a CBT model. The modifications were innovative use of locally relevant appropriate language and strategies that were simple enough while conforming to the CBT principles. The aim was to convey the principles of CBT to people using simple techniques--using metaphor. These are described in the paper as generic metaphors that could be used to explain the CBT principles and specific ones for patients with MUS. Metaphor is an effective clinical tool. The author's clinical experience and patients' feedback suggest that these metaphors are helpful in conveying the CBT principles to patients. To develop metaphors appealing to the client and effective clinically, carrying out qualitative research among patients' explanatory model is an important prerequisite. The generic and MUS-specific metaphors reported here should be tried in other cultural and clinical settings and evaluated. Further systematic work including qualitative work for consensus evaluation among CBT experts as well as opinion on user-friendliness of these techniques tested among CBT practitioners will be needed.

Linguistic Strategies for Improving Informed Consent in Clinical Trials Among Low Health Literacy Patients.

PubMed

Krieger, Janice L; Neil, Jordan M; Strekalova, Yulia A; Sarge, Melanie A

2017-03-01

Improving informed consent to participate in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) is a key challenge in cancer communication. The current study examines strategies for enhancing randomization comprehension among patients with diverse levels of health literacy and identifies cognitive and affective predictors of intentions to participate in cancer RCTs. Using a post-test-only experimental design, cancer patients (n = 500) were randomly assigned to receive one of three message conditions for explaining randomization (ie, plain language condition, gambling metaphor, benign metaphor) or a control message. All statistical tests were two-sided. Health literacy was a statistically significant moderator of randomization comprehension (P = .03). Among participants with the lowest levels of health literacy, the benign metaphor resulted in greater comprehension of randomization as compared with plain language (P = .04) and control (P = .004) messages. Among participants with the highest levels of health literacy, the gambling metaphor resulted in greater randomization comprehension as compared with the benign metaphor (P = .04). A serial mediation model showed a statistically significant negative indirect effect of comprehension on behavioral intention through personal relevance of RCTs and anxiety associated with participation in RCTs (P < .001). The effectiveness of metaphors for explaining randomization depends on health literacy, with a benign metaphor being particularly effective for patients at the lower end of the health literacy spectrum. The theoretical model demonstrates the cognitive and affective predictors of behavioral intention to participate in cancer RCTs and offers guidance on how future research should employ communication strategies to improve the informed consent processes. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Linguistic Strategies for Improving Informed Consent in Clinical Trials Among Low Health Literacy Patients

PubMed Central

Neil, Jordan M.; Strekalova, Yulia A.; Sarge, Melanie A.

2017-01-01

Abstract Background: Improving informed consent to participate in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) is a key challenge in cancer communication. The current study examines strategies for enhancing randomization comprehension among patients with diverse levels of health literacy and identifies cognitive and affective predictors of intentions to participate in cancer RCTs. Methods: Using a post-test-only experimental design, cancer patients (n = 500) were randomly assigned to receive one of three message conditions for explaining randomization (ie, plain language condition, gambling metaphor, benign metaphor) or a control message. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: Health literacy was a statistically significant moderator of randomization comprehension (P = .03). Among participants with the lowest levels of health literacy, the benign metaphor resulted in greater comprehension of randomization as compared with plain language (P = .04) and control (P = .004) messages. Among participants with the highest levels of health literacy, the gambling metaphor resulted in greater randomization comprehension as compared with the benign metaphor (P = .04). A serial mediation model showed a statistically significant negative indirect effect of comprehension on behavioral intention through personal relevance of RCTs and anxiety associated with participation in RCTs (P < .001). Conclusions: The effectiveness of metaphors for explaining randomization depends on health literacy, with a benign metaphor being particularly effective for patients at the lower end of the health literacy spectrum. The theoretical model demonstrates the cognitive and affective predictors of behavioral intention to participate in cancer RCTs and offers guidance on how future research should employ communication strategies to improve the informed consent processes. PMID:27794035

Body-part metaphors: a cross-cultural survey of the perception of translatability among Americans and Japanese.

PubMed

Sakuragi, Toshiyuki; Fuller, Judith W

2003-07-01

What kinds of linguistic resources do people utilize when they try to translate metaphors into a foreign language? This investigation of the perception of translatability of body-part metaphors examined the effects of the following factors: the similarity between the human body part and the metaphorical expression (e.g., "eye" in "electric eye") in appearance and function; the frequency of the use of the metaphor in the native language; and the perceived distance between the first language and the target language. The results of a survey of American (n = 151) and Japanese (n = 116) university students showed that both Similarity in Appearance and Similarity in Function correlated positively with Translatability, while the effect of the former was stronger than the latter. Frequency correlated positively with Translatability for the Americans, although the correlation was weaker when the target language is "distant" (Japanese or Chinese) than when the target language is "close" (Spanish). Among the Japanese, Frequency did not correlate with translatability regardless of the target language.

A Dataset of Metaphors from the Italian Literature: Exploring Psycholinguistic Variables and the Role of Context

PubMed Central

Bambini, Valentina; Resta, Donatella; Grimaldi, Mirko

2014-01-01

Defining the specific role of the factors that affect metaphor processing is a fundamental step for fully understanding figurative language comprehension, either in discourse and conversation or in reading poems and novels. This study extends the currently available materials on everyday metaphorical expressions by providing the first dataset of metaphors extracted from literary texts and scored for the major psycholinguistic variables, considering also the effect of context. A set of 115 Italian literary metaphors presented in isolation (Experiment 1) and a subset of 65 literary metaphors embedded in their original texts (Experiment 2) were rated on several dimensions (word and phrase frequency, readability, cloze probability, familiarity, concreteness, difficulty and meaningfulness). Overall, literary metaphors scored around medium-low values on all dimensions in both experiments. Collected data were subjected to correlation analysis, which showed the presence of a strong cluster of variables—mainly familiarity, difficulty, and meaningfulness—when literary metaphor were presented in isolation. A weaker cluster was observed when literary metaphors were presented in the original contexts, with familiarity no longer correlating with meaningfulness. Context manipulation influenced familiarity, concreteness and difficulty ratings, which were lower in context than out of context, while meaningfulness increased. Throughout the different dimensions, the literary context seems to promote a global interpretative activity that enhances the open-endedness of the metaphor as a semantic structure constantly open to all possible interpretations intended by the author and driven by the text. This dataset will be useful for the design of future experimental studies both on literary metaphor and on the role of context in figurative meaning, combining ecological validity and aesthetic aspects of language. PMID:25244522

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

PubMed Central

Melogno, Sergio; Pinto, Maria A.; Orsolini, Margherita

2017-01-01

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. PMID:28101069

Mixing Metaphors in Pharmacy Education is a Bad Solution for Students

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Scholarly discussion has recently been directed toward the negative effects of consumerism in pharmacy education. Frequently in these discussions, the metaphor of student-as-customer is cited as an indicator of such consumer mentality. However, the customer metaphor is more deeply entangled in the thinking on this matter than has been acknowledged, even for those who roundly criticize its use. A richer understanding of the power of metaphor and of the fiducial obligations that underlie professionalism can help to create educational paradigms more likely to meet the best interests of students, faculty members, and the general public. PMID:25657362

Does a Combination of Metaphor and Pairing Activity Help Programming Performance of Students with Different Self-Regulated Learning Level?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hui, Tie Hui; Umar, Irfan Naufal

2011-01-01

This study aims to investigate the effects of metaphors and pairing activity on programming performance of students with different self-regulated-learning (SRL) level. A total of 84 computing students were involved in this seven-week study, and they were randomly assigned either to a group that received a combination of metaphor and pair…

Harnessing complex emergent metaphors for effective communication in palliative care: a multimodal perceptual analysis of hospice patients' reports of transcendence experiences.

PubMed

Arnold, Bruce L; Lloyd, Linda S

2014-05-01

Terminally ill patients can have unexpected, enigmatic, and profound cognitive shifts that significantly alter their perception of themselves, thereby eliminating their fear of death and dying. However, there are no systematic studies into these remarkable yet ineffable transcendence experiences. They therefore remain easily overlooked or viewed as isolated anomalies and therefore excluded from quality-of-life patient considerations. We use a multimodal methodology for identifying the prevalence and thematic properties of complex emergent metaphors patients use to report these experiences. Although previous research has pioneered the importance of understanding conventional or primary metaphors at the end of life, our findings indicate the considerable potential of more complex metaphors for reducing barriers to effective communication in palliative care.

Neural correlates of multimodal metaphor comprehension: Evidence from event-related potentials and time-frequency decompositions.

PubMed

Ma, Qingguo; Hu, Linfeng; Xiao, Can; Bian, Jun; Jin, Jia; Wang, Qiuzhen

2016-11-01

The present study examined the event-related potential (ERP) and time-frequency components correlates with the comprehension process of multimodal metaphors that were represented by the combination of "a vehicle picture+a written word of an animal". Electroencephalogram data were recorded when participants decided whether the metaphor using an animal word for the vehicle rendered by a picture was appropriate or not. There were two conditions: appropriateness (e.g., sport utility vehicles+tiger) vs. inappropriateness (e.g., sport utility vehicles+cat). The ERP results showed that inappropriate metaphor elicited larger N300 (280-360ms) and N400 (380-460ms) amplitude than appropriate one, which were different from previous exclusively verbal metaphor studies that rarely observed the N300 effect. A P600 (550-750ms) was also observed and larger in appropriate metaphor condition. Besides, the time-frequency principal component analysis revealed that two independent theta activities indexed the separable processes (retrieval of semantic features and semantic integration) underlying the N300 and N400. Delta band was also induced within a later time window and best characterized the integration process underlying P600. These results indicate the specific cognitive mechanism of multimodal metaphor comprehension that is different from verbal metaphor processing, mirrored by several separable processes indexed by ERP components and time-frequency components. The present study extends the metaphor research by uncovering the functional roles of delta and theta as well as their unique contributions to the ERP components during multimodal metaphor comprehension. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Disentangling multimodal processes in social categorization.

PubMed

Slepian, Michael L

2015-03-01

The current work examines the role of sensorimotor processes (manipulating whether visual exposure to hard and soft stimuli encourage sensorimotor simulation) and metaphor processes (assessing whether participants have understanding of a pertinent metaphor: "hard" Republicans and "soft" Democrats) in social categorization. Using new methodology to disassociate these multimodal processes (i.e., semantic, metaphoric, and sensorimotoric), the current work demonstrates that both sensorimotor and metaphor processes, combined, are needed to find an effect upon conceptual processing, providing evidence in support of the combined importance of these two theorized components. When participants comprehended the metaphor of hard Republicans and soft Democrats, and when encouraged to simulate sensorimotor experiences of hard and soft stimuli, those stimuli influenced categorization of faces as Republican and Democrat. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sea gulls, butterflies, and grasshoppers: A brief history of the butterfly effect in nonlinear dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hilborn, Robert C.

2004-04-01

The butterfly effect has become a popular metaphor for sensitive dependence on initial conditions—the hallmark of chaotic behavior. I describe how, where, and when this term was conceived in the 1970s. Surprisingly, the butterfly metaphor was predated by more than 70 years by the grasshopper effect.

Angel or Devil? Dentists and Dental Students Conceptions of Pediatric Dental Patients through Metaphor Analysis.

PubMed

Buldur, B

The aim of this qualitative study was to identify the conceptions of dentists and dental students (DSs) about pediatric dental patients (PDPs) using metaphor analysis. The study group (N = 259) consisted of dentists and DSs. Participants completed the sentence "A pediatric dental patient is like ... because …..." in order to reveal the metaphors they use about the concept of PDPs. The data were analyzed using the mixed-methods: qualitative (metaphor analysis) and quantitative (chi-square) data analysis techniques. The dentists and DSs produced 259 metaphors. These metaphors were gathered under six different conceptual categories that define a PDP as unpredictable, dangerous, uncontrollable, requiring care and sensitivity, valuable, and orientable. The most important factors leading to these conceptions were the uncooperativeness of some PDPs and the effectiveness of behavior management. The results of this study indicate that there was no significant difference among DSs, general dentists and specialist dentists with respect to six conceptual categories that identify the conceptions about PDPs.

The role of suppression in figurative language comprehension✩

PubMed Central

Gemsbacher, Morton Ann; Robertson, Rachel R.W.

2014-01-01

In this paper, we describe the crucial role that suppression plays in many aspects of language comprehension. We define suppression as a general, cognitive mechanism, the purpose of which is to attenuate the interference caused by the activation of extraneous, unnecessary, or inappropriate information. We illustrate the crucial role that suppression plays in general comprehension by reviewing numerous experiments. These experiments demonstrate that suppression attenuates interference during lexical access (how word meanings are ‘accessed’), anaphoric reference (how referents for anaphors, like pronouns, are computed), cataphoric reference (how concepts that are marked by devices, such as spoken stress, gain a privileged status), syntactic parsing (how grammatical forms of sentences are decoded), and individual differences in (adult) language comprehension skill. We also review research that suggests that suppression plays a crucial role in the understanding of figurative language, in particular, metaphors, idioms, and proverbs. PMID:25520540

Spatial Congruity Effects Reveal Metaphorical Thinking, not Polarity Correspondence.

PubMed

Dolscheid, Sarah; Casasanto, Daniel

2015-01-01

Spatial congruity effects have often been interpreted as evidence for metaphorical thinking, but an alternative account based on polarity correspondence (a.k.a. markedness) has challenged this view. Here we compared metaphor- and polarity-correspondence-based explanations for spatial congruity effects, using musical pitch as a testbed. In one experiment, English speakers classified high- and low-frequency pitches as "high" and "low," or as "front" and "back," to determine whether space-pitch congruity effects could be elicited by any marked spatial continuum. Although both pairs of terms describe bipolar spatial continuums, we found congruity effects only for high/low judgments, indicating that markedness is not sufficient to produce space-pitch congruity effects. A second experiment confirmed that there were no space-pitch congruity effects for another pair of terms that have clear markedness (big/small), but which do not denote spatial height. By contrast, this experiment showed congruity effects for words that cued an appropriate vertical spatial schema (tall/short), even though these words are not used conventionally in English to describe pitches, ruling out explanations for the observed pattern of results based on verbal polysemy. Together, results suggest that space-pitch congruity effects reveal metaphorical uses of spatial schemas, not polarity correspondence effects.

"If They're the Customer, I'm the Meat in the Sandwich": An Exploration of Tertiary Teachers' Metaphorical Constructions of Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emerson, Lisa; Mansvelt, Juliana

2014-01-01

Metaphors are a primary influence on the way we perceive and construct our world; they are also a way of revealing beliefs and attitudes that might otherwise be difficult to identify. Furthermore, metaphor has been found to be an effective way of shifting people's beliefs, attitudes and behaviour. This paper details the findings of a pilot study…

Effect of metaphorical verbal instruction on modeling of sequential dance skills by young children.

PubMed

Sawada, Misako; Mori, Shiro; Ishii, Motonobu

2002-12-01

Metaphorical verbal instruction was compared to specific verbal instruction about movement in the modeling of sequential dance skills by young children. Two groups of participants (Younger, mean age 5:3 yr., n = 30: Older, mean age 6:2 yr., n = 30) were randomly assigned to conditions in a 2 (sex) x 2 (age [Younger and Older]) x 3 (verbal instruction [Metaphorical, Movement-relevant, and None]) factorial design. Order scores were calculated for both performance and recognition tests, comprising five acquisition trials and two retention trials after 24 hr., respectively. Analysis of variance indicated that the group given metaphorical instruction performed better than the other two instructions for both younger and older children. The results suggest that metaphorical verbal instruction aids the recognition and performance of sequential dance skills in young children.

The Effect of Activities in Robotic Applications on Students' Perception on the Nature of Science and Students' Metaphors Related to the Concept of Robot

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Korkmaz, Özgen; Altun, Halis; Usta, Ertugrul; Özkaya, Armagan

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine students' perceptions of the nature of science and metaphors related to the concept of robot, to determine the differentiation in these perceptions and metaphors resulting from LEGO NXT robot applications, and to share some good examples of education-oriented activities with robots. In this study, a hybrid…

The Development of Metaphor Comprehension and Its Relationship with Relational Verbal Reasoning and Executive Function

PubMed Central

Montoro, Pedro R.; Herrero, Laura; Ballestrino, Patricia; Sebastián, Iraia

2016-01-01

Our main objective was to analyse the different contributions of relational verbal reasoning (analogical and class inclusion) and executive functioning to metaphor comprehension across development. We postulated that both relational reasoning and executive functioning should predict individual and developmental differences. However, executive functioning would become increasingly involved when metaphor comprehension is highly demanding, either because of the metaphors’ high difficulty (relatively novel metaphors in the absence of a context) or because of the individual’s special processing difficulties, such as low levels of reading experience or low semantic knowledge. Three groups of participants, 11-year-olds, 15-year-olds and young adults, were assessed in different relational verbal reasoning tasks—analogical and class-inclusion—and in executive functioning tasks—updating information in working memory, inhibition, and shifting. The results revealed clear progress in metaphor comprehension between ages 11 and 15 and between ages 15 and 21. However, the importance of executive function in metaphor comprehension was evident by age 15 and was restricted to updating information in working memory and cognitive inhibition. Participants seemed to use two different strategies to interpret metaphors: relational verbal reasoning and executive functioning. This was clearly shown when comparing the performance of the "more efficient" participants in metaphor interpretation with that of the "less efficient” ones. Whereas in the first case none of the executive variables or those associated with relational verbal reasoning were significantly related to metaphor comprehension, in the latter case, both groups of variables had a clear predictor effect. PMID:26954501

Metaphors to Drive By: Exploring New Ways to Guide Human-Robot Interaction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

David J. Bruemmer; David I. Gertman; Curtis W. Nielsen

2007-08-01

Autonomous behaviors created by the research and development community are not being extensively utilized within energy, defense, security, or industrial contexts. This paper provides evidence that the interaction methods used alongside these behaviors may not provide a mental model that can be easily adopted or used by operators. Although autonomy has the potential to reduce overall workload, the use of robot behaviors often increased the complexity of the underlying interaction metaphor. This paper reports our development of new metaphors that support increased robot complexity without passing the complexity of the interaction onto the operator. Furthermore, we illustrate how recognition ofmore » problems in human-robot interactions can drive the creation of new metaphors for design and how human factors lessons in usability, human performance, and our social contract with technology have the potential for enormous payoff in terms of establishing effective, user-friendly robot systems when appropriate metaphors are used.« less

CHEMICAL REACTIONS AS PETITE RENDEZVOUS: THE USE OF METAPHOR IN MATERIALS SCIENCE EDUCATION

PubMed Central

Uskoković, Vuk

2015-01-01

Every time we communicate our science, we are involuntarily involved in an educational activity, affecting the listeners’ methodology and motivation. In a beautiful metaphor, late Nobel Laureate, Richard E. Smalley compared interacting atoms and molecules to boys and girls falling in love. Elaborated and exemplified with a couple of entertaining analogies in this discourse is the effectiveness of the use of metaphors in illustrating scientific concepts to both scientific novices and peers. Human brain has been considered to be a complex neural circuitry for the computation of metaphors, which explains the naturalness of their usage, especially when solid arguments could be given in support of the thesis that scientific imagery in general presents a collection of mathematically operable metaphors. On top of this, knowledge could be enriched through logic alone, but new concepts could be learned only through analogies. The greater pervasion of metaphors in scientific presentations could boost their inspirational potential, make the audience more attentive and receptive to their contents, and, finally, expand their educational prospect and enable their outreach to a far broader audience than it has been generally accomplished. PMID:26448680

Evaluating Conceptual Metaphor Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbs, Raymond W., Jr.

2011-01-01

A major revolution in the study of metaphor occurred 30 years ago with the introduction of "conceptual metaphor theory" (CMT). Unlike previous theories of metaphor and metaphorical meaning, CMT proposed that metaphor is not just an aspect of language, but a fundamental part of human thought. Indeed, most metaphorical language arises from…

Metaphors and the Market: Consequences and Preconditions of Agent and Object Metaphors in Stock Market Commentary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Michael W.; Sheldon, Oliver J.; Ames, Daniel R.; Young, Maia J.

2007-01-01

We investigated two types of metaphors in stock market commentary. "Agent" metaphors describe price trajectories as volitional actions, whereas "object" metaphors describe them as movements of inanimate objects. Study 1 examined the consequences of commentators' metaphors for their investor audience. Agent metaphors, compared with object metaphors…

English Studies and the Metaphors We Live By.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gradin, Sherrie L.

Metaphors affect the way teachers and students see, think, and act, and can be useful in building models to empower students. Three models and their metaphorical foundations are currently at work in pedagogical stances attempting to empower students: (1) the conflict metaphor; (2) the midwife metaphor; and (3) the web metaphor. A metaphor of…

The Effects of Metaphorical Interface on Germane Cognitive Load in Web-Based Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheon, Jongpil; Grant, Michael M.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a metaphorical interface on germane cognitive load in Web-based instruction. Based on cognitive load theory, germane cognitive load is a cognitive investment for schema construction and automation. A new instrument developed in a previous study was used to measure students' mental activities…

The Effects of Conceptual Metaphors on the Acquisition of Phrasal Verbs by Turkish EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kartal, Galip; Uner, Seda

2017-01-01

This study investigates the effects of conceptual metaphors on Turkish EFL learners' acquisition of phrasal verbs. The participants were 120 beginner, elementary, and pre-intermediate level students. The research follows a pre and post-test quasi-experimental research design. The students were assigned to proficiency levels according to their…

Using multiple metaphors and multimodalities as a semiotic resource when teaching year 2 students computational strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mildenhall, Paula; Sherriff, Barbara

2017-06-01

Recent research indicates that using multimodal learning experiences can be effective in teaching mathematics. Using a social semiotic lens within a participationist framework, this paper reports on a professional learning collaboration with a primary school teacher designed to explore the use of metaphors and modalities in mathematics instruction. This video case study was conducted in a year 2 classroom over two terms, with the focus on building children's understanding of computational strategies. The findings revealed that the teacher was able to successfully plan both multimodal and multiple metaphor learning experiences that acted as semiotic resources to support the children's understanding of abstract mathematics. The study also led to implications for teaching when using multiple metaphors and multimodalities.

Anger as Seeing Red: Perceptual Sources of Evidence

PubMed Central

Fetterman, Adam K.; Robinson, Michael D.; Gordon, Robert D.; Elliot, Andrew J.

2012-01-01

A class of metaphors links the experience of anger to perceptions of redness. Whether such metaphors have significant implications for understanding perception is not known. In Experiment 1, anger (versus sadness) concepts were primed and it was found that priming anger concepts led individuals to be more likely to perceive the color red. In Experiment 2, anger states were directly manipulated, and it was found that evoking anger led individuals to be more likely to perceive red. Both experiments showed that the observed effects were independent of the actual color presented. These findings extend the New Look, perceptual, metaphoric, and social cognitive literatures. Most importantly, the results suggest that emotion representation processes of a metaphoric type can be extended to the perceptual realm. PMID:22822418

Anger as Seeing Red: Perceptual Sources of Evidence.

PubMed

Fetterman, Adam K; Robinson, Michael D; Gordon, Robert D; Elliot, Andrew J

2011-05-01

A class of metaphors links the experience of anger to perceptions of redness. Whether such metaphors have significant implications for understanding perception is not known. In Experiment 1, anger (versus sadness) concepts were primed and it was found that priming anger concepts led individuals to be more likely to perceive the color red. In Experiment 2, anger states were directly manipulated, and it was found that evoking anger led individuals to be more likely to perceive red. Both experiments showed that the observed effects were independent of the actual color presented. These findings extend the New Look, perceptual, metaphoric, and social cognitive literatures. Most importantly, the results suggest that emotion representation processes of a metaphoric type can be extended to the perceptual realm.

Estrogen and Comprehension of Metaphoric Speech in Women Suffering From Schizophrenia: Results of a Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Bergemann, Niels; Parzer, Peter; Jaggy, Susanne; Auler, Beatrice; Mundt, Christoph; Maier-Braunleder, Sabine

2008-01-01

Objective: The effects of estrogen on comprehension of metaphoric speech, word fluency, and verbal ability were investigated in women suffering from schizophrenia. The issue of estrogen-dependent neuropsychological performance could be highly relevant because women with schizophrenia frequently suffer from hypoestrogenism. Method: A placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover study using 17β-estradiol for replacement therapy and as an adjunct to a naturalistic maintenance antipsychotic treatment was carried out over a period of 8 months. Nineteen women (mean age = 38.0 years, SD = 9.9 years) with schizophrenia were included in the study. Comprehension of metaphoric speech was measured by a lexical decision paradigm, word fluency, and verbal ability by a paper-and-pencil test. Results: Significant improvement was seen for the activation of metaphoric meaning during estrogen treatment (P = .013); in contrast, no difference was found for the activation of concrete meaning under this condition. Verbal ability and word fluency did not improve under estrogen replacement therapy either. Conclusions: This is the very first study based on estrogen intervention instead of the physiological hormone changes to examine the estrogen effects on neuropsychological performance in women with schizophrenia. In addition, it is the first time that the effect of estrogen on metaphoric speech comprehension was investigated in this context. While in a previous study estrogen therapy as adjunct to a naturalistic maintenance treatment with antipsychotics did not show an effect on psychopathology measured by a rating scale, a significant effect of estrogen on the comprehension of metaphoric speech and/or concretism, a main feature of schizophrenic thought and language disturbance, was found in the present study. Because the improvement of formal thought disorders and language disturbances is crucial for social integration of patients with schizophrenia, the results may have implications for the treatment of these individuals. PMID:18156639

Epilepsy and metaphors in literature.

PubMed

Wolf, Peter

2016-04-01

This topic has two different aspects: seizures and epilepsy used as metaphors and seizures described in metaphors. Whereas some metaphors are unique and have high literary value, others can be categorized in prototypical groups. These include sexual metaphors; metaphors of strong emotions, of life crises and breakdown, and also of exultation; religious metaphors; and metaphors of weakness which mostly belong to older literature. Writers with epilepsy, in their literary texts, rarely talk about seizures in metaphors. Authors who do this sometimes seem to use reports that they have received from afflicted persons. The most common metaphors for seizures belong to the realms of dreams and of strong sensory impressions (visual, auditory). More rarely, storm and whirlwind are used as literary metaphors for seizures. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Epilepsy, Art, and Creativity". Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Moral-up first, immoral-down last: the time course of moral metaphors on a vertical dimension.

PubMed

Wang, Han Lin; Lu, Ya Qiao; Lu, Zhong Yi

2016-03-02

Many abstract bipolar concepts are usually represented by metaphors on vertical dimensions (e.g. positive-up, negative-down). However, several studies have found an asymmetry in the way in which individuals process bipolar dimensions, with +polarities being stronger than -polarities. The current research focused on moral metaphors on a vertical dimension (e.g. moral-up and immoral-down) and examined the asymmetric representation of moral and immoral concepts. The first experiment showed a distinct metaphorical association between morality and vertical space, consistent with earlier research. The second experiment showed that moral and immoral words are processed differently depending on whether they are used as metaphorically congruent or incongruent vertical cues. 'Moral-up' association modulated the amplitudes of the N1, P2, and late positive-going potential during the processing of moral words, whereas the 'immoral-down' association only modulated the amplitudes of the late positive-going potential induced during the processing of immoral words. These results suggest that asymmetry in the processing of vertically represented morality metaphors is reflected in the time course of the representation of these bipolar concepts, with the 'moral-up' association having an earlier effect than the 'immoral-down' association.

Embodied cognition, abstract concepts, and the benefits of new technology for implicit body manipulation

PubMed Central

Dijkstra, Katinka; Eerland, Anita; Zijlmans, Josjan; Post, Lysanne S.

2014-01-01

Current approaches on cognition hold that concrete concepts are grounded in concrete experiences. There is no consensus, however, as to whether this is equally true for abstract concepts. In this review we discuss how the body might be involved in understanding abstract concepts through metaphor activation. Substantial research has been conducted on the activation of common orientational metaphors with bodily manipulations, such as “power is up” and “more is up” representations. We will focus on the political metaphor that has a more complex association between the concept and the concrete domain. However, the outcomes of studies on this political metaphor have not always been consistent, possibly because the experimental manipulation was not implicit enough. The inclusion of new technological devices in this area of research, such as the Wii Balance Board, seems promising in order to assess the groundedness of abstract conceptual spatial metaphors in an implicit manner. This may aid further research to effectively demonstrate the interrelatedness between the body and more abstract representations. PMID:25191282

The Effect of Planetarium Trip on Pre-Service Science Teachers' Metaphorical Perceptions about Planetariums

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bozdogan, Aykut Emre

2016-01-01

The study aimed at examining the effect of the planetarium trip on metaphors developed by the pre-service science teachers about the concept of planetarium. Within this context of the study, a trip was organized to Ondokuz Mayis University (OMU) Planetarium. Pretest-posttest control group design, one of the experimental designs, was used in the…

Multiple Constraints in Theories of Metaphor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbs, Raymond W., Jr.

2011-01-01

Critics of conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) argue that metaphors are produced and understood as novel meaning creations, and often note that other factors may account for some of the ways people use and understand metaphors apart from entrenched metaphorical concepts, or conceptual metaphors. This article situates CMT within the multidisciplinary…

Technological Metaphors and Moral Education: The Hacker Ethic and the Computational Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warnick, Bryan R.

2004-01-01

This essay is an attempt to understand how technological metaphors, particularly computer metaphors, are relevant to moral education. After discussing various types of technological metaphors, it is argued that technological metaphors enter moral thought through their "functional descriptions." The computer metaphor is then explored by turning to…

Feminist ethics and the metaphor of AIDS.

PubMed

Sherwin, S

2001-08-01

This paper looks at a range of metaphors used within HIV/AIDS discussions and research in support of the claim that bioethicists should pay serious attention to metaphors. Metaphors shape the ways we think about problems and the types of solutions we investigate. HIV/AIDS is an especially rich field for the investigation of metaphor, since the struggles for dominance among different metaphorical options has been very evident. In the field of medical research as well as in the area of public policy, different metaphors support different strategies and, therefore, the choice of metaphor has ethical significance. I argue that feminists should engage in these debates since they have an interest in the metaphors selected. They can also learn to be more self-conscious in choosing politically liberating metaphors in other bioethics contexts.

Comprehension and Generation of Metaphoric Language in Children, Adolescents, and Adults with Dyslexia.

PubMed

Kasirer, Anat; Mashal, Nira

2017-05-01

Difficulties with figurative language comprehension were documented in adult dyslexia (DYS). In the present research, we investigated the comprehension and generation of metaphors in 37 children, 35 adolescents, and 34 adults with and without DYS. We also tested the contribution of executive function to metaphor processing. A multiple-choice questionnaire with conventional and novel metaphors was used to assess comprehension; a concept-explanation task was used to test conventional and novel metaphor generation (verbal creativity). The findings indicated differences between the dyslexic children and the control group in conventional metaphor comprehension. However, both groups performed similarly in the novel metaphor comprehension test. Furthermore, although children and adolescents with DYS showed similar performance in metaphor generation as their typically developing peers, adults with DYS generated more metaphors than controls. While scores on tests of verbal knowledge and mental flexibility contributed to the prediction of conventional metaphor comprehension, scores on non-verbal tests and mental flexibility contributed to the prediction of novel metaphor generation. Our findings suggest that individuals with DYS are not impaired in novel metaphor comprehension and metaphor generation and that metaphor comprehension and generation utilize different cognitive resources. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Testing communication strategies to convey genomic concepts using virtual reality technology.

PubMed

Kaphingst, Kimberly A; Persky, Susan; McCall, Cade; Lachance, Christina; Beall, Andrew C; Blascovich, Jim

2009-06-01

Health professionals need to be able to communicate information about genomic susceptibility in understandable and usable ways, but substantial challenges are involved. We developed four learning modules that varied along two factors: (1) learning mode (active learning vs. didactic learning) and (2) metaphor (risk elevator vs. bridge) and tested them using a 2 x 2 between-subjects, repeated measures design. The study used an innovative virtual reality technology experimental platform; four virtual worlds were designed to convey the concept that genetic and behavioral factors interact to affect common disease risk. The primary outcome was comprehension (recall, transfer). Study participants were 42 undergraduates aged 19-23. The results indicated that the elevator metaphor better supported learning of the concept than the bridge metaphor. Mean transfer score was significantly higher for the elevator metaphor (p < 0.05). Mean change in recall was significantly higher for didactic learning than active learning (p < 0.05). Mean ratings for variables posited to be associated with better learning (e.g., motivation), however, were generally higher for the active learning worlds. The results suggested that active learning might not always be more effective than didactic learning in increasing comprehension of health information. The findings also indicated that less complex metaphors might convey abstract concepts more effectively.

Testing Communication Strategies to Convey Genomic Concepts Using Virtual Reality Technology

PubMed Central

Kaphingst, Kimberly A.; Persky, Susan; McCall, Cade; Lachance, Christina; Beall, Andrew C.; Blascovich, Jim

2009-01-01

Health professionals need to be able to communicate information about genomic susceptibility in understandable and usable ways, but substantial challenges are involved. We developed four learning modules that varied along two factors: (1) learning mode (active learning vs. didactic learning) and (2) metaphor (risk elevator vs. bridge) and tested them using a 2×2 between-subjects, repeated measures design. The study used an innovative virtual reality technology experimental platform; four virtual worlds were designed to convey the concept that genetic and behavioral factors interact to affect common disease risk. The primary outcome was comprehension (recall, transfer). Study participants were 42 undergraduates aged 19–23. The results indicated that the elevator metaphor better supported learning of the concept than the bridge metaphor. Mean transfer score was significantly higher for the elevator metaphor (p<0.05). Mean change in recall was significantly higher for didactic learning than active learning (p<0.05). However, mean ratings for variables posited to be associated with better learning (e.g., motivation) were generally higher for the active learning worlds. The results suggested that active learning might not always be more effective than didactic learning in increasing comprehension of health information. The findings also indicated that less complex metaphors might convey abstract concepts more effectively. PMID:19466649

Metaphor: An Inescapable Phenomenon in Natural Language Comprehension.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-05-04

Two Metaphors are Better Than One 11 2.2 Why Metaphor? 12 2.3 How Metaphors Structure Inference Processes 14 2.4 Analogical Mappings in Problem Solving...understanding process by taking advantage o( the reasons why the writer may have chosen the particular metaphor (rather than a different metaphor or a literal...quantifiable feature of the part of the input that undergoes the upward movement. * The Imolicit-Intention Component encodes the reasons why this metaphor

Conceptual Blending Monitoring Students' Use of Metaphorical Concepts to Further the Learning of Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fredriksson, Alexandra; Pelger, Susanne

2018-03-01

The aim of this study is to explore how tertiary science students' use of metaphors in their popular science article writing may influence their understanding of subject matter. For this purpose, six popular articles written by students in physics or geology were analysed by means of a close textual analysis and a metaphor analysis. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the students. The articles showed variation regarding the occurrence of active (non-conventional) metaphors, and metaphorical concepts, i.e. metaphors relating to a common theme. In addition, the interviews indicated that students using active metaphors and metaphorical concepts reflected more actively upon their use of metaphors. These students also discussed the possible relationship between subject understanding and creation of metaphors in terms of conceptual blending. The study suggests that students' process of creating metaphorical concepts could be described and visualised through integrated networks of conceptual blending. Altogether, the study argues for using conceptual blending as a tool for monitoring and encouraging the use of adequate metaphorical concepts, thereby facilitating students' opportunities of understanding and influencing the learning of science.

Metaphor in pictures.

PubMed

Kennedy, J M

1982-01-01

Pictures can be literal or metaphoric. Metaphoric pictures involve intended violations of standard modes of depiction that are universally recognizable. The types of metaphoric pictures correspond to major groups of verbal metaphors, with the addition of a class of pictorial runes. Often the correspondence between verbal and pictorial metaphors depends on individual features of objects and such physical parameters as change of scale. A more sophisticated analysis is required for some pictorial metaphors, involving juxtapositions of well-known objects and indirect reference.

My World Is a Metaphor: An Investigation into Reflective Practices Specifically Utilizing Metaphors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Lacey Ann

2013-01-01

This dissertation suggests that metaphors are a powerful learning tool in education and a way to develop as a professional educator. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain a deeper understanding of how teachers utilize metaphors during reflection. I addressed their experience with metaphors, how they use metaphors, how metaphors…

Practical Implications for the Development of Applied Metaphor in Adventure Therapy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartford, Gary

2011-01-01

This paper considers the definitions, role, and use of metaphor in adventure therapy. It provides an overview of theoretical perspectives on metaphor and the related ways in which metaphor is used in adventure therapy. Research on the use of metaphor in counselling and from neuropsychology and linguistics is applied to a model of metaphor use in…

Familiarity and Aptness in Metaphor Comprehension.

PubMed

Damerall, Alison Whiteford; Kellogg, Ronald T

2016-01-01

The career of metaphor hypothesis suggests that novel metaphors are understood through a search for shared features between the topic and vehicle, but with repeated exposure, the figurative meaning is understood directly as a new category is established. The categorization hypothesis argues that instead good or apt metaphors are understood through a categorization process, whether or not they are familiar. Only poor metaphors ever invoke a literal comparison. In Experiment 1, with aptness equated, we found that high familiarity speeded comprehension time over low-familiarity metaphors. In Experiment 2a, providing a literal prime failed to facilitate interpretation of low-familiarity metaphors, contrary to the career of metaphor hypothesis. In Experiment 2b, with familiarity equated, high- and low-aptness metaphors did not differ, contrary to the categorization hypothesis.

Rodgers on Calls for Observable Verbs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mackenzie, Jim

2018-01-01

This paper takes up Shannon Rodgers' 2016 critique of curriculum writers' call for observable verbs ("Minding our metaphors in education." "Educational Philosophy and Theory" 48 (6), pp. 563-578), and argues that a more effective line of critique should focus not on metaphorical thinking, but on the notion of observation…

Early Years Teachers' Perspectives on Teaching through Multiple Metaphors and Multimodality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mildenhall, Paula

2015-01-01

Recent research findings indicate that using multiple metaphors in multimodal learning experiences are effective teaching approaches in early years mathematics. Using a social semiotic lens this paper reports on eight early years teachers' perceptions of this approach whilst engaging in a small collaborative professional learning group. This group…

Metaphors of the Co-Taught Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Lois; Cessna, Kay

1993-01-01

Discussions with exemplary Colorado general and special education coteachers led to development of three metaphors for the coteaching process: (1) yin and yang (the uniqueness and unity of the two teachers); (2) the dance (the rhythm, fluidity, and automaticity of effective collaboration); and (3) the particle and the stream (the thriving of…

Encountering Complexity: Native Musics in the Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyea, Andrea

1999-01-01

Describes Native American musics, focusing on issues such as music and the experience of time, metaphor and metaphorical aspects, and spirituality and sounds from nature. Discusses Native American metaphysics and its reflection in the musics. States that an effective curriculum would provide a new receptivity to Native American musics. (CMK)

The relationship between the content and the form of metaphorical statements.

PubMed

Xu, Xu

2010-04-01

Recent research suggests that the quality of a metaphorical topic-vehicle pairing should be the determinant to the choice of a proper grammatical form, nominal metaphor versus simile. Two studies examined the relationship between the quality of the content of a metaphorical statement and its grammatical form. Study 1 showed that the two grammatical forms did not differ in aptness when the quality of topic-vehicle pairs and the conventionality of vehicles, a factor associated with the quality of metaphorical expressions, were controlled. With an online comprehension measure, Study 2 found that high quality metaphorical pairings were easier to process than low quality metaphorical pairings in both the metaphor form and the simile form. For high quality metaphorical pairings, information related to both the topics and the vehicles was highly activated at an early stage of processing. The relations among factors involved in the interpretive process of metaphorical language are discussed.

Metaphors, stigma and the 'Alzheimerization' of the euthanasia debate.

PubMed

Johnstone, Megan-Jane

2013-07-01

This paper reports the findings of an unobtrusive research inquiry investigating the possible use and misuse of Alzheimer's disease in public policy debate on the legalization of euthanasia. The component of the study being reported identified the problematic use of five key metaphors: the Alzheimer metaphor, which in turn was reinforced by three additional metaphors--the epidemic metaphor, the military metaphor, and the predatory thief metaphor; and the euthanasia metaphor. All metaphors were found to be morally loaded and used influentially to stigmatize Alzheimer's disease and mediate public opinion supporting the legalization of euthanasia as an end-of-life 'solution' for people with the disease. It is contended that, in the interests of promoting intellectual honesty and giving proper recognition to the extraordinary complexity of the issue, the problematic use and influence of metaphoric thinking in the public debate about Alzheimer's disease and euthanasia needs to be made transparent, questioned and challenged.

A visual metaphor describing neural dynamics in schizophrenia.

PubMed

van Beveren, Nico J M; de Haan, Lieuwe

2008-07-09

In many scientific disciplines the use of a metaphor as an heuristic aid is not uncommon. A well known example in somatic medicine is the 'defense army metaphor' used to characterize the immune system. In fact, probably a large part of the everyday work of doctors consists of 'translating' scientific and clinical information (i.e. causes of disease, percentage of success versus risk of side-effects) into information tailored to the needs and capacities of the individual patient. The ability to do so in an effective way is at least partly what makes a clinician a good communicator. Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder which affects approximately 1% of the population. Over the last two decades a large amount of molecular-biological, imaging and genetic data have been accumulated regarding the biological underpinnings of schizophrenia. However, it remains difficult to understand how the characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia such as hallucinations and delusions are related to disturbances on the molecular-biological level. In general, psychiatry seems to lack a conceptual framework with sufficient explanatory power to link the mental- and molecular-biological domains. Here, we present an essay-like study in which we propose to use visualized concepts stemming from the theory on dynamical complex systems as a 'visual metaphor' to bridge the mental- and molecular-biological domains in schizophrenia. We first describe a computer model of neural information processing; we show how the information processing in this model can be visualized, using concepts from the theory on complex systems. We then describe two computer models which have been used to investigate the primary theory on schizophrenia, the neurodevelopmental model, and show how disturbed information processing in these two computer models can be presented in terms of the visual metaphor previously described. Finally, we describe the effects of dopamine neuromodulation, of which disturbances have been frequently described in schizophrenia, in terms of the same visualized metaphor. The conceptual framework and metaphor described offers a heuristic tool to understand the relationship between the mental- and molecular-biological domains in an intuitive way. The concepts we present may serve to facilitate communication between researchers, clinicians and patients.

The Comprehension of Familiar and Novel Metaphoric Meanings in Schizophrenia: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Rapp, Alexander M; Felsenheimer, Anne K; Langohr, Karin; Klupp, Magdalena

2017-01-01

Miscomprehension of nonliteral ("figurative") language like metaphors, proverbs, idioms, and ironic expressions by patients with schizophrenia is a phenomenon mentioned already in historical psychiatric descriptions. However, it was only recently that studies did differentiate between novel and conventional metaphors, a factor that is known to influence the difficulty of comprehension in healthy subjects. Further, familiarity with stimuli is an important factor for comprehension, which was not recommended in utmost previous studies. In this study, 23 patients with DSM IV schizophrenia and 19 healthy control subjects performed a newly-developed German metaphor comprehension test with three types of stimuli: novel metaphors, conventional German metaphors, and meaningless statements. During the test procedure, participants indicated familiarity with the stimulus and then matched the meaning with one out of four given alternatives. Familiarity rankings did not significantly differ between patients and control subjects. However, on descriptive level, there was a tendency for healthy controls to be more familiar with conventional metaphors than schizophrenic patients. Further, comprehension of conventional and novel metaphors differed significantly between the groups, with higher performance in healthy controls. Considering only those metaphors that had been ranked as familiar, patients only revealed significant lower performance opposed to controls regarding novel metaphors, while they did not differ in conventional metaphors. Taken together, the results indicate that patients with schizophrenia might show an altered way of comprehension in novel metaphors, leading to more misunderstandings. However, their previously reported impairments in conventional metaphors might rather be due to a lack of familiarity with the stimuli-making conventional metaphors to novel metaphors in the individual case.

The Comprehension of Familiar and Novel Metaphoric Meanings in Schizophrenia: A Pilot Study

PubMed Central

Rapp, Alexander M.; Felsenheimer, Anne K.; Langohr, Karin; Klupp, Magdalena

2018-01-01

Miscomprehension of nonliteral (“figurative”) language like metaphors, proverbs, idioms, and ironic expressions by patients with schizophrenia is a phenomenon mentioned already in historical psychiatric descriptions. However, it was only recently that studies did differentiate between novel and conventional metaphors, a factor that is known to influence the difficulty of comprehension in healthy subjects. Further, familiarity with stimuli is an important factor for comprehension, which was not recommended in utmost previous studies. In this study, 23 patients with DSM IV schizophrenia and 19 healthy control subjects performed a newly-developed German metaphor comprehension test with three types of stimuli: novel metaphors, conventional German metaphors, and meaningless statements. During the test procedure, participants indicated familiarity with the stimulus and then matched the meaning with one out of four given alternatives. Familiarity rankings did not significantly differ between patients and control subjects. However, on descriptive level, there was a tendency for healthy controls to be more familiar with conventional metaphors than schizophrenic patients. Further, comprehension of conventional and novel metaphors differed significantly between the groups, with higher performance in healthy controls. Considering only those metaphors that had been ranked as familiar, patients only revealed significant lower performance opposed to controls regarding novel metaphors, while they did not differ in conventional metaphors. Taken together, the results indicate that patients with schizophrenia might show an altered way of comprehension in novel metaphors, leading to more misunderstandings. However, their previously reported impairments in conventional metaphors might rather be due to a lack of familiarity with the stimuli—making conventional metaphors to novel metaphors in the individual case. PMID:29354082

Using metaphors to investigate cognition-behavior link in problematic Internet use among college students.

PubMed

Koc, Mustafa

2015-09-01

This study employed metaphor analysis as a novel approach to explore college students' metaphorical representations of the Internet and their associations with problematic Internet use (PIU). It aimed to find out whether normal and problematic Internet users conceive the Internet through the same cognitive framework. The sample included 370 college students in Turkey. A questionnaire was conducted to gather metaphorical conceptions of the Internet, patterns of Internet usage, and PIU status. Data were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Of the sample, 8.6% were diagnosed with PIU. Home access and entertainment gratification were strong correlates of PIU. Gender and major had no effects on PIU. Participants produced 66 metaphors that were grouped into eight conceptual categories: information source, immensity, basic need, addictive substance, double-edged sword, transporter, mood regulator, and supporter. PIU was the highest in the addictive substance category, followed by basic need and mood regulator categories, with cigarette, water, and friend being the dominant metaphors in these categories, respectively. Problematic users are less likely to conceptualize the Internet as a supportive entity. Normal users are able to verbalize the good and bad aspects of the Internet, but those negatively affected appear to have lost sight of the most useful function of the Internet. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

"The Way to a Man's Heart." Journey and War Metaphors. Metaphorical Conceptualisations of the Western Romance Model in English and Spanish.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lopez, Maria Angeles Navarrete

2001-01-01

This paper examines two examples of the Western model of romance in English and Spanish discourse: the English metaphor, "the (best) way to a man's heart is through his stomach" (journey metaphor) and its Spanish counterpart, "Al hombre se le conquista por el estomago" (war metaphor). Both central metaphors entail a number of…

Remember Hard But Think Softly: Metaphorical Effects of Hardness/Softness on Cognitive Functions.

PubMed

Xie, Jiushu; Lu, Zhi; Wang, Ruiming; Cai, Zhenguang G

2016-01-01

Previous studies have found that bodily stimulation, such as hardness biases social judgment and evaluation via metaphorical association; however, it remains unclear whether bodily stimulation also affects cognitive functions, such as memory and creativity. The current study used metaphorical associations between "hard" and "rigid" and between "soft" and "flexible" in Chinese, to investigate whether the experience of hardness affects cognitive functions whose performance depends prospectively on rigidity (memory) and flexibility (creativity). In Experiment 1, we found that Chinese-speaking participants performed better at recalling previously memorized words while sitting on a hard-surface stool (the hard condition) than a cushioned one (the soft condition). In Experiment 2, participants sitting on a cushioned stool outperformed those sitting on a hard-surface stool on a Chinese riddle task, which required creative/flexible thinking, but not on an analogical reasoning task, which required both rigid and flexible thinking. The results suggest the hardness experience affects cognitive functions that are metaphorically associated with rigidity or flexibility. They support the embodiment proposition that cognitive functions and representations can be grounded in bodily states via metaphorical associations.

Metaphors as Nudges toward Understanding in Mental Health Counseling.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hendrix, Dennis H.

1992-01-01

Discusses use of metaphors in mental health counseling. Presents examples of metaphors that are concrete and that use objects and situations familiar to clients so that the properties of the metaphorical items are known. Elaborations of metaphors are provided for readers. (NB)

Metaphorically Feeling: Comprehending Textural Metaphors Activates Somatosensory Cortex

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lacey, Simon; Stilla, Randall; Sathian, K.

2012-01-01

Conceptual metaphor theory suggests that knowledge is structured around metaphorical mappings derived from physical experience. Segregated processing of object properties in sensory cortex allows testing of the hypothesis that metaphor processing recruits activity in domain-specific sensory cortex. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging…

Travaux Neuchatelois de Linguistique (TRANEL) (Neuchatel Working Papers in Linguistics), Volume 17.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubattel, Christian, Ed.

1991-01-01

Papers in linguistics in this issue include: "Aspects logico-semantiques de la metaphore" ("Logico-Semantic Aspects of the Metaphor") (Michel le Guern); "Metaphore et travail lexicale" ("Metaphor and Lexical Work") (Georges Ludi); "Aspects linguistiques et pragmatiques de la metaphore: anomalie…

Metaphor, Paradigm, and Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ivie, Stanley D.

2017-01-01

Metaphor is a critical tool for thought. Lying at the heart of every systematic body of knowledge are three root metaphors--mechanism, organism, and mind. Historically, schools of philosophy--realism, naturalism, and idealism--have grown up around these metaphors. The root metaphors and their corresponding philosophies provide the paradigms…

Congruity Effects in Time and Space: Behavioral and ERP Measures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teuscher, Ursina; McQuire, Marguerite; Collins, Jennifer; Coulson, Seana

2008-01-01

Two experiments investigated whether motion metaphors for time affected the perception of spatial motion. Participants read sentences either about literal motion through space or metaphorical motion through time written from either the ego-moving or object-moving perspective. Each sentence was followed by a cartoon clip. Smiley-moving clips showed…

Using an Architectural Metaphor for Information Design in Hypertext.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deboard, Donn R.; Lee, Doris

2001-01-01

Uses Frank Lloyd Wright's (1867-1959) organic architecture as a metaphor to define the relationship between a part and a whole, whether the focus is on a building and its surroundings or information delivered via hypertext. Reviews effective strategies for designing text information via hypertext and incorporates three levels of information…

An Investigation on the Role of Multimodal Metaphors in e-Feedback Interfaces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rigas, Dimitrios; Alharbi, Abdulrhman

2011-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the usability (effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction) of e-feedback interfaces. The experiment compares a traditional visual approach with a multimodal approach in order to determine the impact of multimodal metaphors upon the user's understanding, reasoning and engagement with the…

Music for a Brighter World: Brightness Judgment Bias by Musical Emotion.

PubMed

Bhattacharya, Joydeep; Lindsen, Job P

2016-01-01

A prevalent conceptual metaphor is the association of the concepts of good and evil with brightness and darkness, respectively. Music cognition, like metaphor, is possibly embodied, yet no study has addressed the question whether musical emotion can modulate brightness judgment in a metaphor consistent fashion. In three separate experiments, participants judged the brightness of a grey square that was presented after a short excerpt of emotional music. The results of Experiment 1 showed that short musical excerpts are effective emotional primes that cross-modally influence brightness judgment of visual stimuli. Grey squares were consistently judged as brighter after listening to music with a positive valence, as compared to music with a negative valence. The results of Experiment 2 revealed that the bias in brightness judgment does not require an active evaluation of the emotional content of the music. By applying a different experimental procedure in Experiment 3, we showed that this brightness judgment bias is indeed a robust effect. Altogether, our findings demonstrate a powerful role of musical emotion in biasing brightness judgment and that this bias is aligned with the metaphor viewpoint.

Music for a Brighter World: Brightness Judgment Bias by Musical Emotion

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

A prevalent conceptual metaphor is the association of the concepts of good and evil with brightness and darkness, respectively. Music cognition, like metaphor, is possibly embodied, yet no study has addressed the question whether musical emotion can modulate brightness judgment in a metaphor consistent fashion. In three separate experiments, participants judged the brightness of a grey square that was presented after a short excerpt of emotional music. The results of Experiment 1 showed that short musical excerpts are effective emotional primes that cross-modally influence brightness judgment of visual stimuli. Grey squares were consistently judged as brighter after listening to music with a positive valence, as compared to music with a negative valence. The results of Experiment 2 revealed that the bias in brightness judgment does not require an active evaluation of the emotional content of the music. By applying a different experimental procedure in Experiment 3, we showed that this brightness judgment bias is indeed a robust effect. Altogether, our findings demonstrate a powerful role of musical emotion in biasing brightness judgment and that this bias is aligned with the metaphor viewpoint. PMID:26863420

A Conceptual Structure of Visual Metaphor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Serig, Daniel

2006-01-01

The study of metaphor involves numerous fields in recent history from cognitive neuroscience to linguistics. Visual metaphor research occupies an underrepresented area of inquiry. With the development of the cognitive sciences, a cognitive view of metaphoric thinking is emerging. This calls for a reconsideration of visual metaphor in the…

Transformative Learning through Conceptual Metaphors: Simile, Metaphor, and Analogy as Levers for Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoggan, Chad

2014-01-01

This article presents findings from a research study wherein participants demonstrated the use of similes, metaphors, and analogies, termed "conceptual metaphors," in response to disorienting dilemmas instigated by breast cancer. In this qualitative case study of 18 breast cancer survivors, conceptual metaphors were used in three…

Metaphor in Professional Counseling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagener, Alwin E.

2017-01-01

Metaphors are linked to how individuals process information and emotions, and they are important to understand and utilize in counseling. A description of the structure of metaphors and metaphor theory is provided. The role of metaphors in emotional processing is explained, and the process of counseling is tied to the therapeutic usage of…

Helping Metaphors Take Root in the EFL Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lowery, Denise

2013-01-01

Learners of English as a foreign language often find it difficult to understand figurative speech, which relies heavily on metaphor. This article explores why metaphors challenge learners and presents ways to incorporate metaphors into EFL instruction to help learners understand figurative speech. Topics discussed include cognitive metaphor,…

A Matter of Metaphors: Education as a Handmade Process.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sztajn, Paola

1992-01-01

Applying Deming's principles to education represents change in metaphor, not paradigm shift. Exchanging factory metaphor for enlightened corporation metaphor updates business/economics image but perpetuates view of students as raw materials to be processed efficiently. No business metaphor truly aims at improving society as a whole. If production…

Metaphor as Rhetorical Transaction: A Composing Heuristic.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bannister, Linda

"Metaphor: Theory and Practice," a senior/graduate seminar taught at Loyola Marymount University, was something of an experiment. Its goal was to engage students in theoretical explorations of metaphor, in analysis of metaphor growing out of those theories, in the creation of their own metaphoric texts, and finally, in the development of…

Surfing the money tides: understanding the foreign exchange market through metaphors.

PubMed

Oberlechner, Thomas; Slunecko, Thomas; Kronberger, Nicole

2004-03-01

This study describes metaphorical conceptualizations of the foreign exchange market held by market participants and examines how these metaphors socially construct the financial market. Findings are based on 55 semi-structured interviews with senior foreign exchange experts at banks and at financial news providers in Europe. We analysed interview transcripts by metaphor analysis, a method based on cognitive linguistics. Results indicate that market participants' understanding of financial markets revolves around seven metaphors, namely the market as a bazaar, as a machine, as gambling, as sports, as war, as a living being and as an ocean. Each of these metaphors highlights and conceals certain aspects of the foreign exchange market and entails a different set of implications on crucial market dimensions, such as the role of other market participants and market predictability. A correspondence analysis supports our assumption that metaphorical thinking corresponds with implicit assumptions about market predictability. A comparison of deliberately generated and implicitly used metaphors reveals notable differences. In particular, implicit metaphors are predominantly organic rather than mechanical. In contrast to academic models, interactive and organic metaphors, and not the machine metaphor, dominate the market accounts of participants.

Appreciation of the nature of light demands enhancement over the prevailing scientific epistemology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roychoudhuri, Chandrasekhar

2011-09-01

Based on attempts to resolve the problem of various self contradictory assumptions behind the prevailing belief on single photon interference, we have analyzed the process steps behind our experimental measurements and named the process as the Interaction Process Mapping Epistemology (IPM-E). This has helped us recognize that the quantum mechanical Measurement Problem has a much universal and deeper root in nature. Our scientific theorization process suffers from a Perpetual Information Challenge (PIC), which cannot be overcome by elegant and/or sophisticated mathematical theories alone. Iterative imaginative application of IPM-E needs to be used as a metaphorical analytical continuation to fill up the missing information gaps. IPM-E has also guided us to recognize the generic NIW-principle (Non-Interaction of Waves) in the linear domain, not explicitly recognized in current books and literature. Superposition effects become manifest through light-matter interactions. Detecting dipoles gets stimulated by multiple superposed beams; it sums the simultaneous multiple stimulations into a single resultant undulation, which then guides the resultant energy exchange. The consequent transformation in the detector corresponds to observed fringes. They neither represent interference of light; nor represent selective arrival or non-arrival of photons on the detector. Photons do not possess any force of mutual interaction to generate their redistribution. Implementation of IPM-E requires us to recognize our subjective interpretation propensity with which we are burdened due to our evolutionary successes.

The use of metaphors by the "ambulatory inpatients" of the managed care era.

PubMed

Guinjoan, S M; Ross, D R

1999-01-01

An important effect of managed care is keeping partially decompensated patients out of the hospital, for this is the single most decisive factor in cutting the costs of psychiatric services. It is proposed that discharging sicker patients from inpatient units and denying admission to poorly compensated patients poses new challenges to their outpatient therapists. This calls for new, refined psychotherapeutic skills, especially around the development of a therapeutic alliance. Patient communications in the form of metaphors may help the clinician understand the patient's conflicts while avoiding excessive anxiety that might accompany more direct communications. Recognizing the meaning of the metaphor and working with it can keep the patient from regressing and assist in the formation of a therapeutic alliance. This statement is examined in a number of clinical examples. The similarities and differences between metaphors and dreams, symptoms, and the transference are discussed.

Culture and meaning: expanding the metaphorical repertoire of family therapy.

PubMed

Paré, D A

1996-03-01

This essay proposes that a family therapy founded on a contemporary, postmodern perspective demands an expanded range of metaphors for the family and the work of therapy. It describes a perspective that emphasizes a view of the family as a culture, as opposed to a system. A cultural perspective naturally addresses issues of meaning and language, narrative, politics, and practices of power-critical contemporary concerns not adequately encompassed by traditional systemic formulations. The essay explores the relationship between theory and metaphor, and contrasts the views of persons and of the family offered by the metaphors of culture and system. Case illustrations demonstrate how a cultural view effectively fashions an expanded therapeutic discourse, shifting the focus of family therapy from normative prescriptions for family "functionality" to issues of intercultural harmony. This shift in emphasis also extends to individual work, where the therapeutic task is construed as a peace-making between conflicting stories that intersect in the client's life.

Individual differences in executive control relate to metaphor processing: an eye movement study of sentence reading

PubMed Central

Columbus, Georgie; Sheikh, Naveed A.; Côté-Lecaldare, Marilena; Häuser, Katja; Baum, Shari R.; Titone, Debra

2015-01-01

Metaphors are common elements of language that allow us to creatively stretch the limits of word meaning. However, metaphors vary in their degree of novelty, which determines whether people must create new meanings on-line or retrieve previously known metaphorical meanings from memory. Such variations affect the degree to which general cognitive capacities such as executive control are required for successful comprehension. We investigated whether individual differences in executive control relate to metaphor processing using eye movement measures of reading. Thirty-nine participants read sentences including metaphors or idioms, another form of figurative language that is more likely to rely on meaning retrieval. They also completed the AX-CPT, a domain-general executive control task. In Experiment 1, we examined sentences containing metaphorical or literal uses of verbs, presented with or without prior context. In Experiment 2, we examined sentences containing idioms or literal phrases for the same participants to determine whether the link to executive control was qualitatively similar or different to Experiment 1. When metaphors were low familiar, all people read verbs used as metaphors more slowly than verbs used literally (this difference was smaller for high familiar metaphors). Executive control capacity modulated this pattern in that high executive control readers spent more time reading verbs when a prior context forced a particular interpretation (metaphorical or literal), and they had faster total metaphor reading times when there was a prior context. Interestingly, executive control did not relate to idiom processing for the same readers. Here, all readers had faster total reading times for high familiar idioms than literal phrases. Thus, executive control relates to metaphor but not idiom processing for these readers, and for the particular metaphor and idiom reading manipulations presented. PMID:25628557

Individual differences in executive control relate to metaphor processing: an eye movement study of sentence reading.

PubMed

Columbus, Georgie; Sheikh, Naveed A; Côté-Lecaldare, Marilena; Häuser, Katja; Baum, Shari R; Titone, Debra

2014-01-01

Metaphors are common elements of language that allow us to creatively stretch the limits of word meaning. However, metaphors vary in their degree of novelty, which determines whether people must create new meanings on-line or retrieve previously known metaphorical meanings from memory. Such variations affect the degree to which general cognitive capacities such as executive control are required for successful comprehension. We investigated whether individual differences in executive control relate to metaphor processing using eye movement measures of reading. Thirty-nine participants read sentences including metaphors or idioms, another form of figurative language that is more likely to rely on meaning retrieval. They also completed the AX-CPT, a domain-general executive control task. In Experiment 1, we examined sentences containing metaphorical or literal uses of verbs, presented with or without prior context. In Experiment 2, we examined sentences containing idioms or literal phrases for the same participants to determine whether the link to executive control was qualitatively similar or different to Experiment 1. When metaphors were low familiar, all people read verbs used as metaphors more slowly than verbs used literally (this difference was smaller for high familiar metaphors). Executive control capacity modulated this pattern in that high executive control readers spent more time reading verbs when a prior context forced a particular interpretation (metaphorical or literal), and they had faster total metaphor reading times when there was a prior context. Interestingly, executive control did not relate to idiom processing for the same readers. Here, all readers had faster total reading times for high familiar idioms than literal phrases. Thus, executive control relates to metaphor but not idiom processing for these readers, and for the particular metaphor and idiom reading manipulations presented.

The Continuity of Metaphor: Evidence from Temporal Gestures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Esther; Cooperrider, Kensy

2016-01-01

Reasoning about bedrock abstract concepts such as time, number, and valence relies on spatial metaphor and often on multiple spatial metaphors for a single concept. Previous research has documented, for instance, both future-in-front and future-to-right metaphors for time in English speakers. It is often assumed that these metaphors, which appear…

Mapping the brain's metaphor circuitry: metaphorical thought in everyday reason

PubMed Central

Lakoff, George

2014-01-01

An overview of the basics of metaphorical thought and language from the perspective of Neurocognition, the integrated interdisciplinary study of how conceptual thought and language work in the brain. The paper outlines a theory of metaphor circuitry and discusses how everyday reason makes use of embodied metaphor circuitry. PMID:25566012

The Relationship between Visual Metaphor Comprehension and Recognition of Similarities in Children with Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mashal, Nira; Kasirer, Anat

2012-01-01

Previous studies have shown metaphoric comprehension deficits in children with learning disabilities. To understand metaphoric language, children must have enough semantic knowledge about the metaphorical terms and the ability to recognize similarity between two different domains. In the current study visual and verbal metaphor understanding was…

Productive Figurative Communication: Conventional Metaphors Facilitate the Comprehension of Related Novel Metaphors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thibodeau, Paul; Durgin, Frank H.

2008-01-01

Three experiments explored whether conceptual mappings in conventional metaphors are productive, by testing whether the comprehension of novel metaphors was facilitated by first reading conceptually related conventional metaphors. The first experiment, a replication and extension of Keysar et al. [Keysar, B., Shen, Y., Glucksberg, S., Horton, W.…

The Reflective Educator's Guide to Mentoring: Strengthening Practice Through Knowledge, Story, and Metaphor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yendol-Hoppey, Diane; Dana, Nancy Fichtman

2006-01-01

Effective mentoring requires planned and mindful attention to the ways in which one's knowledge, skills, and experience can be passed on to new teachers. Stressing the importance of deep reflection on one's mentoring practice, the award-winning authors offer eight models/metaphors that mentors can customize to meet the individual needs of their…

Reconsidering Metaphorical Performance of EFL Learners with a Focus on Their Cognitive Features

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soureshjani, Kamal Heidari; Safikhani, Arezoo

2012-01-01

Metaphoric language and understanding such a language have been of central concern in not only private language schools for intermediate and advanced learners, but in universities for students whose major is English. Besides, as Ellis (1994) maintains, various individual differences have an effect on students' performance and learning. One of the…

Animal Magnetism: Metaphoric Cues Alter Perceptions of Romantic Partners and Relationships.

PubMed

Christy, Andrew G; Hirsch, Kelly A; Schlegel, Rebecca J

2016-01-01

The psychological state of love is difficult to define, and we often rely on metaphors to communicate about this state and its constituent experiences. Commonly, these metaphors liken love to a physical force-it sweeps us off our feet, causes sparks to fly, and ignites flames of passion. Even the use of "attraction" to refer to romantic interest, commonplace in both popular and scholarly discourse, implies a force propelling two objects together. The present research examined the effects of exposing participants to a physical force (magnetism) on subsequent judgments of romantic outcomes. Across two studies, participants exposed to magnets reported greater levels of satisfaction, attraction, intimacy, and commitment.

Figuration & Frequency: A Usage-Based Approach to Metaphor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanford, Daniel

2010-01-01

Two of the major claims of the cognitivist approach to metaphor, the paradigm which has emerged as dominant over the last three decades, are (1) that metaphor is a conceptual, rather than strictly linguistic, phenomenon, and (2) that metaphor exemplifies processes which are at work in cognition more generally. This view of metaphor is here placed…

Killing a Novel Metaphor and Reviving a Dead One: ERP Correlates of Metaphor Conventionalization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldstein, Abraham; Arzouan, Yossi; Faust, Miriam

2012-01-01

Novel metaphors are constantly created and some of them become conventional with repeated use. We investigated whether the processing of novel metaphors, as revealed in ERP waveforms, would change after inducing a metaphoric category merely by having participants explain the meaning of an expression. Participants performed a semantic judgment task…

Applying the Notion of Metaphor Types to Enhance Counseling Protocols

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tay, Dennis

2012-01-01

This article introduces the notion of metaphor types to show how the more nuanced aspects of metaphor theory can be applied to counseling practice. The author suggests that metaphor types can enhance existing interview protocols designed to help clients expand the source domain imagery of their metaphors and "bridge back" the expanded imagery to…

Morality and soap in engineers and social scientists: the Macbeth effect interacts with professions.

PubMed

Schaefer, Michael

2017-11-07

Several studies demonstrate that physical cleansing is actually efficacious to cope with threatened morality, thus demonstrating that physical and moral purity are psychologically interwoven. This so-called Macbeth effect has been explained, for example, by the conceptual metaphor theory that suggests an embodiment of the moral purity metaphor. Recent research draws attention to individual differences when using conceptual metaphors. The present study shows that the moral purity link interacts with different professions. Engineering and social science students were asked to hand copy a text in which the protagonist behaved in an immoral way (or in a moral way, control condition). Subsequently, they had to rate cleansing and other products. Both groups of participants showed higher ratings for cleansing products when hand copying the unethical story, but this Macbeth effect was significantly stronger for the group of engineering students. The results demonstrate that the Macbeth effect interacts with individual differences of the chosen profession. The outcome is discussed in terms of recent theories on individual differences in disgust sensitivity.

Mechanistic and "natural" body metaphors and their effects on attitudes to hormonal contraception.

PubMed

Walker, Susan

2012-01-01

A small, self-selected convenience sample of male and female contraceptive users in the United Kingdom (n = 34) were interviewed between 2006 and 2008 concerning their feelings about the body and their contraceptive attitudes and experiences. The interviewees were a sub-sample of respondents (n = 188) who completed a paper-based questionnaire on similar topics, who were recruited through a poster placed in a family planning clinic, web-based advertisements on workplace and university websites, and through direct approaches to social groups. The bodily metaphors used when discussing contraception were analyzed using an interpretative phenomenological analytical approach facilitated by Atlas.ti software. The dominant bodily metaphor was mechanistic (i.e.,"body as machine"). A subordinate but influential bodily metaphor was the "natural" body, which had connotations of connection to nature and a quasi-sacred bodily order. Interviewees drew upon this "natural" metaphorical image in the context of discussing their anxieties about hormonal contraception. Drawing upon a "natural," non-mechanistic body image in the context of contraceptive decision-making contributed to reluctance to use a hormonal form of contraception. This research suggests that clinicians could improve communication and advice about contraception by recognizing that some users may draw upon non-mechanistic body imagery.

Metaphor Identification in Large Texts Corpora

PubMed Central

Neuman, Yair; Assaf, Dan; Cohen, Yohai; Last, Mark; Argamon, Shlomo; Howard, Newton; Frieder, Ophir

2013-01-01

Identifying metaphorical language-use (e.g., sweet child) is one of the challenges facing natural language processing. This paper describes three novel algorithms for automatic metaphor identification. The algorithms are variations of the same core algorithm. We evaluate the algorithms on two corpora of Reuters and the New York Times articles. The paper presents the most comprehensive study of metaphor identification in terms of scope of metaphorical phrases and annotated corpora size. Algorithms’ performance in identifying linguistic phrases as metaphorical or literal has been compared to human judgment. Overall, the algorithms outperform the state-of-the-art algorithm with 71% precision and 27% averaged improvement in prediction over the base-rate of metaphors in the corpus. PMID:23658625

Autumn Leaves and Old Photographs: A Developmental Study of Metaphor Preferences. Technical Report No. 14.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silberstein, Lisa R.; And Others

A multiple choice Metaphor Preferences Test was administered to 138 preschool through college subjects to determine the role of a metaphor's ground in determining a metaphor's appeal, and to document the evolution of preferences for different types of grounds. Ground is the common property that links the two terms of a metaphor (topic and…

[How to do Things with Metaphors: Reflections on the Role of Metaphors and Metaphor Theory for the History of Science Using the Example of Shock Metaphors in Medicine].

PubMed

Koch, Ulrich

2015-12-01

In recent decades, metaphors have attracted a great deal of interest within the history, philosophy, and sociology of science. The article takes the growing interest in epistemic metaphors as the starting point of a discussion of two conflicting motives prevalent in theories of metaphor and metaphoricity: On the one hand, metaphors are associated with the indeterminacy of scientific discovery and the emergence of new epistemic objects; and on the other hand, metaphors are said to provide a filter of possible meanings and vantage-points. It is argued that an approach, which aims to do justice to both tendencies, cannot exclusively rely on linguistic models but must expand its scope of inquiry to include the practical trajectories of a metaphor’s usage as well as the problematizations to which they respond, since both engender metaphorical meaning, albeit at the cost of semantic precision. The exemplary case discussed in the article, the psychologization of nervous shock in nineteenth century medical discourse, demonstrates that the incremental process of shock’s shifting semantics would be inadequately characterized as a metaphorical transfer. Instead, it is shown how the actualization of earlier meanings, in particular of shock as a state of altered consciousness, in novel professional and cultural contexts acted as a catalyst for the psychologization of shock and related nascent concepts such as psychic trauma. As a possible, and methodologically fruitful way of overcoming the one-sidedness of linguistic notions of metaphor, a combination of Jìrgen Link’s concept of inter-discourse with a philosophical metaphorology (Blumenberg) is discussed in the final section of the paper.

Metaphorical interpretations of the educator-student relationship: An innovation in nursing educational research.

PubMed

Chan, Zenobia C Y; Chien, Wai Tong; Henderson, Saras

2018-01-01

Previous research has shown that collecting and analysing metaphors is a useful strategy in seeking data that are difficult to collect via verbal interviews or that cannot be represented by statistics. This study explored nursing students' perceptions of the educator-student relationship using metaphorical interpretation. A qualitative study with a personal essay approach was adopted. A total of 124 students were recruited from a nursing school in Hong Kong. A personal essay form was distributed to the participants. They were asked to give a metaphor with explanations to describe the power dynamics in the educator-student relationship, within 200 words in English or Chinese. After some thought, the participants each gave their own metaphor individually, because the aim of this study was to collect their subjective experiences. The results were presented as follows: a) The overall description of the metaphors; b) The three groups of metaphors; c) The fives natures of metaphors; d) The most significant metaphors; and e) The four thematic meanings - (i) nurturing role; (ii) guiding role; (iii) insufficient connection; and (iv) promoting development. The implications for research methods and nurse education of collecting and analyzing metaphors were discussed. Discrepancies in metaphorical interpretations are to be expected, as interpretations are dependent on the researchers' socio-cultural background, personal experiences, professional training, languages spoken, and other factors. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comprehension of metaphors in patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Mossaheb, Nilufar; Aschauer, Harald N; Stoettner, Susanne; Schmoeger, Michaela; Pils, Nicole; Raab, Monika; Willinger, Ulrike

2014-05-01

Metaphors, mainly proverbs and idiomatic expressions of ordinary life are commonly used as a model for concretism. Previous studies have shown impaired metaphor comprehension in patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders compared to either psychiatric or non-psychiatric control subject. The aim of this study was to detect possible quantitative differences in figurative processing between patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and healthy controls. In order to analyse possible dissociations of different aspects of figurative speech, a range of metaphor tasks was used to distinguish between recognition of familiar metaphors, paraphrasing the meaning of the latter and generating novel metaphors: we used a standard proverb test for conventional metaphors consisting of a multiple-choice and a paraphrasing task, and the Metaphoric Triads Test for the assessment of novel metaphors. We included 40 patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and 43 healthy control subjects. Our results showed that patients had impaired figurative speech processing regarding novel and conventional metaphors. Associations with cognitive functions were detected. Performance on the paraphrasing task was associated with the severity of negative symptoms. We conclude that patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders do exhibit impairments in the recognition and paraphrasing of conventional and the generation of novel metaphors and that some cognitive domains as well the extent of negative symptoms might be associated with these deficits. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Novel metaphor comprehension: Semantic neighbourhood density interacts with concreteness.

PubMed

Al-Azary, Hamad; Buchanan, Lori

2017-02-01

Previous research suggests that metaphor comprehension is affected both by the concreteness of the topic and vehicle and their semantic neighbours (Kintsch, 2000; Xu, 2010). However, studies have yet to manipulate these 2 variables simultaneously. To that end, we composed novel metaphors manipulated on topic concreteness and semantic neighbourhood density (SND) of topic and vehicle. In Experiment 1, participants rated the metaphors on the suitability (e.g. sensibility) of their topic-vehicle pairings. Topic concreteness interacted with SND such that participants rated metaphors from sparse semantic spaces to be more sensible than those from dense semantic spaces and preferred abstract topics over concrete topics only for metaphors from dense semantic spaces. In Experiments 2 and 3, we used presentation deadlines and found that topic concreteness and SND affect the online processing stages associated with metaphor comprehension. We discuss how the results are aligned with established psycholinguistic models of metaphor comprehension.

Kill the song—steal the show: what does distinguish predicative metaphors from decomposable idioms?

PubMed

Caillies, Stéphanie; Declercq, Christelle

2011-06-01

This study examined the semantic processing difference between decomposable idioms and novel predicative metaphors. It was hypothesized that idiom comprehension results from the retrieval of a figurative meaning stored in memory, that metaphor comprehension requires a sense creation process and that this process difference affects the processing time of idiomatic and metaphoric expressions. In the first experiment, participants read sentences containing decomposable idioms, predicative metaphors or control expressions and performed a lexical decision task on figurative targets presented 0, 350, and 500 ms, or 750 after reading. Results demonstrated that idiomatic expressions were processed sooner than metaphoric ones. In the second experiment, participants were asked to assess the meaningfulness of idiomatic, metaphoric and literal expressions after reading a verb prime that belongs to the target phrase (identity priming). The results showed that verb identity priming was stronger for idiomatic expressions than for metaphor ones, indicating different mental representations.

Moving through time: the role of personality in three real-life contexts.

PubMed

Duffy, Sarah E; Feist, Michele I; McCarthy, Steven

2014-01-01

In English, two deictic space-time metaphors are in common usage: the Moving Ego metaphor conceptualizes the ego as moving forward through time and the Moving Time metaphor conceptualizes time as moving forward toward the ego (Clark, 1973). Although earlier research investigating the psychological reality of these metaphors has typically examined spatial influences on temporal reasoning (e.g., Boroditsky & Ramscar, 2002), recent lines of research have extended beyond this, providing initial evidence that personality differences and emotional experiences may also influence how people reason about events in time (Duffy & Feist, 2014; Hauser, Carter, & Meier, 2009; Richmond, Wilson, & Zinken, 2012). In this article, we investigate whether these relationships have force in real life. Building on the effects of individual differences in self-reported conscientiousness and procrastination found by Duffy and Feist (2014), we examined whether, in addition to self-reported conscientiousness and procrastination, there is a relationship between conscientious and procrastinating behaviors and temporal perspective. We found that participants who adopted the Moving Time perspective were more likely to exhibit conscientious behaviors, while those who adopted the Moving Ego perspective were more likely to procrastinate, suggesting that the earlier effects reach beyond the laboratory. Copyright © 2014 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Action Contribution to Competence Judgments: The Use of the Journey Schema

PubMed Central

Horchak, Oleksandr V.; Giger, Jean-Christophe; Garrido, Margarida V.

2016-01-01

The current research considered the question of how performing an action, or merely preparing the body for action, can have an impact on social judgments related to person perception. Participants were asked to ascribe competence and warmth characteristics to a target person by reading a metaphoric text while their body was manipulated to be prepared for the processing of action-congruent information. In Experiment 1, participants whose forward body action matched the metaphoric action described in the text ascribed more competence characteristics to a politician than did control participants. In Experiment 2, participants whose body was merely prepared for forward movement also ascribed more competence characteristics to a politician than did control participants. In addition, the data from Experiment 2 ruled out an alternative non-embodied explanation (i.e., that effect is due to basic associative processes) grounded in the existing literatures on attitudes by demonstrating that body manipulation had no effect on competence when a non-metaphoric text was used. Finally, no evidence was found that body manipulation affects warmth judgments. These studies converge in demonstrating that forward body movements enhance the favorability of competence judgments when these match the metaphoric forward movements described by text. PMID:27065918

Interface Metaphors for Interactive Machine Learning

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jasper, Robert J.; Blaha, Leslie M.

To promote more interactive and dynamic machine learn- ing, we revisit the notion of user-interface metaphors. User-interface metaphors provide intuitive constructs for supporting user needs through interface design elements. A user-interface metaphor provides a visual or action pattern that leverages a user’s knowledge of another domain. Metaphors suggest both the visual representations that should be used in a display as well as the interactions that should be afforded to the user. We argue that user-interface metaphors can also offer a method of extracting interaction-based user feedback for use in machine learning. Metaphors offer indirect, context-based information that can be usedmore » in addition to explicit user inputs, such as user-provided labels. Implicit information from user interactions with metaphors can augment explicit user input for active learning paradigms. Or it might be leveraged in systems where explicit user inputs are more challenging to obtain. Each interaction with the metaphor provides an opportunity to gather data and learn. We argue this approach is especially important in streaming applications, where we desire machine learning systems that can adapt to dynamic, changing data.« less

Towards psychoanalytic contribution to linguistic metaphor theory.

PubMed

Caspi, Tair

2017-07-05

This paper lays out a formulation of the psychoanalytical contribution to linguistic metaphor theory. The author's main argument is that psychoanalysis can help enrich and shed light on linguistic metaphor theories, since these have focused on the cognitive aspect, to the exclusion of the role played by affect. Based on the tight link between metaphor and symbol - both configurations of figurative language - the author shall apply ideas sourced from some of the key psychoanalytic symbolization theories, focusing in particular on Klein, Winnicott, and Ogden. The course of exploration will serve to trace the unconscious emotional aspects that participate in the metaphor's mechanism, just as they participate in the symbol's workings. The study leads to the main conclusion that the intersubjective transitional space is of substantial importance to metaphor's constitution, particularly in regard to novel metaphors. Expanding the understanding of metaphor's modus operandi has important implications in conceptual clarification and for an in-depth analytical work, and is of immense significance when it comes to analytical work with patients who suffer impairment of their metaphoric ability. Copyright © 2017 Institute of Psychoanalysis.

The influence of context on hemispheric recruitment during metaphor processing

PubMed Central

Diaz, Michele T.; Hogstrom, Larson J.

2011-01-01

Although the left hemisphere's prominence in language is well established, less emphasis has been placed on possible roles for the right hemisphere. Behavioral, patient, and neuroimaging research suggests that the right hemisphere may be involved in processing figurative language. Additionally, research has demonstrated that context can modify language processes and facilitate comprehension. Here we investigated how figurativeness and context influenced brain activation, with a specific interest in right hemisphere function. Previous work in our lab indicated that novel stimuli engaged right inferior frontal gyrus and that both novel and familiar metaphors engaged right inferior frontal gyrus and right temporal pole. The Graded Salience Hypothesis (GSH) proposes that context may lessen integration demands, increase the salience of metaphors, and thereby reduce right hemisphere recruitment for metaphors. In the present study, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging was used to investigate brain function while participants read literal and metaphoric sentences that were preceded by either a congruent or an incongruent literal sentence. Consistent with prior research, all sentences engaged traditional left hemisphere regions. Differences between metaphors and literal sentences were observed, but only in the left hemisphere. In contrast, a main effect of congruence was found in right inferior frontal gyrus, right temporal pole, and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex. Partially consistent with the GSH, our results highlight the strong influence of context on language, demonstrate the importance of the right hemisphere in discourse, and suggest that in a wider discourse context congruence has a greater influence on right hemisphere recruitment than figurativeness. PMID:21568642

Exploration of Metaphorical and Contextual Affect Sensing in a Virtual Improvisational Drama

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Li

Real-time affect detection from open-ended text-based dialogue is challenging but essential for the building of effective intelligent user interfaces. In this paper, we report updated developments of an affect detection model from text, including affect detection from one particular type of metaphorical affective expression (cooking metaphor) and affect detection based on context. The overall affect detection model has been embedded in an intelligent conversational AI agent interacting with human users under loose scenarios. Evaluation for the updated affect detection component is also provided. Our work contributes to the conference themes on engagement and emotion, interactions in games, storytelling and narrative in education, and virtual characters/agents development.

Animal Magnetism: Metaphoric Cues Alter Perceptions of Romantic Partners and Relationships

PubMed Central

Hirsch, Kelly A.; Schlegel, Rebecca J.

2016-01-01

The psychological state of love is difficult to define, and we often rely on metaphors to communicate about this state and its constituent experiences. Commonly, these metaphors liken love to a physical force—it sweeps us off our feet, causes sparks to fly, and ignites flames of passion. Even the use of “attraction” to refer to romantic interest, commonplace in both popular and scholarly discourse, implies a force propelling two objects together. The present research examined the effects of exposing participants to a physical force (magnetism) on subsequent judgments of romantic outcomes. Across two studies, participants exposed to magnets reported greater levels of satisfaction, attraction, intimacy, and commitment. PMID:27227965

The patient's use of metaphor within a palliative care setting: theory, function and efficacy. A narrative literature review.

PubMed

Southall, David

2013-04-01

The modes of communication which patients use are seen as important within the sphere of palliative care and have been the focus of much research. This literature review aims to identify and analyse one particular mode of patient expression, namely that of the figure of speech (trope) 'metaphor', and ask questions regarding metaphor's therapeutic usefulness when engaging with the life-limited patient. The investigation revolves around a literature review of academic papers which focus on the metaphorical ways in which patients speak of their condition. This paper provides the theoretical foundations for the patient's metaphoric utterances. It also delineates the variety and diversity of metaphors used by patients and categorises them into broad groupings which encompass metaphors of war, journeying, personhood, the natural world and existential concepts. The papers reviewed suggest that metaphoric communication allows sensitive subjects to be dealt with and provides benefits for patients. The results suggest that engaging with patients at the metaphoric level enables them to create new ways of viewing their situation and opens up the possibilities of new coping strategies. Finally, some developmental trajectories emanating from the reviewed papers are suggested, which will allow the efficacy of metaphor to be explored further within a palliative care setting.

Two analogy strategies: the cases of mind metaphors and introspection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, Eugen

2018-04-01

Analogical reasoning is often employed in problem-solving and metaphor interpretation. This paper submits that, as a default, analogical reasoning addressing these different tasks employs different mapping strategies. In problem-solving, it employs analogy-maximising strategies (like structure mapping, Gentner, D., & Markman, A. B. (1997). Structure mapping in analogy and similarity. American Psychologist, 52, 45-56); in metaphor interpretation, analogy-minimising strategies (like ATT-Meta, Barnden, J. A. (2015). Open-ended elaborations in creative metaphor. In T. R. Besold, M. Schorlemmer, & A. Smaill (Eds.), Computational creativity research: Towards creative machines (pp. 217-242). Berlin: Springer). The two strategies interact in analogical reasoning with conceptual metaphors. This interaction leads to predictable fallacies. The paper supports these hypotheses through case-studies on "mind" metaphors from ordinary discourse, and abstract problem-solving in the philosophy of mind, respectively. It shows that (1) default metaphorical interpretations for vision- and space-cognition metaphors can be derived with a variant of the analogy-minimising ATT-Meta approach, (2) philosophically influential introspective conceptions of the mind can be derived with conceptual metaphors only through an analogy-maximising strategy, and (3) the interaction of these strategies leads to hitherto unrecognised fallacies in analogical reasoning with metaphors. This yields a debunking explanation of introspective conceptions.

Implications of Metaphors in Defining Technical Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beck, Charles E.

1991-01-01

Identifies four metaphors that appear dominant in current studies in the field of technical communication: transmitter, channel, balance, and bridge. Suggests limitations upon each of the metaphors. Discusses the alternative metaphors of lock, translator, transformer, synthesizer, conductor, and orchestrator. Proposes orchestration as a fruitful…

Metaphorical Accounting: How Framing the Federal Budget Like a Household's Affects Voting Intentions.

PubMed

Thibodeau, Paul H; Flusberg, Stephen J

2017-05-01

Political discourse is saturated with metaphor, but evidence for the persuasive power of this language has been hard to come by. We addressed this issue by investigating whether voting intentions were affected by implicit mappings suggested by a metaphorically framed message, drawing on a real-world example of political rhetoric about the federal budget. In the first experiment, the federal budget was framed as similar to or different from a household budget, though the information participants received was identical in both conditions. When the federal budget was described as similar to a household's, people considered the personal finances of a presidential candidate more relevant-a finding we replicated in a larger, pre-registered study. In a follow-up experiment, we presented participants with a more explicit rhetorical argument and found a similar effect, moderated by political affiliation. These studies illuminate how metaphorical comparison affects cognition for important real-world issues, sometimes in unintended ways. Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

From Viruses to Russian Roulette to Dance: A Rhetorical Critique and Creation of Genetic Metaphors

PubMed Central

Gronnvoll, Marita; Landau, Jamie

2010-01-01

This essay critiques and creates metaphoric genetic rhetoric by examining metaphors for genes used by representatives of the lay American public. We assess these metaphors with a new rhetorical orientation that we developed by building onto work by Robert Ivie and social scientific qualitative studies of audiences. Specifically, our analysis reveals three themes of genetic metaphors, with the first two appearing most frequently: 1) genes as a disease or problem 2) genes as fire or bomb, and 3) genes as gambling. We not only discuss the problems and untapped potential of these metaphors, but also we suggest metaphorically understanding genes interacting with the environment as a dance or a band. This essay has implications for rhetorical criticism, science studies, and public health. PMID:20625448

Flying under the radar: figurative language impairments in focal lesion patients

PubMed Central

Ianni, Geena R.; Cardillo, Eileen R.; McQuire, Marguerite; Chatterjee, Anjan

2014-01-01

Despite the prevalent and natural use of metaphor in everyday language, the neural basis of this powerful communication device remains poorly understood. Early studies of brain-injured patients suggested the right hemisphere plays a critical role in metaphor comprehension, but more recent patient and neuroimaging studies do not consistently support this hypothesis. One explanation for this discrepancy is the challenge in designing optimal tasks for brain-injured populations. As traditional aphasia assessments do not assess figurative language comprehension, we designed a new metaphor comprehension task to consider whether impaired metaphor processing is missed by standard clinical assessments. Stimuli consisted of 60 pairs of moderately familiar metaphors and closely matched literal sentences. Sentences were presented visually in a randomized order, followed by four adjective-noun answer choices (target + three foil types). Participants were instructed to select the phrase that best matched the meaning of the sentence. We report the performance of three focal lesion patients and a group of 12 healthy, older controls. Controls performed near ceiling in both conditions, with slightly more accurate performance on literal than metaphoric sentences. While the Western Aphasia Battery (Kertesz, 1982) and the objects and actions naming battery (Druks and Masterson, 2000) indicated minimal to no language difficulty, our metaphor comprehension task indicated three different profiles of metaphor comprehension impairment in the patients’ performance. Single case statistics revealed comparable impairment on metaphoric and literal sentences, disproportionately greater impairment on metaphors than literal sentences, and selective impairment on metaphors. We conclude our task reveals that patients can have selective metaphor comprehension deficits. These deficits are not captured by traditional neuropsychological language assessments, suggesting overlooked communication difficulties. PMID:25404906

Indeterministic metaphors: The popular science books of Fritjof Capra and Gary Zukav.

PubMed

Smith, Bradon Tl

2013-07-01

In the popular accounts of the new physics (i.e. relativity and quantum mechanics) by Fritjof Capra and Gary Zukav, the new physics is represented as fatally undermining the universal determinism associated with Newton and Laplace. This paper explores how different metaphors - anthropomorphic metaphors, metaphors of exploration and mapping, and metaphors of shadows - are used strategically by these writers to advance this characterisation of the new physics as indeterministic.

Using root metaphors to analyze communication between nurses and patients: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Álvarez, Isabel; Selva, Laia; Medina, José Luis; Sáez, Salvador

2017-11-16

Metaphors in communication can serve to convey individuals' backgrounds, contexts, experiences, and worldviews. Metaphors used in a health care setting can help achieve consensual communication in professional-patient relationships. Patients use metaphors to describe symptoms, or how disease affects them. Health professionals draw on shared understanding of such metaphors to better comprehend and meet patient needs, and to communicate information that patients can more easily integrate into their lives. This study incorporated a theoretical framework based on four worldviews, each with an underlying foundational metaphor (root metaphor). The use of these root metaphors (formism, mechanism, contextualism, and organicism) can have an explanatory function and serve to impart new meanings, as each type of metaphor can lead to a particular interpretation. The study aimed to extract and discuss the root metaphors, with a view to analyzing the communication between health professionals and patients. In a case study in Spain over a six-month period, we analyzed the content of recorded, transcribed interviews conducted by one nurse with 32 patients who had chronic illnesses. We inductively extracted five categories that emerged from the interviews: blood sugar, cholesterol, exercise, blood pressure, and diet. We then examined these categories from the standpoint of each of the four root metaphors using two approaches: A series (deductive) and an emergent (inductive) approach. The results show that the nurse tended to primarily use two worldviews: mechanism and formism. In contrast, patients tended to favor mechanism when discussing cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels, whereas contextualism was predominant when the category was diet or exercise. This study adds to the existing literature on health professionals and patients' communication. It shows how the use of Pepper's root metaphors help to analyze the communication between the nurse and patients. Furthermore, it shows they are both using different root metaphors when they are talking about illness and treatments especially regarding blood sugar, cholesterol, exercise, blood pressure, and diet. Further qualitative and quantitative studies are needed to solidly these findings.

Untying the Gordian knot of creation: metaphors for the Human Genome Project in Greek newspapers.

PubMed

Gogorosi, Eleni

2005-12-01

This article studies the metaphorical expressions used by newspapers to present the near completion of the Human Genome Project (HGP) to the Greek public in the year 2000. The analysis, based on cognitive metaphor theory, deals with the most frequent or captivating metaphors used to refer to the human genome, which give rise to both conventional and novel expressions. The majority of creative metaphorical expressions participate in the discourse of hope and promise propagated by the Greek media in an attempt to present the HGP and its outcome in a favorable light. Instances of the competing discourse of fear and danger are much rarer but can also be found in creative metaphorical expressions. Metaphors pertaining to the Greek culture or to ancient Greek mythology tend to carry a special rhetorical force. However, it will be shown that the Greek press strategically used most of the metaphors that circulated globally at the time, not only culture specific ones.

Healing Without Waging War: Beyond Military Metaphors in Medicine and HIV Cure Research

PubMed Central

Nie, Jing-Bao; Gilbertson, Adam Lloyd; de Roubaix, Malcolm; Staunton, Ciara; van Niekerk, Anton; Tucker, Joseph D.; Rennie, Stuart

2016-01-01

Military metaphors are pervasive in biomedicine, including HIV research. Rooted in the mindset that regards pathogens as enemies to be defeated, terms such as “shock and kill” have become widely accepted idioms within HIV cure research. Such language and symbolism must be critically examined as they may be especially problematic when used to express scientific ideas within emerging health-related fields. In this paper, philosophical analysis and an interdisciplinary literature review utilizing key texts from sociology, anthropology, history, and Chinese and African studies were conducted to investigate the current proliferation of military metaphors. We found the use of these metaphors to be ironic, unfortunate, and unnecessary. To overcome military metaphors we propose to: 1) give them less aggressive meanings, and/or 2) replace them with more peaceful metaphors. Building on previous authors’ work, we argue for the increased use of “journey” (and related) metaphors as meaningful, cross-culturally appropriate alternatives to military metaphors. PMID:27653388

The Development of Metaphor Comprehension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broderick, Victor K.

A study to investigate the development of children's ability to relate concepts and thus understand metaphors by examining their performance on three concept-relating tasks is reported. Abstract-metaphoric, concrete-metaphoric, and literal taxonomic relationships were embedded in an analogy-like binary choice task. In this type of task, the…

Understanding Metaphors: Is the Right Hemisphere Uniquely Involved?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kacinik, Natalie A.; Chiarello, Christine

2007-01-01

Two divided visual field priming experiments examined cerebral asymmetries for understanding metaphors varying in sentence constraint. Experiment 1 investigated ambiguous words (e.g., SWEET and BRIGHT) with literal and metaphoric meanings in ambiguous and unambiguous sentence contexts, while Experiment 2 involved standard metaphors (e.g., "The…

Complex Constructivism: A Theoretical Model of Complexity and Cognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doolittle, Peter E.

2014-01-01

Education has long been driven by its metaphors for teaching and learning. These metaphors have influenced both educational research and educational practice. Complexity and constructivism are two theories that provide functional and robust metaphors. Complexity provides a metaphor for the structure of myriad phenomena, while constructivism…

Reading for Metaphor Using Angela Carter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crachiolo, Elizabeth

2009-01-01

The advantages of introducing detailed scrutiny of metaphor into the college composition, creative writing, and literature curriculum are multiple. A number of researchers think an understanding of metaphor is important for cognitive development. This article establishes reasons for teaching metaphorical thinking and then goes on to argue that…

Visual Metaphors in the Representation of Communication Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaplan, Stuart Jay

1990-01-01

Examines the role of metaphors (particularly visual metaphors) in communicating social values associated with new communication technology by analyzing magazine advertisements for computing and advanced telecommunications products and services. Finds that the "lever" and the "synthesis of old and new values" metaphors are dominant in both general…

Heroic struggles, criminals and scientific breakthroughs: ADHD and the medicalization of child behaviour in Australian newsprint media 1999–2009

PubMed Central

Harwood, Valerie; Jones, Sandra; Bonney, Andrew; McMahon, Samantha

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT There is a dearth of scholarly analysis and critique of the Australian newsprint media’s role in the medicalization of child behaviour. To begin to redress this lack this paper analyses newsprint media’s use of metaphors that re/describe and construct realities of ADHD with a medicalizing effect. The interdisciplinary team used the Factiva TM database to locate and review 453 articles published in Australian national and metropolitan newspapers during the decade 1999–2009. Data analysis involved generating statistical descriptions of the dataset according to attributes such as: date, state, newspaper titles and author names. This was followed by inductive analysis of article content. Content analysis revealed pervasive and striking use of metaphor in newsprint media reporting of ADHD content, especially when describing health professionals, educators, parents and children. This collection of metaphors was striking, and while the metaphors deployed were varied, this diversity seemed underscored by a common functionality that increased the risk that child behaviour was explained using medicalized knowledge. We contend that these metaphors collectively and coherently functioned to simplify and delimit meanings of children’s health and behaviour to favour depictions that medicalize problems of children and childhood. PMID:28532327

Last resort or roll of the die? Exploring the role of metaphors in cancer clinical trials education among medically underserved populations.

PubMed

Krieger, Janice L

2014-01-01

Improving communication about cancer clinical trials may help increase patients' understanding of medical research and their interest in participating. It is unfortunate that there is little empirical research to provide guidance on how to adapt clinical trial messages to maximize cultural sensitivity. This study examines (a) how medically underserved women conceptualize clinical trials by examining the language they use to describe them and (b) how this audience interprets metaphorical language used to explain randomization in the context of Phase III cancer clinical trials. The author conducted in-depth interviews and focus groups with 41 rural, low-income older women who either had been diagnosed with cancer or were caregivers for a person with cancer. The most commonly used lay metaphors for clinical trials had strong negative connotations and included treatment by trial and error, patients are guinea pigs, and treatment of last resort. Participants also expressed strong, unfavorable responses to conventional metaphors that equate randomization with the roll of a die or use other gambling language. Low-literacy definition approaches were unexpectedly problematic, suggesting the potential effectiveness of culturally grounded metaphors for communicating about clinical trials. Ethical implications of these findings for cancer communication are discussed.

Developmental Steps in Metaphorical Language Abilities: The Influence of Age, Gender, Cognitive Flexibility, Information Processing Speed, and Analogical Reasoning.

PubMed

Willinger, Ulrike; Deckert, Matthias; Schmöger, Michaela; Schaunig-Busch, Ines; Formann, Anton K; Auff, Eduard

2017-12-01

Metaphor is a specific type of figurative language that is used in various important fields such as in the work with children in clinical or teaching contexts. The aim of the study was to investigate the developmental course, developmental steps, and possible cognitive predictors regarding metaphor processing in childhood and early adolescence. One hundred sixty-four typically developing children (7-year-olds, 9-year-olds) and early adolescents (11-year-olds) were tested for metaphor identification, comprehension, comprehension quality, and preference by the Metaphoric Triads Task as well as for analogical reasoning, information processing speed, cognitive flexibility under time pressure, and cognitive flexibility without time pressure. Metaphor identification and comprehension consecutively increased with age. Eleven-year-olds showed significantly higher metaphor comprehension quality and preference scores than seven- and nine-year-olds, whilst these younger age groups did not differ. Age, cognitive flexibility under time pressure, information processing speed, analogical reasoning, and cognitive flexibility without time pressure significantly predicted metaphor comprehension. Metaphorical language ability shows an ongoing development and seemingly changes qualitatively at the beginning of early adolescence. These results can possibly be explained by a greater synaptic reorganization in early adolescents. Furthermore, cognitive flexibility under time pressure and information processing speed possibly facilitate the ability to adapt metaphor processing strategies in a flexible, quick, and appropriate way.

What Can Metaphors Tell Us about Personality?

PubMed

Fetterman, Adam K; Robinson, Michael D

2014-04-01

Theorists propose that metaphors are not mere figures of speech, but can actively shape one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Social psychologists have supported this claim over the past 10 years. Personality psychologists, though, have only recently begun investigating how metaphors can inform our understanding of what makes us different from each other. This review focuses on projects demonstrating links between metaphor and personality. As an example, people have been asked whether they locate the self in the head or the heart. Head people are (more) rational and cold, whereas heart people are emotional and warm. In addition, an individual differences approach can reveal what it is that metaphoric thinking does to and for people. Overall, individual difference approaches to common metaphors are shown to be informative not only in understanding how people differ from each other but also in extending the metaphor literature.

Metaphor Identification as a Research Method for the Study of Career

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Creed, Allison; McIlveen, Peter

2018-01-01

In this paper, we present the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit (MIPVU) for the reliable detection of metaphoric language that may be interpreted using extant vocational psychology theory. Metaphors are ubiquitous in communication and carry influential meaning for people. To illustrate MIPVU, we use transcripts of interviews…

Roosters, Robins, and Alarm Clocks: Aptness and Conventionality in Metaphor Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Lara L.; Estes, Zachary

2006-01-01

Bowdle and Gentner (2005) proposed a reconciliation of the comparison and categorization models of metaphor comprehension. Their career of metaphor model posits that, as a metaphorical term becomes more conventional, its mode of processing shifts from comparison to categorization. However, other recent studies (Chiappe, Kennedy, & Chiappe, 2003;…

Autism as Metaphor: Narrative and Counter-Narrative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broderick, Alicia A.; Ne'eman, Ari

2008-01-01

In this paper we explore the significance of metaphor and dominant cultural narratives in current autism discourse. We briefly explore the history of metaphor in autism discourse, and outline the contemporary struggle between the culturally dominant metaphor of autism as disease and the emergent counter-narrative of autism within neurodiversity.…

Metaphor Foundations in Creativity Research: Boundary vs. Organism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moran, Seana

2009-01-01

Two metaphors explicitly or implicitly used in the conceptualization of creativity are examined and compared. The boundary metaphor describes creativity in terms of crossing or pushing out a frontier. This metaphor underlies studies that emphasize creativity as a moment--an "aha!" experience or a sharp break from tradition. The organism metaphor…

Enhanced Left Frontal Involvement during Novel Metaphor Comprehension in Schizophrenia: Evidence from Functional Neuroimaging

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mashal, N.; Vishne, T.; Laor, N.; Titone, D.

2013-01-01

The neural basis involved in novel metaphor comprehension in schizophrenia is relatively unknown. Fourteen people with schizophrenia and fourteen controls were scanned while they silently read novel metaphors, conventional metaphors, literal expressions, and meaningless word-pairs. People with schizophrenia showed reduced comprehension of both…

Teaching English Metaphors Using Cross-Linguistic Awareness-Raising Activities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deignan, A.; Gabrys, D.; Solska, A.

1997-01-01

Reports on a translation exercise undertaken by Polish learners of English which revealed how metaphorical expressions vary between the two languages and how this variation confuses learners. Suggests that group discussion and comparison of metaphors in both languages will increase students' comprehension and use of metaphors. (nine references)…

Community College Presidents' Core Internal Metaphors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeBraak, LaRonna S.

2011-01-01

This study identified the core internal metaphors of 8 community college presidents, 4 females and 4 males. The participants of this study resided in both rural and metropolitan communities. Core internal metaphors were adopted due to a strong association to a primary conceptual metaphor, which the participants had internalized as a result of…

Using Metaphors to Teach Organization Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taber, Tom D.

2007-01-01

Metaphors were used to teach systems thinking and to clarify concepts of organizational theory in an introductory MBA management course. Gareth Morgan's metaphors of organization were read by students and applied as frames to analyze a business case. In addition, personal metaphors were written by individual students in order to describe the…

Metaphor Analysis in the Educational Discourse: A Critical Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zheng, Hong-bo; Song, Wen-juan

2010-01-01

Metaphor analysis is based on the belief that metaphor is a powerful linguistic device, because it extends and encapsulates knowledge about the familiarity and unfamiliarity. Metaphor analysis has been adopted in the educational discourse. The paper categorizes the previous relevant research into 3: interactions between learners and institutions,…

Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder Comprehend Lexicalized and Novel Primary Conceptual Metaphors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olofson, Eric L.; Casey, Drew; Oluyedun, Olufemi A.; Van Herwegen, Jo; Becerra, Adam; Rundblad, Gabriella

2014-01-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulty comprehending metaphors. However, no study to date has examined whether or not they understand conceptual metaphors (i.e. mappings between conceptual structures), which could be the building blocks of metaphoric thinking and understanding. We investigated whether 13 participants with…

Forgetting the Literal: The Role of Inhibition in Metaphor Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

George, Tim; Wiley, Jennifer

2016-01-01

In order for a person to comprehend metaphoric expressions, do metaphor-irrelevant aspects of literal information need to be inhibited? Previous research using sentence-verification paradigms has found that literal associates take longer to process after reading metaphorical sentences; however, it is problematic to infer inhibition from this…

Buckets and Fire: Metaphors in Tertiary Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emerson, Lisa; Mansvelt, Juliana

2015-01-01

This paper examines New Zealand tertiary teachers' use of metaphor and their attitudes to the consumer metaphor in relation to teaching. Based on interviews with 16 tertiary teachers, this study shows that although teachers believe the consumer metaphor is accepted by students, tertiary institutions and policy makers, and that it has affected…

An Idealized Cognitive Model Analysis of Metaphors in American Economic News Report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Yang

2018-03-01

On the basis of the theoretical framework of Lakoff’s Conceptual Metaphor, the paper researches into the cognitive model of conceptual metaphors in American Economic News Reports. Moreover, the paper tries to analyze economic discourse by the application of Idealized Cognitive Model of its metaphorical thinking combined with cultural model and reflect the ideology of the media. It aims to help English learners ponder the implied meaning the economic news reports conveyed and take a new look at metaphors between the lines.

Metaphores et representations du cerveau plurilingue: conceptions naives ou construction du savior? Exemples dans le contexte d'enseignement andorran (Metaphors and Representations of the Multilingual Brain: Naive Conceptions or Knowledge Construction? Examples in the Context of Andorran Education).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larruy, Martine Marquillo

2000-01-01

This article concentrates on the use of metaphors characterizing a multilingual brain in a corpus of oral interactions drawn from the Andorran part of an international research study. First, the situation and the status of metaphors in fields connected to the elaboration of knowledge is questioned. Next, the most important metaphors associated to…

Intermittent Theta-Burst Stimulation of the Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex to Promote Metaphor Comprehension in Parkinson Disease: A Case Study.

PubMed

Tremblay, Christina; Monetta, Laura; Langlois, Mélanie; Schneider, Cyril

2016-01-01

This single-case research-designed study explored whether intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) could improve metaphor comprehension in people with Parkinson disease (PD) and language impairments. A right-handed participant with PD diagnosed 9 years ago, receiving long-term treatment with levodopa, and with metaphor comprehension impairment was recruited to undergo 10 sessions of sham stimulation (in 2wk), a washout period (6wk), and then 10 sessions of iTBS (in 2wk). Clinical scores of metaphor comprehension and motor evaluation (Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale part III) and transcranial magnetic stimulation to test the excitability of the primary motor cortex (M1) were used at baseline, postsham, post-iTBS, and at 3 follow-ups (8, 14, and 20wk post-iTBS). Metaphor comprehension was improved after iTBS, and the highest scores were obtained 8 weeks later (P=.01). This improvement was correlated with the increase of the right M1 excitability (r=-.86, P=.03) and with the decrease of transcallosal inhibition latency from the left to the right hemisphere (r=-.88, P=.02). Sham yielded no effect (P>.05). Administration of iTBS over the right DLPFC improved metaphor comprehension likely by a long-term influence on brain synaptic plasticity, including improvement of interhemispheric dialogue. More studies are warranted to confirm these findings in larger samples of participants with PD. Copyright © 2016 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

English in "The Tempest": The Value of Metaphor and Re-Imagining Grammar in English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Macken-Horarik, Mary

2013-01-01

Garth Boomer's thinking influenced many of those working in school English during the time he was alive. The ripple effects of his legacy continue to be felt. For the author, it is Boomer's interests in metaphor and meaning that resonate most. The use of tropes and figure is a distinctive feature of his writing and offers a rich…

What Can Metaphors Tell Us about Personality?

PubMed Central

Fetterman, Adam K.; Robinson, Michael D.

2013-01-01

Theorists propose that metaphors are not mere figures of speech, but can actively shape one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Social psychologists have supported this claim over the past 10 years. Personality psychologists, though, have only recently begun investigating how metaphors can inform our understanding of what makes us different from each other. This review focuses on projects demonstrating links between metaphor and personality. As an example, people have been asked whether they locate the self in the head or the heart. Head people are (more) rational and cold, whereas heart people are emotional and warm. In addition, an individual differences approach can reveal what it is that metaphoric thinking does to and for people. Overall, individual difference approaches to common metaphors are shown to be informative not only in understanding how people differ from each other but also in extending the metaphor literature. PMID:25328559

Metaphors in Congressional Discourse: Cognitive Frames of the Political Status of Puerto Rico

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nickels, Edelmira L.

2013-01-01

Linguistics research has demonstrated the commonness and functions of metaphors to carry cognitive frames, which influence the way people understand and act on information. This work conveys the results of three analyses employed to describe cognitive frames: forms of linguistic metaphors used, functions of systematic metaphors that emerged, and…

Toulmin and the Ethics of Argument Fields: Teaching Writing and Argument.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stygall, Gail

Writing instructors who teach argument are familiar with the dilemma of conflicting metaphors: those who teach writing with a process approach may structure their teaching through a growth or benevolent nature metaphor, but cannot deny the tenacity of the "argument as war" metaphor. Breaking this war metaphor requires that ethics become…

Analoguing Creativity & Culture: A Method for Metaphors.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Timothy N.

Adding to the benefits of using metaphors as tools, "analoguing" (a method of analysis that focuses on metaphors for meanings in use and meanings of metaphors in use) helps avoid excessive categorization and separation by looking for unities and patterns in phenomena rather than for divisions. Six months of observation of patterns of…

WAR Metaphor in the Chinese Economic Media Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hu, Chunyu; Xu, Yuting

2017-01-01

The economic media discourse depends upon a complex web of metaphors, among which WAR metaphor is worthy of special attention. The data used in this study is comprised of 2566 articles (about 1.2 million words) under the "Economy" column of China Daily published in 2014. Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) is used as the analytical…

The Emergence of a Root Metaphor in Modern Physics: Max Planck's "Quantum" Metaphor.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson-Sheehan, Richard D.

1997-01-01

Uses metaphorical analysis to determine whether or not Max Planck invented the quantum postulate. Demonstrates how metaphorical analysis can be used to analyze the rhetoric of revolutionary texts in science. Concludes that, in his original 1900 quantum paper, Planck considered the quantum postulate to be important, but not revolutionary. (PA)

Summoning Prior Knowledge through Metaphorical Graphics: An Example in Chemistry Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stroud, Michael J.; Schwartz, Neil H.

2010-01-01

The present investigation was designed to determine if the learning benefits of metaphors and graphics could be combined into one instructional device--a metaphorical graphic--to aid in the acquisition of difficult concepts of chemistry. The authors further sought to determine if metaphorical graphics could foster greater retention of the basic…

Right Hemisphere Metaphor Processing? Characterizing the Lateralization of Semantic Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidt, Gwen L.; DeBuse, Casey J.; Seger, Carol A.

2007-01-01

Previous laterality studies have implicated the right hemisphere in the processing of metaphors, however it is not clear if this result is due to metaphoricity per se or another aspect of semantic processing. Three divided visual field experiments varied metaphorical and literal sentence familiarity. We found a right hemisphere advantage for…

A Different Vision in eLearning: Metaphors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tuncay, Nazime; Stanescu, Ioana Andreea; Tuncay, Mustafa

2011-01-01

Metaphors are figures of speech in which a word or phrase that denotes a certain object or idea is applied to another word or phrase to imply some similarity between them. Due to their ability to make speaking and writing more lively and interesting, metaphors have always been popular among students. While metaphors provide significant enhancement…

Spatial Metaphor in Language Can Promote the Development of Cross-Modal Mappings in Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shayan, Shakila; Ozturk, Ozge; Bowerman, Melissa; Majid, Asifa

2014-01-01

Pitch is often described metaphorically: for example, Farsi and Turkish speakers use a "thickness" metaphor (low sounds are "thick" and high sounds are "thin"), while German and English speakers use a height metaphor ("low", "high"). This study examines how child and adult speakers of Farsi,…

Good Use of a "Bad" Metaphor: Entropy as Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haglund, Jesper

2017-01-01

Entropy is often introduced to students through the use of the disorder metaphor. However, many weaknesses and limitations of this metaphor have been identified, and it has therefore been argued that it is more harmful than useful in teaching. For instance, under the influence of the disorder metaphor, students tend to focus on spatial…

Metaphors in the Mirror: The Influence of Teaching Metaphors in a Medical Education Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canziani, Tatiana

2016-01-01

Medical students often face problems in using and understanding metaphors when communicating with a patient or reading a scientific paper. These figures of speech constitute an interpretative problem and students need key strategies to facilitate metaphor comprehension and disambiguation of meaning. This article examines how medical students'…

Metaphor and Metonymy in ASD Children: A Critical Review from a Developmental Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

2012-01-01

The aim of the present article is to critically review the experimental research in the domain of metaphor and metonymy competencies in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) children. After providing some basic definitions of metaphor and metonymy, we consider some major points emerging from studies on metaphorical and metonymical competencies in…

Metaphor Comprehension by Deaf Young Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gold, Rinat; Segal, Osnat

2017-01-01

In the present study, we compared the processing of both conventional and novel metaphors by deaf versus hearing young adults. Eighteen deaf participants with severe-to-profound hearing loss and 18 controls matched for age, sex, and years of education were presented with word pairs of 4 types (literal, conventional metaphors, novel metaphors, and…

Texts as Metaphoric Machines and the Challenge of the Digital

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kouppanou, Anna

2016-01-01

In this essay Anna Kouppanou expands the notion of metaphor from its received meaning to refer to an embodied and material process of connectedness that transforms the domains that it brings together. Because of metaphor's reliance on materiality and exteriority Kouppanou turns to literary texts, which she calls "metaphoric machines." In…

The Hidden Traps of Language: Dangerous Metaphors.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osborn, Michael

Since ancient times, the use of metaphor in rhetorical speeches has been a powerful tool for persuasive impact on audiences. Study of 84 important persuasive speeches, from classic to modern, reveals 52 metaphor types. Among these, 11 types account for 60% of all of the examples. These "archetypal" metaphors are used in speeches, not because of…

"Being Black Is Like Being a Soldier in Iraq": Metaphorical Expressions of Blackness in an Urban Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woodson, Ashley N.

2017-01-01

Metaphor and metaphorical expressions are phenomenon of interest in teacher education research, critical race literature, and research on black communicative practices. Only marginal concerted attention has been paid to students' metaphorical expressions, and what these expressions might tell us about students' racial identities and lived…

Dwelling in the Ruins: Recovering Student Use of Metaphor in the Posthistorical University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richards, Daniel P.

2017-01-01

This article argues that the field of Rhetoric and Composition has long harnessed the active potential of metaphor to change its own practices but has considerably overlooked student use of metaphor--a particularly urgent oversight given the metaphorical battleground that constitutes the discourse of contemporary higher education. Using this…

Enacting Conceptual Metaphor through Blending: Learning Activities Embodying the Substance Metaphor for Energy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Close, Hunter G.; Scherr, Rachel E.

2015-01-01

We demonstrate that a particular blended learning space is especially productive in developing understanding of energy transfers and transformations. In this blended space, naturally occurring learner interactions like body movement, gesture, and metaphorical speech are blended with a conceptual metaphor of energy as a substance in a class of…

Life-Metaphors among Colombian Leadership Students: Core Values and Educational Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoffman, Edward; Acosta-Orozco, Catalina

2015-01-01

The present study utilized metaphor analysis to explore the core values of Colombian college students in a leadership program. The entire class of 60 students was invited to respond to a structured questionnaire. It asked participants to state their preferred life-metaphor, whether they had always preferred this metaphor since childhood or…

L'uso della metafora nell'educazione linguistica (Use of the Metaphor in Language Instruction).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mininni, Giuseppe

1986-01-01

Urges educators to utilize metaphors in language instruction. Two experiments support this position. The results of the first experiment reveal that students learn lexical items more efficiently if presented in metaphors. The results of the second experiment indicate the usefulness of metaphors in developing students' critical thinking. (CFM)

Analysing the Metaphorical Images of Turkish Preschool Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kabadayi, Abdulkadir

2008-01-01

The metaphorical basis of teacher reflection about teaching and learning has been a rich area of theory and research. This is a study of metaphor as a shared system of interpretation and classification, which teachers and student teachers and their supervising teachers can cooperatively explore. This study employs metaphor as a means of research…

Planes, straws and oysters: the use of metaphors in healthcare reform.

PubMed

Millar, Ross; Dickinson, Helen

2016-01-01

The purpose of the paper is to examine the metaphors used by senior managers and clinicians in the delivery of healthcare reform. A study of healthcare reform in England carried out a series of semi structured interviews with senior managers and clinicians leading primary and secondary care organisations. Qualitative data analysis examines instances where metaphorical language is used to communicate how particular policy reforms are experienced and the implications these reforms have for organisational contexts. The findings show how metaphorical language is used to explain the interactions between policy reform and organisational contexts. Metaphors are used to illustrate both the challenges and opportunities associated with the reform proposals for organisational change. The authors provide the first systematic study of patterns and meanings of metaphors within English healthcare contexts and beyond. The authors argue that these metaphors provide important examples of "generative" dialogue in their illustration of the opportunities associated with reform. Conversely, these metaphors also provide examples of "degenerative" dialogue in their illustration of a demarcation between the reform policy proposals and existing organisational contexts.

Metaphorical constructions of hypertension among three ethnic groups in the Netherlands.

PubMed

Schuster, John; Beune, Erik; Stronks, Karien

2011-12-01

This article examines the various metaphors used by hypertensive patients from different ethnic groups in multi-ethnic and multicultural Netherlands. The choice for the study of metaphors is based on the need of people to use metaphors, analogies and symbols to make sense of and express their illness experiences. Given the high prevalence of hypertension in Western countries, such as the Netherlands, and the fact that hypertension is also a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease among immigrants makes it necessary to study the various metaphors these groups use when speaking about the causes and consequences of their hypertension. This can contribute to a shared understanding and communication about this illness. Discursive analysis of the metaphorical constructions of the causes and consequences of hypertension 55 participants of Creole, (White) Dutch and Hindustani descent employed in-depth interviews. The findings illustrate that the participants use several metaphors to 'live' their hypertension. The metaphors some of the participants employed to explain the origins of their hypertension construct the human body and its organs as machines or parts of machines. When speaking about the possible consequences the participants used metaphors that represented of hypertension as an unknown enemy, they feared because of its silent, invisible and uncontrollable character and the way it abruptly makes itself known. Metaphors people employ to speak about their hypertension open up a space for patients to explain how they understand their hypertension and how they want to live with it even if it means resisting recommendations put forward by their doctors. It is therefore necessary to find metaphors that can work for health care providers and patients that work the best for communication about hypertension and its medical treatment.

Metaphorical Competence: A Neglected Component of Communicative Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sabet, Masoud Khalili; Tavakoli, Marjaneh

2016-01-01

The ability to comprehend and use metaphors in L2 which is referred to as metaphorical competence is an important issue in second language acquisition. Metaphors are so pervasive in our life that we might not realize their presence and simply neglect them even in our first language. Different models of communicative competence have been suggested…

A Comparative Study on Basic Emotion Conceptual Metaphors in English and Persian Literary Texts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mashak, Shahrzad Pirzad; Pazhakh, Abdolreza; Hayati, Abdolmajid

2012-01-01

Metaphor becomes the subject of interest for many researchers in recent decades. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the universality of emotion metaphorical conceptualization and the dominant pattern in English and Persian based on Kovecses's (2003) model for Linguistic expression of Metaphor. The emotions under study were…

A Theoretical Account on the Study of Metaphor in Didactic Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

El-Sharif, Ahmad

2016-01-01

This article makes a literary review to the linguistic research in the use of metaphor in didactic discourse; especially the religious one. Acknowledging Conceptual Metaphor Theory as the primary theory in the field, the researcher embarks upon how metaphor is perceived and analysed in discourse in order to pertain its persuasive function. The…

The Relationship between the Content and the Form of Metaphorical Statements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Xu

2010-01-01

Recent research suggests that the quality of a metaphorical topic-vehicle pairing should be the determinant to the choice of a proper grammatical form, nominal metaphor versus simile. Two studies examined the relationship between the quality of the content of a metaphorical statement and its grammatical form. Study 1 showed that the two…

A Crosslinguistic, Crosscultural Analysis of Metaphors in Two Italian Sign Language (LIS) Registers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russo, Tommaso

2005-01-01

This article deals with two main topics: the interplay of iconicity and metaphors in signed language discourse and the relevance of sociocultural knowledge for a full understanding of LIS metaphors. In metaphors, the iconic features of signs play a role in the creative process of determining a mental fit between two different domains. Iconicity…

Laterality in Metaphor Processing: Lack of Evidence from Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the Right Hemisphere Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rapp, Alexander M.; Leube, Dirk T.; Erb, Michael; Grodd, Wolfgang; Kircher, Tilo T. J.

2007-01-01

We investigated processing of metaphoric sentences using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Seventeen healthy subjects (6 female, 11 male) read 60 novel short German sentence pairs with either metaphoric or literal meaning and performed two different tasks: judging the metaphoric content and judging whether the sentence…

A Study of Young Children's Comprehension of Metaphorical Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cerbin, William

A study was conducted to examine some of the cognitive and linguistic factors that influence metaphor comprehension in young children. Presupposing that (1) the similarities between the topic and the vehicle in a metaphor comprise the metaphor's ground, (2) salience is the degree of prominence of a characteristic in relation to a concept, and (3)…

Comprehension of Verbal and Visual Metaphors among Individuals with Intellectual Disability with and without Down Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shnitzer-Meirovich, Shlomit; Lifshitz-Vahab, Hefziba; Mashal, Nira

2017-01-01

Studies examining the visual and verbal metaphorical comprehension of individuals with non-specific intellectual disability (NSID) are remarkably scarce; to date only one case study examined comprehension of metaphors in an individual with Down syndrome (DS). The current study explored both the understanding of conventional and novel metaphors and…

Applying Conceptual Blending to Model Coordinated Use of Multiple Ontological Metaphors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dreyfus, Benjamin W.; Gupta, Ayush; Redish, Edward F.

2015-01-01

Energy is an abstract science concept, so the ways that we think and talk about energy rely heavily on ontological metaphors: metaphors for what kind of thing energy is. Two commonly used ontological metaphors for energy are "energy as a substance" and "energy as a vertical location." Our previous work has demonstrated that…

Adolescents' Views on Families as Metaphors in Hong Kong: Implications for Pre-Counselling Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Zenobia C. Y.

2013-01-01

This interpretative study aims to offer metaphors that describe family meanings from the adolescent's perspective by encouraging them to give a metaphor with their own explanation on a self-administering essay form. This study has three objectives: to explore the family meanings as a metaphor from the Hong Kong adolescent's perspective; to reveal…

An Examination of Conceptualization of Sport Metaphors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dervent, Fatih

2016-01-01

This study examined the metaphors that were used by athletes, coaches, faculty members, and sport managers to describe the concept of "sport". Participants (N = 473) were asked to reveal the single metaphor they had in minds in the sense of the concept of sport by the prompt "Sport is like … because …" 22 valid metaphors were…

Language as Fluid: A Description of the Conduit Metaphor in Japanese.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nomura, Masuhiro

1993-01-01

The question of how 'communication' is metaphorized in Japanese is examined and this metaphorization is contrasted with Reddy's (1979) conduit metaphor. A claim is made that there is a strong tendency for Japanese to conceptualize 'word' as 'fluid' and to fuse 'word' and 'meaning.' English, which unlike Japanese, has overt count/mass and…

Pedagogical Perspectives and Practices Reflected in Metaphors of Learning and Digital Learning of ICT Leaders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blau, Ina; Grinberg, Ronen; Shamir-Inbal, Tamar

2018-01-01

This study examines the meaning attributed to the contribution of technology to pedagogical practices from the perspective of school ICT leaders. While previous studies use metaphors for bottom-up exploration, this study employs an innovative combination of bottom-up and top-down metaphor analysis based on two frameworks: (a) metaphors of general…

Children and Discipline: Investigating Secondary School Students' Perception of Discipline through Metaphors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sadik, Fatma

2018-01-01

This is a descriptive study investigating the perception of children about discipline through metaphors developed by them. A total of 445 students participated in the research and the data was collected with the "Discipline Metaphors Survey (DMS)" developed by the researchers. At the end of the study, 143 metaphors, 94 positive and 49…

Life-Metaphors among Colombian Medical Students: Uncovering Core Values and Educational Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoffman, Edward; Acosta-Orozco, Catalina; Compton, William C.

2015-01-01

The present study utilized metaphor analysis to examine the core values of Colombian medical students. The entire 9th semester medical class of 60 students was invited to respond to a structured questionnaire. It asked participants to state their preferred life-metaphor, whether they had always preferred this metaphor since childhood or…

Examining Teaching Metaphors of Preservice Teachers; a Hopeless Romantic Learns Lessons about Gardening, Romance, Protection, Teaching, and Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spiker, Amy B.

2013-01-01

Preservice teachers hold metaphors and personal beliefs about teaching that they carry with them into their first teaching experiences. These metaphors tend to persist through challenges. This qualitative study investigates five preservice teacher's metaphors and personal histories of education through three phases; university student,…

Activating Metaphors: Exploring the Embodied Nature of Metaphorical Mapping in Political Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giovanelli, Marcello

2016-01-01

Metaphor is generally understood as the process of understanding one thing in terms of another. The activity described here is designed to make use of the principles of embodied cognition and meaning, and specifically the embodied nature of metaphor, to explore political discourse and communication. With high-school junior or senior students in…

Metaphors as contextual evidence for engaging Haitian clients in practice: a case study.

PubMed

Rahill, Guitele; Jean-Gilles, Michele; Thomlison, Barbara; Pinto-Lopez, Elsa

2011-01-01

Haitian immigrants remain underserved in the United States (U.S.), despite their large presence and their visibility, which increased after the January 12, 2010 earthquake. Employing cultural-specific practice strategies to engage Haitians in the U.S. who experienced loss in their social networks, requires understanding the context of their ecological culture and consideration of relevant linguistic and cultural elements. Through a case example, we describe the use of metaphors in cultural language as part of a strategy used to engage a Haitian immigrant with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Outcomes indicate that the use of storytelling and metaphors facilitate disclosure of clients' worldviews, experiences, feelings and hopes in a safe environment while providing them with tools to determine progress. We identify four practice guidelines for intervention strategies with ethnic minority groups who share similar cultural contexts. Metaphors, which are a viable approach to practice, focus on cultural strengths and resiliencies over traditional models of deficit and can enhance access to needed effective services for underserved populations, such as Haitians in the United States.

The mechanism of valence-space metaphors: ERP evidence for affective word processing.

PubMed

Xie, Jiushu; Wang, Ruiming; Chang, Song

2014-01-01

Embodied cognition contends that the representation and processing of concepts involve perceptual, somatosensory, motoric, and other physical re-experiencing information. In this view, affective concepts are also grounded in physical information. For instance, people often say "feeling down" or "cheer up" in daily life. These phrases use spatial information to understand affective concepts. This process is referred to as valence-space metaphor. Valence-space metaphors refer to the employment of spatial information (lower/higher space) to elaborate affective concepts (negative/positive concepts). Previous studies have demonstrated that processing affective words affects performance on a spatial detection task. However, the mechanism(s) behind this effect remain unclear. In the current study, we hypothesized that processing affective words might produce spatial information. Consequently, spatial information would affect the following spatial cue detection/discrimination task. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to remember an affective word. Then, they completed a spatial cue detection task while event-related potentials were recorded. The results indicated that the top cues induced enhanced amplitude of P200 component while participants kept positive words relative to negative words in mind. On the contrary, the bottom cues induced enhanced P200 amplitudes while participants kept negative words relative to positive words in mind. In Experiment 2, we conducted a behavioral experiment that employed a similar paradigm to Experiment 1, but used arrows instead of dots to test the attentional nature of the valence-space metaphor. We found a similar facilitation effect as found in Experiment 1. Positive words facilitated the discrimination of upper arrows, whereas negative words facilitated the discrimination of lower arrows. In summary, affective words might activate spatial information and cause participants to allocate their attention to corresponding locations. Valence-space metaphors might be grounded in attention allocation.

Evaluating Multiple Levels of an Interaction Fidelity Continuum on Performance and Learning in Near-Field Training Simulations.

PubMed

Bhargava, Ayush; Bertrand, Jeffrey W; Gramopadhye, Anand K; Madathil, Kapil C; Babu, Sabarish V

2018-04-01

With costs of head-mounted displays (HMDs) and tracking technology decreasing rapidly, various virtual reality applications are being widely adopted for education and training. Hardware advancements have enabled replication of real-world interactions in virtual environments to a large extent, paving the way for commercial grade applications that provide a safe and risk-free training environment at a fraction of the cost. But this also mandates the need to develop more intrinsic interaction techniques and to empirically evaluate them in a more comprehensive manner. Although there exists a body of previous research that examines the benefits of selected levels of interaction fidelity on performance, few studies have investigated the constituent components of fidelity in a Interaction Fidelity Continuum (IFC) with several system instances and their respective effects on performance and learning in the context of a real-world skills training application. Our work describes a large between-subjects investigation conducted over several years that utilizes bimanual interaction metaphors at six discrete levels of interaction fidelity to teach basic precision metrology concepts in a near-field spatial interaction task in VR. A combined analysis performed on the data compares and contrasts the six different conditions and their overall effects on performance and learning outcomes, eliciting patterns in the results between the discrete application points on the IFC. With respect to some performance variables, results indicate that simpler restrictive interaction metaphors and highest fidelity metaphors perform better than medium fidelity interaction metaphors. In light of these results, a set of general guidelines are created for developers of spatial interaction metaphors in immersive virtual environments for precise fine-motor skills training simulations.

Using Jazz as a Metaphor to Teach Improvisational Communication Skills

PubMed Central

Jarecke, Jodi; Yang, Chengwu; Teal, Cayla R.; Street, Richard L.; Stuckey, Heather

2017-01-01

Metaphor helps humans understand complex concepts by “mapping” them onto accessible concepts. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of using jazz as a metaphor to teach senior medical students improvisational communication skills, and to understand student learning experiences. The authors designed a month-long course that used jazz to teach improvisational communication. A sample of fourth-year medical students (N = 30) completed the course between 2011 and 2014. Evaluation consisted of quantitative and qualitative data collected pre- and post-course, with comparison to a concurrent control group on some measures. Measures included: (a) Student self-reports of knowledge and ability performing communicative tasks; (b) blinded standardized patient assessment of students’ adaptability and quality of listening; and (c) qualitative course evaluation data and open-ended interviews with course students. Compared to control students, course students demonstrated statistically significant and educationally meaningful gains in adaptability and listening behaviors. Students’ course experiences suggested that the jazz components led to high engagement and creativity, and provided a model to guide application of improvisational concepts to their own communication behaviors. Metaphor proved to be a powerful tool in this study, partly through enabling increased reflection and decreased resistance to behaviors that, on the surface, tended to run counter to generally accepted norms. The use of jazz as a metaphor to teach improvisational communication warrants further refinement and investigation. PMID:28777345

Using Jazz as a Metaphor to Teach Improvisational Communication Skills.

PubMed

Haidet, Paul; Jarecke, Jodi; Yang, Chengwu; Teal, Cayla R; Street, Richard L; Stuckey, Heather

2017-08-04

Metaphor helps humans understand complex concepts by "mapping" them onto accessible concepts. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of using jazz as a metaphor to teach senior medical students improvisational communication skills, and to understand student learning experiences. The authors designed a month-long course that used jazz to teach improvisational communication. A sample of fourth-year medical students ( N = 30) completed the course between 2011 and 2014. Evaluation consisted of quantitative and qualitative data collected pre- and post-course, with comparison to a concurrent control group on some measures. Measures included: (a) Student self-reports of knowledge and ability performing communicative tasks; (b) blinded standardized patient assessment of students' adaptability and quality of listening; and (c) qualitative course evaluation data and open-ended interviews with course students. Compared to control students, course students demonstrated statistically significant and educationally meaningful gains in adaptability and listening behaviors. Students' course experiences suggested that the jazz components led to high engagement and creativity, and provided a model to guide application of improvisational concepts to their own communication behaviors. Metaphor proved to be a powerful tool in this study, partly through enabling increased reflection and decreased resistance to behaviors that, on the surface, tended to run counter to generally accepted norms. The use of jazz as a metaphor to teach improvisational communication warrants further refinement and investigation.

Processing of metaphors in transcortical motor aphasia.

PubMed

Mancopes, Renata; Schultz, Fernanda

2008-01-01

Great emphasis has been placed on the right hemisphere, due to its possible selective contribution, in the processing of metaphorical statements. To describe the processing of metaphors in the case of a patient with transcortical motor aphasia, using specific tests for patients with encephalic injuries of the right hemisphere, and to contribute to the discussion on the inter-hemispheric relationships associated with this function. A 54 year-old man with transcortical motor aphasia was evaluated three years after a left hemisphere stroke. The tasks of comprehension of metaphors were based on the subtest Metaphor Comprehension Task of the Montreal Evaluation of Communications Scale (MEC). Two metaphor comprehension tests were applied, in 45-minute sessions with a 48 hour interval between each. Test 1 involved comprehension of the metaphors according to the options offered, and Test 2 the comprehension of metaphors measured by response time and visual field. Although the right hemisphere was not affected by the stroke in this case, difficulties were observed in the processing of metaphors. This study suggests that the left hemisphere participates in the processing of figurative meanings. The adaptability of the brain can also re-accommodate the uninjured areas of the brain, causing the dynamic of the brain to be modified. As a result, deducing cerebral functions based on clinical data can be problematic. The value of this study is that it can contribute to clinical aspects of language rehabilitation.

Thinking Constructively with Metaphors. A Review of Barbara J. Thayer-Bacon, Transforming Critical Thinking: Thinking Constructively.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yob, Iris M.

2003-01-01

Describes Thayer-Bacon's book on metaphors and explores the role of metaphor in constructive thinking. Provides an in depth analysis of Thayer-Bacon's quilting bee metaphor and how it takes the organization, structures, entities, and forces of a literal quilting bee and applies them to the realm of learning. Concludes that Thayer-Bacon's…

Towards a New Model for Implied Metaphor Translation: English Translations of "Al Muallaqat"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Garrallah, Aiman Sanad

2016-01-01

This two-part paper argues that metaphor in both English and Arabic is defined and classified in almost the same way with some slight, but far from insignificant, differences. Those differences along with the linguistic nature of implied metaphor can be attributed to the failure in translating that type of metaphor from Arabic into English as…

Common Metaphors and Their Impact on Distance Education: What They Tell Us and What They Hide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyer, Katrina A.

2005-01-01

This article explores some of the common metaphors used to illuminate the Web and its application to distance education. Using the work of Lakoff and Johnson (1980) as a foundation for understanding and categorizing metaphors, the advantages and disadvantages for our future of such metaphors as the "Web", "Information Highway", "virtual",…

On the Ability to Metaphorize: Talking Trees and Singing Tigers in the English Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexander, Joy

2011-01-01

This article reviews and discusses how metaphor as a trope has been regarded as an essential element in rhetorical approaches to reading and to writing. In addition it considers the extent to which, while metaphor-making is a fundamental cognitive capacity, a metaphorizing habit of mind may be especially pertinent to some aspects of aesthetic…

A Critical Metaphor Analysis of Disability Identity and Ideology in the Thai Undergraduates' Home for Children with Disabilities Website Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sudajit-apa, Melada

2017-01-01

This study examines how the Home for Children with Disabilities and disability identities were construed by Thai undergraduates in their website project through an analysis of metaphors. Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) was the framework for analyzing the use of metaphors and the participants' enactment of identity and social representation. The…

Metaphor Comprehension in Schizophrenic Patients

PubMed Central

Rossetti, Ileana; Brambilla, Paolo; Papagno, Costanza

2018-01-01

People with schizophrenia often exhibit difficulties to comprehend figurative expressions, such as irony, proverbs, metaphors and idioms, with a general proneness to neglect the figurative meaning and to accept the more literal one. This inability is usually referred to as concretism and it constitutes a clinical manifestation of the broader language dysfunction called Formal Thought Disorder. The current review focuses on the neuropsychological and neuroanatomical underpinnings of schizophrenics’ misinterpretation of a subgroup of figurative expressions, i.e., metaphors. Metaphors are heterogeneous in nature, classifiable according to various criteria; for instance, metaphors can be conventional and familiar, or conversely, novel and unusual. These linguistic distinctions are substantial because the comprehension of the different types of metaphor entails partially different cognitive strategies and neural substrates. This review gathers studies that have directly investigated which neurocognitive deficits explain the inefficient comprehension of metaphor in schizophrenia. Several impairments have been put forward, such as general intelligence, executive functions and theory of mind deficits. Moreover, the neural correlates of metaphor comprehension in schizophrenia, like the left inferior/medial frontal gyrus and the temporal lobe, match those cortices affected by the neuropathology of schizophrenia. Even though the causal defective mechanism is still a matter of investigation, we provide an attempt to integrate existing findings. PMID:29867648

Synthetic biology, metaphors and responsibility.

PubMed

McLeod, Carmen; Nerlich, Brigitte

2017-08-29

Metaphors are not just decorative rhetorical devices that make speech pretty. They are fundamental tools for thinking about the world and acting on the world. The language we use to make a better world matters; words matter; metaphors matter. Words have consequences - ethical, social and legal ones, as well as political and economic ones. They need to be used 'responsibly'. They also need to be studied carefully - this is what we want to do through this editorial and the related thematic collection. In the context of synthetic biology, natural and social scientists have become increasingly interested in metaphors, a wave of interest that we want to exploit and amplify. We want to build on emerging articles and books on synthetic biology, metaphors of life and the ethical and moral implications of such metaphors. This editorial provides a brief introduction to synthetic biology and responsible innovation, as well as a comprehensive review of literature on the social, cultural and ethical impacts of metaphor use in genomics and synthetic biology. Our aim is to stimulate an interdisciplinary and international discussion on the impact that metaphors can have on science, policy and publics in the context of synthetic biology.

Seeing Context through Metaphor: Using Communications Research to Bring a Social Determinants Perspective to Public Thinking about Child Abuse and Neglect.

PubMed

Kendall-Taylor, Nathaniel; Stanley, Kate

2018-01-19

Human beings think in metaphor and reason through analogy. The metaphors through which we think influence how we understand and feel about social issues as well as the actions that we see as appropriate and important. Metaphors can be used to increase understanding of how issues work and increase the salience of a given issue, build support for programs and policies necessary to address the issue, and instigate demand for change and civic action. In this paper, we use a mixed methods research design, including brief qualitative interviews, experimental surveys, and focus groups, to test the ability of different metaphors to influence public understanding of the social determinants of child abuse and neglect in the UK. We find one metaphor in particular that improves people's understanding of the social causes of child maltreatment and increases support for structural solutions. This metaphor can be used to build support for preventative public health solutions.

Communicative competence in Alzheimer's disease: metaphor and sarcasm comprehension.

PubMed

Maki, Yohko; Yamaguchi, Tomoharu; Koeda, Tatsuya; Yamaguchi, Haruyasu

2013-02-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the deficits of metaphor and sarcasm comprehension in Alzheimer's disease (AD), as pragmatic interpretation such as metaphor and sarcasm comprehension is required in social communication. A total of 31 young normal controls, 104 aged normal controls (ANC), 42 patients with amnesic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and 30 patients with mild AD were evaluated by Metaphoric and Sarcastic Scenario Test, which consists of 5 metaphoric and 5 sarcastic questions with 5 answer choices. Scores were analyzed using the repeated measures analysis of variance (metaphor/sarcasm vs 4 participant groups). Sarcasm comprehension, which requires second-order Theory of Mind (ToM), started to deteriorate in ANC, and metaphor comprehension, which requires first-order ToM, started to deteriorate in aMCI, and both deteriorated as disease progressed. Literal interpretation of pragmatic language is characteristic in patients with mild AD. Such misinterpretation would result in social miscommunication, even if they still retained semantic-lexical competence.

Good Use of a `Bad' Metaphor. Entropy as Disorder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haglund, Jesper

2017-05-01

Entropy is often introduced to students through the use of the disorder metaphor. However, many weaknesses and limitations of this metaphor have been identified, and it has therefore been argued that it is more harmful than useful in teaching. For instance, under the influence of the disorder metaphor, students tend to focus on spatial configuration with regard to entropy but disregard the role of energy, which may lead their intuition astray in problem solving. Albeit so, a review of research of students' ideas about entropy in relation to the disorder metaphor shows that students can use the metaphor in developing a more nuanced, complex view of the concept, by connecting entropy as disorder to other concepts such as microstates and spreading. The disorder metaphor—in combination with other explanatory approaches—can be used as a resource for learning, in giving students an early flavour of what entropy means, so long as we acknowledge its limitations; we can put this "bad" metaphor to good use in teaching.

Seeing Context through Metaphor: Using Communications Research to Bring a Social Determinants Perspective to Public Thinking about Child Abuse and Neglect

PubMed Central

Kendall-Taylor, Nathaniel; Stanley, Kate

2018-01-01

Human beings think in metaphor and reason through analogy. The metaphors through which we think influence how we understand and feel about social issues as well as the actions that we see as appropriate and important. Metaphors can be used to increase understanding of how issues work and increase the salience of a given issue, build support for programs and policies necessary to address the issue, and instigate demand for change and civic action. In this paper, we use a mixed methods research design, including brief qualitative interviews, experimental surveys, and focus groups, to test the ability of different metaphors to influence public understanding of the social determinants of child abuse and neglect in the UK. We find one metaphor in particular that improves people’s understanding of the social causes of child maltreatment and increases support for structural solutions. This metaphor can be used to build support for preventative public health solutions. PMID:29351195

Walking the walk while thinking about the talk: embodied interpretation of metaphorical narratives.

PubMed

Gibbs, Raymond W

2013-08-01

Two sets of experiments examined people's embodied understanding of metaphorical narratives. Participants heard one of two stories about a romantic relationship; either one that was successful or one that was not, that initially described it in metaphorical terms as "Your relationship was moving along in a good direction" or nonmetaphorical terms as "Your relationship was very important to you." Participants were then blindfolded and attempted to accurately walk, or imagine walking, to a marker 40 feet away while they thought about the story they just heard. People who heard about the successful metaphorical story walked longer and further than those presented with the unsuccessful relationship story. But these walking and imagining differences disappeared when the critical metaphorical statement "moving along in a good direction" was replaced by a nonmetaphorical expression. These findings, and those from another set of experiments, suggest that people's understanding of metaphorical narratives is partly based on their embodied simulations of the metaphorical actions referred to in these stories.

From sequencing to annotating: extending the metaphor of the book of life from genetics to genomics.

PubMed

Hellsten, Iina

2005-12-01

The article discusses how the metaphor of the Book of Life was extended over time to cover the life cycle of the Human Genome Project from genetics to genomics. In particular, the focus is on the role of extendable metaphors in the debate on the Human Genome Project in three European newspapers, popular scientific journals and scientific and scholarly articles from 1990 to 2002. In these different domains of use, various parts of the metaphor were highlighted. The metaphor of Book of Life was mainly used to justify the continuation of the gene research from gene sequencing to comparative genomics. Readily extendable metaphors, such as the Book of Life, function as useful communicative tools both over time and across domains of use.

Idioms and mental imagery: the metaphorical motivation for idiomatic meaning.

PubMed

Gibbs, R W; O'Brien, J E

1990-07-01

We conducted three experiments to investigate the mental images associated with idiomatic phrases in English. Our hypothesis was that people should have strong conventional images for many idioms and that the regularity in people's knowledge of their images for idioms is due to the conceptual metaphors motivating the figurative meanings of idioms. In the first study, subjects were asked to form and describe their mental images for different idiomatic expressions. Subjects were then asked a series of detailed questions about their images regarding the causes and effects of different events within their images. We found high consistency in subjects' images of idioms with similar figurative meanings despite differences in their surface forms (e.g., spill the beans and let the cat out of the bag). Subjects' responses to detailed questions about their images also showed a high degree of similarity in their answers. Further examination of subjects' imagery protocols supports the idea that the conventional images and knowledge associated with idioms are constrained by the conceptual metaphors (e.g., the MIND IS A CONTAINER and IDEAS ARE ENTITIES) which motivate the figurative meanings of idioms. The results of two control studies showed that the conventional images associated with idioms are not solely based on their figurative meanings (Experiment 2) and that the images associated with literal phrases (e.g., spill the peas) were quite varied and unlikely to be constrained by conceptual metaphor (Experiment 3). These findings support the view that idioms are not "dead" metaphors with their meanings being arbitrarily determined. Rather, the meanings of many idioms are motivated by speakers' tacit knowledge of the conceptual metaphors underlying the meanings of these figurative phrases.

How Strong Is Your Coffee? The Influence of Visual Metaphors and Textual Claims on Consumers’ Flavor Perception and Product Evaluation

PubMed Central

Fenko, Anna; de Vries, Roxan; van Rompay, Thomas

2018-01-01

This study investigates the relative impact of textual claims and visual metaphors displayed on the product’s package on consumers’ flavor experience and product evaluation. For consumers, strength is one of the most important sensory attributes of coffee. The 2 × 3 between-subjects experiment (N = 123) compared the effects of visual metaphor of strength (an image of a lion located either on top or on the bottom of the package of coffee beans) and the direct textual claim (“extra strong”) on consumers’ responses to coffee, including product expectation, flavor evaluation, strength perception and purchase intention. The results demonstrate that both the textual claim and the visual metaphor can be efficient in communicating the product attribute of strength. The presence of the image positively influenced consumers’ product expectations before tasting. The textual claim increased the perception of strength of coffee and the purchase intention of the product. The location of the image also played an important role in flavor perception and purchase intention. The image located on the bottom of the package increased the perceived strength of coffee and purchase intention of the product compared to the image on top of the package. This result could be interpreted from the perspective of the grounded cognition theory, which suggests that a picture in the lower part of the package would automatically activate the “strong is heavy” metaphor. As heavy objects are usually associated with a position on the ground, this would explain why perceiving a visually heavy package would lead to the experience of a strong coffee. Further research is needed to better understand the relationships between a metaphorical image and its spatial position in food packaging design. PMID:29459840

Defining popular iconic metaphor.

PubMed

Columbus, Peter J; Boerger, Michael A

2002-04-01

Popular Iconic Metaphor is added to the cognitive linguistic lexicon of figurative language. Popular Iconic Metaphors employ real or fictional celebrities of popular culture as source domains in figurative discourse. Some borders of Popular Iconic Metaphor are identified, and Elvis Presley is offered as a prototype example of a popular iconic source domain, due to his ubiquity in American popular culture, which affords his figurative usage in ways consistent with decision heuristics in everyday life. Further study of Popular Iconic Metaphors may serve to illuminate how figurative expressions emerge in their localized contexts, structure conduct and experience, and affect mediation of cultural and personal meanings.

From Infantile Citizens to Infantile Institutions: The Metaphoric Transformation of Political Economy in the 2008 Housing Market Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foley, Megan

2012-01-01

The logic of political economy depends on a domestic metaphor, using the "oikos" or household as a model for the "polis." Historically, this metaphor has imagined citizens as the children of a paternal state. However during the 2008 housing crisis, this metaphor was turned upside down, depicting citizens as the parents of infantile state…

The Analysis of Metaphor: To What Extent Can the Theory of Lexical Priming Help Our Understanding of Metaphor Usage and Comprehension?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patterson, Katie J.

2016-01-01

This paper addresses the issues with current systems of categorisation and measurement of linguistic metaphoricity, which have coloured most research into the area to-date. The paper discusses the role of metaphor as a form of creative language and a deviation from more linguistic norms and conventionalities. Two current theories are discussed as…

Getting the Picture: The Role of Metaphors in Teaching Electronics Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pitcher, Rod

2014-01-01

In this paper, I report my investigation of the use of metaphors in teaching theory in electronic engineering. I give a description of the nature of metaphors, how they are used in teaching the theory and some of the problems that might arise in the process. I investigate how some people react to the metaphors and how others forget the metaphors…

Patterns of change in design metaphor: A case study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stubblefield, W.A.

1998-04-01

Design metaphors play an important role in the development of many software projects. However, the influence of metaphors on project functionality, design methodology and the interactions among members of the development team is not well understood. This paper seeks insights into these issues by examining the experiences of a design team in building a system under the influence of a particularly strong design metaphor.

From Ends to Causes (and Back Again) by Metaphor: The Paradox of Natural Selection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blancke, Stefaan; Schellens, Tammy; Soetaert, Ronald; Van Keer, Hilde; Braeckman, Johan

2014-01-01

Natural selection is one of the most famous metaphors in the history of science. Charles Darwin used the metaphor and the underlying analogy to frame his ideas about evolution and its main driving mechanism into a full-fledged theory. Because the metaphor turned out to be such a powerful epistemic tool, Darwin naturally assumed that he could also…

Translating the Metaphor in Poetry: A Cognitive Approach to "Le Bateau Ivre" and Its Translation in Turkish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Güçlü, Ruhan

2017-01-01

Lakoff and Johnson (1980) gave a cognitive point of view to metaphor study explaining that metaphor is not a mere literary stylistic device, rather a tool for conceptualization. According to this view, metaphors are conceptualized in man's mind with regard to source domain and target domain in different types of context. This study is an attempt…

The Rainbow Bridge Metaphor as a Tool for Developing Accessible E-Learning Practices in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seale, Jane K.

2006-01-01

This paper explores the extent to which existing accessibility metaphors can help to develop our conceptualizations of accessible e-­learning practice in higher education and outlines a proposal for a new rainbow bridge metaphor for accessible e­-learning practice. The need for a metaphor that reflects in more depth what we are beginning to…

Interference between Space and Time Estimations: From Behavior to Neurons.

PubMed

Marcos, Encarni; Genovesio, Aldo

2017-01-01

Influences between time and space can be found in our daily life in which we are surrounded by numerous spatial metaphors to refer to time. For instance, when we move files from one folder to another in our computer a horizontal line that grows from left to right informs us about the elapsed and remaining time to finish the procedure and, similarly, in our communication we use several spatial terms to refer to time. Although with some differences in the degree of interference, not only space has an influence on time but both magnitudes influence each other. Indeed, since our childhood our estimations of time are influenced by space even when space should be irrelevant and the same occurs when estimating space with time as distractor. Such interference between magnitudes has also been observed in monkeys even if they do not use language or computers, suggesting that the two magnitudes are tightly coupled beyond communication and technology. Imaging and lesion studies have indicated that same brain areas are involved during the processing of both magnitudes and have suggested that rather than coding the specific magnitude itself the brain represents them as abstract concepts. Recent neurophysiological studies in prefrontal cortex, however, have shown that the coding of absolute and relative space and time in this area is realized by independent groups of neurons. Interestingly, instead, a high overlap was observed in this same area in the coding of goal choices across tasks. These results suggest that rather than during perception or estimation of space and time the interference between the two magnitudes might occur, at least in the prefrontal cortex, in a subsequent phase in which the goal has to be chosen or the response provided.

Plant a tree in cyberspace: metaphor and analogy as design elements in Web-based learning environments.

PubMed

Wolfe, C R

2001-02-01

Analogy and metaphor are figurative forms of communication that help people integrate new information with prior knowledge to facilitate comprehension and appropriate inferences. The novelty and versatility of the Web place cognitive burdens on learners that can be overcome through the use of analogies and metaphors. This paper explores three uses of figurative communication as design elements in Web-based learning environments, and provides empirical illustrations of each. First, extended analogies can be used as the basis of cover stories that create an analogy between the learner's position and a hypothetical situation. The Dragonfly Web pages make extensive use of analogous cover stories in the design of interactive decision-making games. Feedback from visitors, patterns of usage, and external reviews provide evidence of effectiveness. A second approach is visual analogies based on the principles of ecological psychology. An empirical example suggests that visual analogies are most effective when there is a one-to-one correspondence between the base and visual target analogs. The use of learner-generated analogies is a third approach. Data from an offline study with undergraduate science students are presented indicating that generating analogies are associated with significant improvements in the ability to place events in natural history on a time line. It is concluded that cyberspace itself might form the basis of the next guiding metaphor of mind.

A-frame model for metaphor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kilpatrick, W.

1982-01-01

While literal language is successfully being subjected to automatic analysis, metaphors remain intractable. Using Minsky's frame theory the metaphoric process is viewed as a copying of stereotypic terminal clusters from the frames of the 1 degrees and 2 degrees terms of the metaphor. Stereotypic values from the two original frames share equal status in this new frame, while non-stereotypic values from the two will be kept separate for possible use in metaphoric extension. The a-frame analysis is illustrated by application to non-literary novel metaphors. Frames provide the quantity of information needed for interpretation. Certain frame values are marked as stereotypic.more » Creativity is realized by the construction of a new a-frame, and the tension is realized by the presence in a single a-frame of both shared stereotypic and discrete non-stereotypic values. 10 references.« less

Processing of metaphors in transcortical motor aphasia

PubMed Central

Mancopes, Renata; Schultz, Fernanda

2008-01-01

Great emphasis has been placed on the right hemisphere, due to its possible selective contribution, in the processing of metaphorical statements. Objectives To describe the processing of metaphors in the case of a patient with transcortical motor aphasia, using specific tests for patients with encephalic injuries of the right hemisphere, and to contribute to the discussion on the inter-hemispheric relationships associated with this function. Methods A 54 year-old man with transcortical motor aphasia was evaluated three years after a left hemisphere stroke. The tasks of comprehension of metaphors were based on the subtest Metaphor Comprehension Task of the Montreal Evaluation of Communications Scale (MEC). Two metaphor comprehension tests were applied, in 45-minute sessions with a 48 hour interval between each. Test 1 involved comprehension of the metaphors according to the options offered, and Test 2 the comprehension of metaphors measured by response time and visual field. Results Although the right hemisphere was not affected by the stroke in this case, difficulties were observed in the processing of metaphors. Conclusions This study suggests that the left hemisphere participates in the processing of figurative meanings. The adaptability of the brain can also re-accommodate the uninjured areas of the brain, causing the dynamic of the brain to be modified. As a result, deducing cerebral functions based on clinical data can be problematic. The value of this study is that it can contribute to clinical aspects of language rehabilitation. PMID:29213596

Talking violent. A phenomenological study of metaphors battering men use.

PubMed

Eisikovits, Z; Buchbinder, E

1997-10-01

This analysis examined the language and metaphors used by men who perpetrated domestic violence in an attempt to shed light on the impulsive and reflective aspects of violent acts as they appear in the context of batterers' experiences. The study is introduced with a brief review of the literature on "intimate violence" to show that it is recognized that batterers rarely define their behavior as violent and aberrant and that they suffer cognitive distortions and an inability to identify emotions accurately. Data were gathered through in-depth, semistructured interviews with 35 couples in Israel who reported at least one incidence of violence in the prior year. Content analysis of the interviews revealed that the men used 1) war metaphors to construct and express conflict and violence, 2) metaphors that presented the self as a dangerous space characterized by inner struggles, and 3) metaphors of de-escalation and balancing. The discussion notes that the metaphors of war were interconnected (war with the self and with the world) and allowed men to threaten violence as a means of self defense and, paradoxically, to attempt to gain self-control by losing control. For these men, the world was dichotomous and life was a constant struggle against real and imagined enemies. Survival depended upon suppression of feelings of weakness (symbolized by the feminine). Interventions should examine metaphors used by batterers and help men develop an alternative metaphoric structure that renders violence foreign and meaningless. This requires that clinicians first assess their own use of metaphors.

Are subjective ratings of metaphors a red herring? The big two dimensions of metaphoric sentences.

PubMed

Thibodeau, Paul H; Sikos, Les; Durgin, Frank H

2018-04-01

What makes some metaphors easier to understand than others? Several psycholinguistic dimensions have been identified as candidate answers to this question, including appeals to familiarity and aptness. One way to operationalize these dimensions is to collect ratings of them from naive participants. In this article, we question the construct validity of this approach. Do ratings of aptness actually reflect the aptness of the metaphors? Are ratings of aptness measuring something different from ratings of familiarity? With two experiments and an analysis of existing datasets, we argue that ratings of metaphoric sentences are confounded by how easily people are able to understand the sentences (processing fluency). In the experiments, a context manipulation was designed to affect how fluently people would process the metaphors. Experiment 1 confirmed that the manipulation affected how quickly people understood the sentences in a response time task. Experiment 2 revealed that the same manipulation influenced ratings of such dimensions as familiarity and aptness. Finally, factor analyses-on the ratings data from Experiment 2 and from several existing datasets-revealed two underlying sources of variance in sentence-level ratings of metaphors (the "big two" dimensions of metaphoric sentences): processing fluency and figurativeness. We discuss the implications of these findings for theories of figurative-language processing by emphasizing more careful treatment of subjective ratings of metaphoric sentences, and by suggesting the use of alternative methods to manipulate and measure such dimensions as familiarity and aptness.

Death of Metaphors in Life Science?--A Study of Upper Secondary and Tertiary Students' Use of Metaphors in Their Meaning-Making of Scientific Content

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rundgren, Carl-Johan; Hirsch, Richard; Tibell, Lena A. E.

2009-01-01

The study reported in this article investigated the use of metaphors by upper secondary and tertiary students while learning a specific content area in molecular life science, protein function. Terms and expressions in science can be used in such precise and general senses that they are totally dissociated from their metaphoric origins. Beginners…

Commedia dell'Arte as a Metaphor for the Art of Teaching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morse, Robert A.

2015-10-01

With my background in acting, stagecraft, and some knowledge of theatre history from high school and college, it was natural for me as a novice teacher to think about theatre as a metaphor for teaching. In this article I will discuss how over my career I conceived of teaching in terms of theatrical metaphors, and make a comparison with a common metaphor of teaching as coaching.

The H-Metaphor as a Guideline for Vehicle Automation and Interaction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flemisch, Frank O.; Adams, Catherine A.; Conway, Sheila R.; Goodrich, Ken H.; Palmer, Michael T.; Schutte, Paul C.

2003-01-01

Good design is not free of form. It does not necessarily happen through a mere sampling of technologies packaged together, through pure analysis, or just by following procedures. Good design begins with inspiration and a vision, a mental image of the end product, which can sometimes be described with a design metaphor. A successful example from the 20th century is the desktop metaphor, which took a real desktop as an orientation for the manipulation of electronic documents on a computer. Initially defined by Xerox, then refined by Apple and others, it could be found on almost every computer by the turn of the 20th century. This paper sketches a specific metaphor for the emerging field of highly automated vehicles, their interactions with human users and with other vehicles. In the introduction, general questions on vehicle automation are raised and related to the physical control of conventional vehicles and to the automation of some late 20th century vehicles. After some words on design metaphors, the H-Metaphor is introduced. More details of the metaphor's source are described and their application to human-machine interaction, automation and management of intelligent vehicles sketched. Finally, risks and opportunities to apply the metaphor to technical applications are discussed.

Application of the H-Mode, a Design and Interaction Concept for Highly Automated Vehicles, to Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodrich, Kenneth H.; Flemisch, Frank O.; Schutte, Paul C.; Williams, Ralph A.

2006-01-01

Driven by increased safety, efficiency, and airspace capacity, automation is playing an increasing role in aircraft operations. As aircraft become increasingly able to autonomously respond to a range of situations with performance surpassing human operators, we are compelled to look for new methods that help us understand their use and guide their design using new forms of automation and interaction. We propose a novel design metaphor to aid the conceptualization, design, and operation of highly-automated aircraft. Design metaphors transfer meaning from common experiences to less familiar applications or functions. A notable example is the "Desktop metaphor" for manipulating files on a computer. This paper describes a metaphor for highly automated vehicles known as the H-metaphor and a specific embodiment of the metaphor known as the H-mode as applied to aircraft. The fundamentals of the H-metaphor are reviewed followed by an overview of an exploratory usability study investigating human-automation interaction issues for a simple H-mode implementation. The envisioned application of the H-mode concept to aircraft is then described as are two planned evaluations.

The political use of the cancer metaphor: negative consequences for the public and the cancer community.

PubMed

Meisenberg, Barry R; Meisenberg, Samuel W

2015-06-01

There has been an increase in the use of cancer as a political metaphor, most recently to describe the threat of international terrorism. The powerful cancer metaphor implies a particular political problem is serious, progressive and deadly. As such to use a cancer metaphor prepares the public for a set of serious, intense and prolonged actions. While politically useful for a governmental to communicate policy, there are negative consequences to the use of the cancer metaphor. It perpetuates among the public and patients old stereotypes of cancer prognosis and therapies that oncologists have tried to combat through education. These education efforts are designed to help patients avoid overly aggressive treatments, surveillance, monitoring and surgeries. It is hard to successfully educate the general public and patients when they continuously receive alternative messages from political leaders who use the cancer metaphor for a different purpose. Professional cancer educators and clinicians should be aware of this trend and redouble efforts to educate that the political metaphor is for politics only and misleading in the public health and clinical arenas.

Treatment of metaphor interpretation deficits subsequent to traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Brownell, Hiram; Lundgren, Kristine; Cayer-Meade, Carol; Milione, Janet; Katz, Douglas I; Kearns, Kevin

2013-01-01

To improve oral interpretation of metaphors by patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Both single subject experimental design and group analysis. Patients' homes. Eight adult patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury sustained 3 to 20 years before testing. The Metaphor Training Program consisted typically of 10 baseline sessions, 3 to 9 1-hour sessions of structured intervention, and 10 posttraining baseline sessions. Training used extensive practice with simple graphic displays to illustrate semantic associations. Quality of orally produced metaphor interpretation and accuracy of line orientation judgments served as dependent measures obtained during baseline, training, posttraining, and at a 3- to 4-month follow-up. Untrained line orientation judgments provided a control measure. Group data showed significant improvement in metaphor interpretation but not in line orientation. Six of 8 patients individually demonstrated significant improvement in metaphor interpretation. Gains persisted for 3 of the 6 patients at the 3- to 4-month follow-up. The Metaphor Training Program can improve cognitive-communication performance for individuals with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Results support the potential for treating patients' residual cognitive-linguistic deficits.

Principal component analysis study of visual and verbal metaphoric comprehension in children with autism and learning disabilities.

PubMed

Mashal, Nira; Kasirer, Anat

2012-01-01

This research extends previous studies regarding the metaphoric competence of autistic and learning disable children on different measures of visual and verbal non-literal language comprehension, as well as cognitive abilities that include semantic knowledge, executive functions, similarities, and reading fluency. Thirty seven children with autism (ASD), 20 children with learning disabilities (LD), and 21 typically developed (TD) children participated in the study. Principal components analysis was used to examine the interrelationship among the various tests in each group. Results showed different patterns in the data according to group. In particular, the results revealed that there is no dichotomy between visual and verbal metaphors in TD children but rather metaphor are classified according to their familiarity level. In the LD group visual metaphors were classified independently of the verbal metaphors. Verbal metaphoric understanding in the ASD group resembled the LD group. In addition, our results revealed the relative weakness of the ASD and LD children in suppressing irrelevant information. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Making meaning of Alcoholics Anonymous for social workers: myths, metaphors, and realities.

PubMed

Davis, D R; Jansen, G G

1998-03-01

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), the increasingly popular mutual-help program for alcoholics, is often criticized for being just another substitute addiction, emphasizing "powerlessness" to already disenfranchised groups, being a religion or cult, adhering to a medical model of disease instead of a strengths perspective, and other such areas of concern to social workers. Many of these interpretations are based on viewing AA as an alternative treatment model or a rational service delivery model. This article addresses common critiques of AA by offering a way of understanding it as a "normative narrative community," where identity transformation takes place through the use of metaphor and storytelling. The article suggests alternative meanings of key metaphors, such as "powerlessness," describes areas of program strength and potential barriers for social workers, and reviews current research on AA effectiveness.

Maps, books and other metaphors for systems biology.

PubMed

Ouzounis, Christos; Mazière, Pierre

2006-07-01

We briefly review the use of metaphors in science and progressively focus on fields from biology and molecular biology to genomics and bioinformatics. We discuss how metaphors are both a tool for scientific exploration and a medium for public communication of complex subjects, by various short examples. Finally, we propose a metaphor for systems biology that provides an illuminating perspective for the ambitious goals of this field and delimits its current agenda.

Metaphorical vs. literal word meanings: fMRI evidence against a selective role of the right hemisphere.

PubMed

Lee, Susan S; Dapretto, Mirella

2006-01-15

The neural networks associated with processing metaphorical word meanings were investigated in normal adults using fMRI. Subjects listened to sets of three adjectives and decided whether the last two had a similar meaning. One condition required accessing the literal meaning of the middle word (e.g., hot-cold-chilly), whereas the other condition required accessing its nonliteral, or metaphorical, meaning (e.g., hot-cold-unfriendly). Direct comparison of the nonliteral vs. literal condition showed reliable activity only in left prefrontal and temporo-parietal regions. These results argue against a selective role of the right hemisphere (RH) in accessing metaphorical word meanings. In line with a growing literature, these findings suggest that prior reports of greater RH involvement for metaphorical language might reflect the increased complexity of figurative language rather than an RH specialization for understanding metaphors.

Body metaphors--reading the body in contemporary culture.

PubMed

Skara, Danica

2004-01-01

This paper addresses the linguistic reframing of the human body in contemporary culture. Our aim is to provide a linguistic description of the ways in which the body is represented in modern English language. First, we will try to focus on body metaphors in general. We have collected a sample of 300 words and phrases functioning as body metaphors in modern English language. Reading the symbolism of the body we are witnessing changes in the basic metaphorical structuring of the human body. The results show that new vocabulary binds different fields of knowledge associated with machines and human beings according to a shared textual frame: human as computer and computer as human metaphor. Humans are almost blended with computers and vice versa. This metaphorical use of the human body and its parts reveals not only currents of unconscious though but also the structures of modern society and culture.

Pre-service teachers' metaphorical perceptions of "physics" as a concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aykutlu, Isil; Bayrak, Celal; Bezen, Sevim

2018-02-01

In this study, the aim is to reveal pre-service biology, chemistry and mathematics teachers' metaphorical perceptions for physics. This study was patterned by employing phenomenology, which is one of the qualitative research methods. Sampling of the study consists of 90 pre-service teachers enrolled at the departments of biology, chemistry, and mathematics education at the faculty of education of a state university in Ankara. A metaphor form was prepared to determine pre-service teachers' mental metaphors for the physics concept. Then, it was determined that a total of 80 pre-service teachers generated 34 different metaphors for physics concept. As a result of the study, 34 metaphors generated by pre-service teachers for "physics" concept were gathered under seven different categories. Also, it was determined that pre-service teachers express most frequently "life" (26,25%) and "a difficult to solve problem"(21,25%) which take place in conceptual categories.

Development and Validation of the Marital Metaphor Questionnaire (MMQ-10) for Urban Chinese Women.

PubMed

Zhou, Ruth D H; Chiu, Marcus Y L; Chui, Wing-Yip

2017-01-01

Metaphors have long been applied to marital counseling and couple therapy. This pioneering study measures marital conceptualization through metaphors. It reports the validation of the Marital Metaphor Questionnaire (MMQ-10), designed to measure the marriage conceptualization of Chinese women through marital metaphors. The MMQ-10 was found to have favorable psychometric properties including reliable internal consistency, a good discriminative prediction of marriage at risk and moderate correlation with a Chinese indigenous multidimensional marital satisfaction inventory. Factor analysis reveals that the MMQ-10 is composed of three dimensions: conjugal relationship, marital anguish, and marital conviction. The MMQ-10 appears to be suitable for the use with Chinese women in premarital or marital counseling sessions. The present researchers hope that this study may support the use of metaphors in future research and clinical practice in other nations and cultures. © 2016 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Mixed metaphors: Electrophysiological brain responses to (un)expected concrete and abstract prepositional phrases.

PubMed

Zane, Emily; Shafer, Valerie

2018-02-01

Languages around the world use spatial terminology, like prepositions, to describe non-spatial, abstract concepts, including time (e.g., in the moment). The Metaphoric Mapping Theory explains this pattern by positing that a universal human cognitive process underlies it, whereby abstract concepts are conceptualized via the application of concrete, three-dimensional space onto abstract domains. The alternative view is that the use of spatial propositions in abstract phrases is idiomatic, and thus does not trigger metaphoric mapping. In the current study, event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to examine the time-course of neural processing of concrete and abstract phrases consisting of the prepositions in or on followed by congruent and incongruent nouns (e.g., in the bowl/plate and in the moment/mend). ERPs were recorded from the onset of reference nouns in 28 adult participants using a 128-channel electrode net. Results show that congruency has differential effects on neural measures, depending on whether the noun is concrete or abstract. Incongruent reference nouns in concrete phrases (e.g., on the bowl) elicited a significant central negativity (an N400 effect), while incongruent reference nouns in abstract phrases (e.g., on the moment) did not. These results suggest that spatially incongruent concrete nouns are semantically unexpected (N400 effect). A P600 effect, which might indicate rechecking, reanalysis and/or reconstruction, was predicted for incongruent abstract nouns, but was not observed, possibly due to the variability in abstract stimuli. Findings cast doubt on accounts claiming that abstract uses of prepositions are cognitively and metaphorically linked to their spatial sense during natural, on-line processing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Inferences and metaphoric comprehension in unilaterally implanted children with adequate formal oral language performance.

PubMed

Nicastri, Maria; Filipo, Roberto; Ruoppolo, Giovanni; Viccaro, Marika; Dincer, Hilal; Guerzoni, Letizia; Cuda, Domenico; Bosco, Ersilia; Prosperini, Luca; Mancini, Patrizia

2014-05-01

To assess skills in inferences during conversations and in metaphors comprehension of unilaterally cochlear implanted children with adequate abilities at the formal language tests, comparing them with well-matched hearing peers; to verify the influence of age of implantation on overall skills. The study was designed as a matched case-control study. 31 deaf children, unilateral cochlear implant users, with normal linguistic competence at formal language tests were compared with 31 normal hearing matched peers. Inferences and metaphor comprehension skills were assessed through the Implicit Meaning Comprehension, Situations and Metaphors subtests of the Italian Standardized Battery of "Pragmatic Language Skills MEDEA". Differences between patient and control groups were tested by the Mann-Whitney U test. Correlations between age at implantation and time of implant use with each subtest were investigated by the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. No significant differences between the two groups were found in inferencing skills (p=0.24 and p=0.011 respectively for Situations and Implicit Meaning Comprehension). Regarding figurative language, unilaterally cochlear implanted children performed significantly below their normal hearing peers in Verbal Metaphor comprehension (p=0.001). Performances were related to age at implantation, but not with time of implant use. Unilaterally cochlear implanted children with normal language level showed responses similar to NH children in discourse inferences, but not in figurative language comprehension. Metaphors still remains a challenge for unilateral implant users and above all when they have not any reference, as demonstrated by the significant difference in verbal rather than figurative metaphors comprehension. Older age at implantation was related to worse performance for all items. These aspects, until now less investigated, had to receive more attention to deeply understand specific mechanisms involved and possible effects of different levels of figurative language complexity (presence or absence of contextual input, degree of transparency and syntactic frozenness). New insight is needed to orient programs in early intervention settings in considering and adequately responding to all these complex communicative need of children with hearing loss. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Challenges in Developing XML-Based Learning Repositories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Auksztol, Jerzy; Przechlewski, Tomasz

There is no doubt that modular design has many advantages, including the most important ones: reusability and cost-effectiveness. In an e-leaming community parlance the modules are determined as Learning Objects (LOs) [11]. An increasing amount of learning objects have been created and published online, several standards has been established and multiple repositories developed for them. For example Cisco Systems, Inc., "recognizes a need to move from creating and delivering large inflexible training courses, to database-driven objects that can be reused, searched, and modified independent of their delivery media" [6]. The learning object paradigm of education resources authoring is promoted mainly to reduce the cost of the content development and to increase its quality. A frequently used metaphor of Learning Objects paradigm compares them to Lego Logs or objects in Object-Oriented program design [25]. However a metaphor is only an abstract idea, which should be turned to something more concrete to be usable. The problem is that many papers on LOs end up solely in metaphors. In our opinion Lego or OO metaphors are gross oversimplificatation of the problem as there is much easier to develop Lego set or design objects in OO program than develop truly interoperable, context-free learning content1.

Understanding Starts in the Mesocosm: Conceptual metaphor as a framework for external representations in science teaching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niebert, Kai; Gropengiesser, Harald

2015-04-01

In recent years, researchers have become aware of the experiential grounding of scientific thought. Accordingly, research has shown that metaphorical mappings between experience-based source domains and abstract target domains are omnipresent in everyday and scientific language. The theory of conceptual metaphor explains these findings based on the assumption that understanding is embodied. Embodied understanding arises from recurrent bodily and social experience with our environment. As our perception is adapted to a medium-scale dimension, our embodied conceptions originate from this mesocosmic scale. With respect to this epistemological principle, we distinguish between micro-, meso- and macrocosmic phenomena. We use these insights to analyse how external representations of phenomena in the micro- and macrocosm can foster learning when they (a) address the students' learning demand by affording a mesocosmic experience or (b) assist reflection on embodied conceptions by representing their image schematic structure. We base our considerations on empirical evidence from teaching experiments on phenomena from the microcosm (microbial growth and signal conduction in neurons) and the macrocosm (greenhouse effect and carbon cycle). We discuss how the theory of conceptual metaphor can inform the development of external representations.

Football metaphor and mental well-being: an evaluation of the It's a Goal! programme.

PubMed

Spandler, Helen; Mckeown, Mick; Roy, Alastair; Hurley, Margaret

2013-12-01

The It's a Goal! programme utilises football metaphor and football venues as a means to frame and deliver a non-clinical, group-based therapeutic intervention, targeting men with mental health needs. A pilot in the North West of England was hosted by seven professional football clubs in partnership with local Primary Care Trusts. To evaluate the impact of the intervention and to identify the benefits and key components of the approach from the perspective of participants. Analysis of impact utilised before and after well-being scores measured on a modified version of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale. Focus groups provided additional qualitative data that were analysed thematically. Findings suggest that It's a Goal! had a significant impact upon participant's well-being. In addition, participants reported a range of positive benefits especially in relation to confidence, self-esteem and developing better coping mechanisms. Participants related these benefits to a number of key components, not least the therapeutic value of football metaphor, the focus on goal-setting and the mutual support developed within the groups. Using football metaphor to deliver a group therapeutic programme aimed at men appears to be an effective means of facilitating mental health benefits.

To neither target, capture, surveille, nor wage war: On-going need for attention to metaphor theory in care and prevention for people who use drugs.

PubMed

Perlman, David C; Jordan, Ashly E

2017-01-01

Metaphors, and the frames they evoke, potently influence how people understand issues. These concepts of discourse, metaphor, and framing have been productively used in a range of studies including in the field of addiction. In public health and clinical discourse on people who use drugs, use of terms such as "targeting," "surveilling," and "capturing," along with "war on drugs" frames and referring to drug treatment as "substitution" may reinforce negative perceptions of people who use drugs. Avoiding military metaphors and explicitly leveraging metaphors that emphasize humanity, social cohesion, and agency have the potential to improve public health for people who use drugs.

A Comparison between Roles of Professors Teaching English Literature or TEFL at B.A Level and Professors Teaching TEFL at M.A Level in the Light of Goffman's Footing Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghapanchi, Zargham; Talebi, Farima

2012-01-01

This study aims to examine the metaphors selected by two hundred and forty Iranian B.A and eighty eight M.A students about their professors' roles. The participants were asked to select their preferred metaphors among twenty one metaphors of the checklist about their professors. The metaphors were then categorized based on Goffman's Footing…

Decomposing metaphor processing at the cognitive and neural level through functional magnetic resonance imaging.

PubMed

Bambini, Valentina; Gentili, Claudio; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Bertinetto, Pier Marco; Pietrini, Pietro

2011-10-10

Prior neuroimaging studies on metaphor comprehension have tended to focus on the role of the right hemisphere, without reaching consensus and leaving aside the functional architecture of this process. The present work aimed to break down metaphor comprehension into its functional components. The study rationale is two-fold: on the one hand, the large-scale network model as emerging in cognitive neuroscience led us to a consideration of metaphor as supported by a distributed and bilateral network; on the other hand, we based on the accounts of figurative language put forward in pragmatics and cognitive science to postulate a decomposition of such a network into multiple sub-systems. During scanning, participants implicitly processed metaphorical (familiar and unfamiliar) and non-metaphorical passages, while being explicitly involved in an adjective matching task to be performed after reading the target passages. Several regions showed greater activity to metaphors as compared to non-metaphors, including left and right inferior frontal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, left angular gyrus, and anterior cingulate. This pattern of activations, markedly bilateral, can be decomposed into circumscribed functional sub-systems mediating different aspects of metaphor resolution, as foreseen in the pragmatic and cognitive literature: (a) the conceptual/pragmatic machinery in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus and in the left angular gyrus, which supports the integration of linguistic material and world knowledge in context; (b) the attentional component in the anterior cingulate and prefrontal areas, which is set to monitor and filter for the relevant aspects of context and for the appropriate meanings; (c) the Theory of Mind system along the right superior temporal sulcus, which deals with the recognition of speakers' communicative intentions and is more extensively activated by unfamiliar metaphors. The results have several implications for the field of neuropragmatics, especially on the neuropsychological side and on the right hemisphere hypothesis. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Meaning profiles of dwellings, pathways, and metaphors in design: implications for education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casakin, Hernan; Kreitler, Shulamith

2017-11-01

The study deals with the roles and interrelations of the meaning-based assessments of dwellings, pathways and metaphors in design performance. It is grounded in the Meaning Theory [Kreitler, S., and H. Kreitler. 1990. The Cognitive Foundations of Personality Traits. New York: Plenum], which enables identifying the cognitive contents and processes underlying cognitive performance in different domains, thus rendering them more accessible to educational training. The objectives were to identify the components of the meaning profiles of dwellings, pathways, and metaphors as perceived by design students; to analyse their interrelations; and to examine which of the identified components of these constructs serve as best predictors of design performance aided by the use of metaphors. Participants were administered a design task and questionnaires about the Dimensional Profiles of Dwellings, Pathways, and Metaphors, based on the meaning system. Factors based on the factor analyses of the responses to the three questionnaires were used in regression analyses as predictors of the performance score in a design task. The following three factors of the dimensional meaning profiles of metaphors were significant predictors of design performance: sensory, functional, and structural evaluations. Implications for design education are discussed, primarily concerning the important role of metaphor in design problem-solving.

From Ends to Causes (and Back Again) by Metaphor: The Paradox of Natural Selection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blancke, Stefaan; Schellens, Tammy; Soetaert, Ronald; Van Keer, Hilde; Braeckman, Johan

2014-04-01

Natural selection is one of the most famous metaphors in the history of science. Charles Darwin used the metaphor and the underlying analogy to frame his ideas about evolution and its main driving mechanism into a full-fledged theory. Because the metaphor turned out to be such a powerful epistemic tool, Darwin naturally assumed that he could also employ it as an educational tool to inform his contemporaries about his findings. Moreover, by using the metaphor Darwin was able to bring his theory in accordance with both the dominant philosophy of science in his time and the respected tradition of natural theology. However, as he introduced his theory of evolution by natural selection in On the origin of species in 1859, the metaphor also turned out to have a serious downside. Because of its intentional overtones, his contemporaries systematically misunderstood his metaphor not as a natural mechanism causing evolution to occur but as an agent who works towards particular ends. The difference in success between natural selection as an epistemic tool and its failure as an educational tool is labelled as a paradox. We explain the paradox from a cognitive perspective and discuss the implications for teaching evolution.

Measurement of cognitive performance in computer programming concept acquisition: interactive effects of visual metaphors and the cognitive style construct.

PubMed

McKay, E

2000-01-01

An innovative research program was devised to investigate the interactive effect of instructional strategies enhanced with text-plus-textual metaphors or text-plus-graphical metaphors, and cognitive style on the acquisition of programming concepts. The Cognitive Styles Analysis (CSA) program (Riding,1991) was used to establish the participants' cognitive style. The QUEST Interactive Test Analysis System (Adams and Khoo,1996) provided the cognitive performance measuring tool, which ensured an absence of error measurement in the programming knowledge testing instruments. Therefore, reliability of the instrumentation was assured through the calibration techniques utilized by the QUEST estimate; providing predictability of the research design. A means analysis of the QUEST data, using the Cohen (1977) approach to size effect and statistical power further quantified the significance of the findings. The experimental methodology adopted for this research links the disciplines of instructional science, cognitive psychology, and objective measurement to provide reliable mechanisms for beneficial use in the evaluation of cognitive performance by the education, training and development sectors. Furthermore, the research outcomes will be of interest to educators, cognitive psychologists, communications engineers, and computer scientists specializing in computer-human interactions.

What Should This Fight Be Called? Metaphors of Counterterrorism and Their Implications.

PubMed

Kruglanski, Arie W; Crenshaw, Martha; Post, Jerrold M; Victoroff, Jeff

2007-12-01

This monograph examines from a psychological perspective the use of metaphors in framing counterterrorism. Four major counterterrorism metaphors are considered, namely those of war, law enforcement, containment of a social epidemic, and a process of prejudice reduction. The war metaphor is as follows: Wars are fought by states; the enemy is thus an identifiable entity whose interests fundamentally oppose your own. The conflict is zero-sum-the outcome will be victory for one side or the other-and there is no compromise. The war metaphor is totalistic and extreme. Arguably, it was adopted in light of the immensity of damage and national hurt produced by the 9/11 attack. It has insinuated itself into the public discourse about counterterrorism, and it has guided policy, but it has also met challenges because of lack of fit and the availability of counteranalogies with different lessons of history. Some of the drawbacks of the war metaphor are addressable in the law enforcement metaphor of counterterrorism. Unlike war's special status and circumscribed duration, law enforcement is an ongoing concern that must compete for resources with other societal needs. A major advantage of law enforcement over warfare is its focused nature-targeting the actual terrorists, with less likelihood of injuring innocent parties. Yet despite its advantages, the law enforcement metaphor exhibits a partial mismatch with the realities of terrorism. Its complete and uncritical adoption may temporarily hamper terrorists' ability to launch attacks without substantially altering their motivation to do so. The public health epidemiological model was usefully applied to the epidemic of terror that followed the 9/11 attacks. It utilizes a partition between (a) an external agent, (b) a susceptible host, (c) an environment that brings them together, and (d) the vector that enables transmission of the disease. In the specific application to jihadist terrorism, the agent refers to the militant Islamist ideology, the susceptible host refers to radicalizable Muslim populations, the environment refers to conditions that promote the readiness to embrace such ideology, and the vectors are conduits whereby the ideology is propagated. The epidemiological metaphor has its own advantages over the war and law enforcement metaphors, but also limitations. Whereas the latter metaphors neglect the long-range process of ideological conversion and radicalization that creates terrorists, the epidemiological metaphor neglects the "here and now" of counterterrorism and the value of resolute strikes and intelligence-gathering activities needed to counter terrorists' concrete schemes and capabilities. Framing counterterrorism as the process of prejudice reduction addresses the interaction between two communities whose conflict may breed terrorism. This framing shifts the focus from a unilateral to a bilateral concern and acknowledges the contribution to intergroup tensions that the party targeted by terrorists may make. A major tool of prejudice reduction is the creation of positive contact between members of the conflicted groups. Efforts at prejudice reduction via positive contact need to take place in the context of a larger set of policies, such as those concerning immigration laws, educational programs, and foreign policy initiatives designed to augment the good-will-generating efforts of optimal-contact programs. For all its benefits, the prejudice-reduction framework is also not without its drawbacks. Specifically, the positive-contact notion highlights the benefits of mere human interaction; it disregards differences in ideological beliefs between the interacting parties, thereby neglecting an element that appears essential to producing their estrangement and reciprocal animosity. Too, like the epidemiological metaphor, the prejudice-reduction framing takes the long view, thereby neglecting the "here and now" of terrorism and the need to counter specific terrorist threats. Thus, each of the foregoing frameworks captures some aspects of counterterrorism's effects while neglecting others. Accordingly, an integrated approach to counterterrorism is called for, one that exploits the insights of each metaphor and avoids its pitfalls. Such an approach would maximize the likelihood of enlightened decision making concerning contemplated counterterrorist moves given the complex tradeoffs that each such move typically entails. © 2008 Association for Psychological Science.

Conflict at Disneyland: A Root-Metaphor Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Ruth C.; Eisenberg, Eric M.

1987-01-01

Uses metaphor analysis to illuminate recent conflicts at Disneyland. Discusses a 30-year change of emphasis of root-metaphors from "drama" to "family" that reflects fundamental differences between management and employees, along with the implications of this confrontation for the future of Disneyland. (NKA)

Metaphors for Learning: Cognitive Acquisition versus Social Participation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elmholdt, Claus

2003-01-01

Analyzed expressions of cognitive "acquisition" and social "participation" metaphors for learning in the practice of support people in an information and communication technology company department of 100 employees. Findings show the support people's practice is characterized by interplay between these two metaphors. (SLD)

Perspectives on Schools: Metaphors and Management in Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bredeson, Paul V.

1988-01-01

Metaphors, whether verbalized, symbolized, or camouflaged, reveal school administrators' perceptions, values, and behaviors. This article examines how specific metaphors (assembly line, ticking clock, garden, mirror of society, museum, and candy machine) contribute to an understanding of school characteristics and administration. Training and…

Metaphoric Car Drawings By a 12-Year-Old Congenitally Blind Girl.

PubMed

Chao, Hsin-Yi; Kennedy, John M

2015-12-01

A 12-year-old congenitally-blind girl drew a car moving, stationary, and braking. For stationary, she put the wheels inside the car and, for braking, drew the wheels as rough rectangles. At the age verbal metaphor is understood (Winner, 1988), the girl invented metaphoric drawings. In these, what is shown is not what is meant. In late childhood, metaphor may be understood similarly in pictures and words and by the sighted and blind. © The Author(s) 2015.

The fruitful flaws of strategy metaphors.

PubMed

von Ghyczy, Tihamér

2003-09-01

The business world is rife with metaphors these days, as managers look to other disciplines for insights into their own challenges. And metaphors can--despite their somewhat flaky image--be powerful catalysts for generating new business strategies. But metaphors are often improperly used, their potential left unrealized. We tend to look for reassuring parallels in business metaphors instead of troubling differences, the author contends. In fact, using metaphors to come up with new strategic perspectives begins to work only when the metaphors themselves don't work, or at least don't seem to. Take the following case in point. An insurance company's corporate headquarters put together a team of experts to discuss ways the firm might respond to the challenges of conducting business via the Internet. Once the team drafted a master plan, the idea was that it would be promulgated to the individual agents and offices of this widely dispersed organization. In a meeting with the company's top managers, the author talked about Charles Darwin's conceptual breakthrough in formulating the principles of evolution. As his overview of Darwin's theories about variation and natural selection gave way to questions, a heretical notion took shape: Those far-flung agents' offices, instead of being strategic liabilities in a suddenly virtual age, might instead be the mechanism for achieving an incremental but powerful corporate transformation in response to the changing business environment. But it was only when the evolutionary metaphor began to break down--when the elements of Darwin's theory clearly were at odds with the besieged insurance company's situation--that real strategic insight occurred. This anecdote offers, in a compressed form, an example of how the process of using metaphors can play out and what managers can learn from it.

Looking at the brains behind figurative language--a quantitative meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies on metaphor, idiom, and irony processing.

PubMed

Bohrn, Isabel C; Altmann, Ulrike; Jacobs, Arthur M

2012-09-01

A quantitative, coordinate-based meta-analysis combined data from 354 participants across 22 fMRI studies and one positron emission tomography (PET) study to identify the differences in neural correlates of figurative and literal language processing, and to investigate the role of the right hemisphere (RH) in figurative language processing. Studies that reported peak activations in standard space contrasting figurative vs. literal language processing at whole brain level in healthy adults were included. The left and right IFG, large parts of the left temporal lobe, the bilateral medial frontal gyri (medFG) and an area around the left amygdala emerged for figurative language processing across studies. Conditions requiring exclusively literal language processing did not activate any selective regions in most of the cases, but if so they activated the cuneus/precuneus, right MFG and the right IPL. No general RH advantage for metaphor processing could be found. On the contrary, significant clusters of activation for metaphor conditions were mostly lateralized to the left hemisphere (LH). Subgroup comparisons between experiments on metaphors, idioms, and irony/sarcasm revealed shared activations in left frontotemporal regions for idiom and metaphor processing. Irony/sarcasm processing was correlated with activations in midline structures such as the medFG, ACC and cuneus/precuneus. To test the graded salience hypothesis (GSH, Giora, 1997), novel metaphors were contrasted against conventional metaphors. In line with the GSH, RH involvement was found for novel metaphors only. Here we show that more analytic, semantic processes are involved in metaphor comprehension, whereas irony/sarcasm comprehension involves theory of mind processes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The value of metaphorical reasoning in bioethics: An empirical-ethical study.

PubMed

Olsman, Erik; Veneberg, Bert; van Alfen, Claudia; Touwen, Dorothea

2017-01-01

Metaphors are often used within the context of ethics and healthcare but have hardly been explored in relation to moral reasoning. To describe a central set of metaphors in one case and to explore their contribution to moral reasoning. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 parents of a child suffering from the neurodegenerative disease CLN3. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and metaphors were analyzed. The researchers wrote memos and discussed about their analyses until they reached consensus. Ethical considerations: Participants gave oral and written consent and their confidentiality and anonymity were respected. A central set of metaphors referred to the semantic field of the hands and arms and consisted of two central metaphors that existed in a dialectical relationship: grasping versus letting go. Participants used these metaphors to describe their child's experiences, who had to "let go" of abilities, while "clinging" to structures and the relationship with their parent(s). They also used it to describe their own experiences: participants tried to "grab" the good moments with their child and had to "let go" of their child when (s)he approached death. Participants, in addition, "held" onto caring for their child while being confronted with the necessity to "let go" of this care, leaving it to professional caregivers. The ethical analysis of the findings shows that thinking in terms of the dialectical relationship between "grasping" and "letting go" helps professional caregivers to critically think about images of good care for children with CLN3. It also helps them to bear witness to the vulnerable, dependent, and embodied nature of the moral self of children with CLN3 and their parents. Metaphorical reasoning may support the inclusion of marginalized perspectives in moral reasoning. Future studies should further explore the contribution of metaphorical reasoning to moral reasoning in other cases.

How Linguistic Metaphor Scaffolds Reasoning.

PubMed

Thibodeau, Paul H; Hendricks, Rose K; Boroditsky, Lera

2017-11-01

Language helps people communicate and think. Precise and accurate language would seem best suited to achieve these goals. But a close look at the way people actually talk reveals an abundance of apparent imprecision in the form of metaphor: ideas are 'light bulbs', crime is a 'virus', and cancer is an 'enemy' in a 'war'. In this article, we review recent evidence that metaphoric language can facilitate communication and shape thinking even though it is literally false. We first discuss recent experiments showing that linguistic metaphor can guide thought and behavior. Then we explore the conditions under which metaphors are most influential. Throughout, we highlight theoretical and practical implications, as well as key challenges and opportunities for future research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cognitive Metaphor Theory and the Metaphysics of Immediacy.

PubMed

Madsen, Mathias W

2016-05-01

One of the core tenets of cognitive metaphor theory is the claim that metaphors ground abstract knowledge in concrete, first-hand experience. In this paper, I argue that this grounding hypothesis contains some problematic conceptual ambiguities and, under many reasonable interpretations, empirical difficulties. I present evidence that there are foundational obstacles to defining a coherent and cognitively valid concept of "metaphor" and "concrete meaning," and some general problems with singling out certain domains of experience as more immediate than others. I conclude from these considerations that whatever the facts are about the comprehension of individual metaphors, the available evidence is incompatible with the notion of an underlying conceptual structure organized according to the immediacy of experience. Copyright © 2015 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Bidirectional semantic associations between social power and weight.

PubMed

He, Xiaoling; Chen, Jun; Li, Jianan

2018-02-01

Two experiments were conducted to examine bidirectional semantic associations between power and weight using a priming paradigm. Bidirectionality in the relationship between power and weight was demonstrated, utilising tasks that were identical except that the orders in which the stimuli were presented were reversed. In Experiment 1, an empty scale leaning either leftward or rightward was used as a priming stimulus, and a scale that appeared in equilibrium with a pair of power words was used as a target stimulus. In Experiment 2, a scale with a pair of words that appeared in equilibrium was used as a priming stimulus, and an empty scale leaning either leftward or rightward was used as a target stimulus. We identified interaction effects between power and weight in both experiments. Associations between power and weight provide evidence for both conceptual metaphor views and evolutionary theory. The bidirectionality of metaphorical effects is in line with the strong version of metaphoric structuring. Both language and experiential correlations play important roles in the development of the mapping between power and weight. © 2016 International Union of Psychological Science.

The allocation of valenced concepts onto 3D space.

PubMed

Marmolejo-Ramos, Fernando; Tirado, Carlos; Arshamian, Edward; Vélez, Jorge Iván; Arshamian, Artin

2018-06-01

The valence-space metaphor research area investigates the metaphorical mapping of valenced concepts onto space. Research findings from this area indicate that positive, neutral, and negative concepts are associated with upward, midward, and downward locations, respectively, in the vertical plane. The same research area has also indicated that such concepts seem to have no preferential location on the horizontal plane. The approach-avoidance effect consists in decreasing the distance between positive stimuli and the body (i.e. approach) and increasing the distance between negative stimuli and the body (i.e. avoid). Thus, the valence-space metaphor accounts for the mapping of valenced concepts onto the vertical and horizontal planes, and the approach-avoidance effect accounts for the mapping of valenced concepts onto the "depth" plane. By using a cube conceived for the study of allocation of valenced concepts onto 3D space, we show in three studies that positive concepts are placed in upward locations and near the participants' body, negative concepts are placed in downward locations and far from the participants' body, and neutral concepts are placed in between these concepts in both planes.

A cognitive movement scientist's view on the link between thought and action: insights from the "Badische Zimmer" metaphor.

PubMed

Hossner, Ernst-Joachim

2009-01-01

The problem of a bidirectional link between thought and action is approached from the perspective of cognitive movement science. The metaphor of the "Badische Zimmer" - an adaptation of Searle's Chinese room metaphor - is used to illustrate shortcomings in the classical conception of linear information processing and to introduce some features which current theories of movement control and learning should embrace. On this basis, the case is made for a return to an ideomotor view of motor control and learning based on effect prediction (E') as a function of the situational context (S') and one's own motor responses (R'). The relevance of the derived concept of sensorimotor chains linking elementary S'R'E' units in the course of motor learning is finally discussed with respect to potential implications for an integrative theory of perception, action, and decision making.

A Metaphorical Insight into Educational Planning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Inbar, Dan E.

1991-01-01

Considers educational planning as a communication of shared symbols creating intent geared toward change. Elaborates 11 groups of metaphorical images of planning (as circle, recipe, compass, map, puzzle, tree, maze, Ariadne's thread, prediction, art, and spider's web) bridging impression and expression. Relates this metaphorical analysis to…

Spaceship Earth: Teaching through Metaphor.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snively, Gloria

1992-01-01

Identifies metaphor as a powerful tool when utilized to facilitate concept formation pertaining to global ecological systems and universal concerns. Provides an illustration of how an instructional metaphor, spaceship earth, can be used in the classroom to help students create new meanings for abstract and complex ideas. (MCO)

What do love and jealousy taste like?

PubMed

Chan, Kai Qin; Tong, Eddie M W; Tan, Deborah H; Koh, Alethea H Q

2013-12-01

Metaphorical expressions linking love and jealousy to sweet, sour, and bitter tastes are common in normal language use and suggest that these emotions may influence perceptual taste judgments. Hence, we investigated whether the phenomenological experiences of love and jealousy are embodied in the taste sensations of sweetness, sourness, and bitterness. Studies 1A and 1B validated that these metaphors are widely endorsed. In three subsequent studies, participants induced to feel love rated a variety of tastants (sweet-sour candy, bitter-sweet chocolates, and distilled water) as sweeter than those who were induced to feel jealous, neutral, or happy. However, those induced to feel jealous did not differ from those induced to feel happy or neutral on bitter and sour ratings. These findings imply that emotions can influence basic perceptual judgments, but metaphors that refer to the body do not necessarily influence perceptual judgments the way they imply. We further suggest that future research in metaphoric social cognition and metaphor theory may benefit from investigating how such metaphors could have originated.

Framing Public Policy and Prevention of Chronic Violence in American Youths

PubMed Central

Dodge, Kenneth A.

2009-01-01

Metaphors can both inspire and mislead the public. Current metaphors for youth violence are inconsistent with scientific evidence about how chronic violence develops and evoke inaccurate or harmful reactions. Popular, problematic metaphors include superpredator, quarantining the contagious, corrective surgery, man as computer, vaccine, and chronic disease. Four new metaphors that more accurately reflect the science of child development are proposed to shape the field. Preventive dentistry offers a lifelong system of universal, selected, and indicated intervention policies. Cardiovascular disease offers concepts of distal risk factors, proximal processes, equifinality and multifinality, and long-term prevention. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's public health model focuses on injury and the victim to elicit popular support. Public education for illiteracy offers concepts of long-term universal education coupled with specialized help for high-risk youths and goes beyond metaphor to represent a truly applicable framework. Research is proposed to test the scientific merit for and public receptivity to these metaphors. PMID:18855489

The Analysis of Metaphor: To What Extent Can the Theory of Lexical Priming Help Our Understanding of Metaphor Usage and Comprehension?

PubMed

Patterson, Katie J

2016-04-01

This paper addresses the issues with current systems of categorisation and measurement of linguistic metaphoricity, which have coloured most research into the area to-date. The paper discusses the role of metaphor as a form of creative language and a deviation from more linguistic norms and conventionalities. Two current theories are discussed as providing alternatives to metaphor identification approaches. These are Hanks' (Int J Lexicogr 17:3, 2004) Theory of Norms and Exploitations and Hoey's (Lexical priming and the properties of text, 2003) Theory of Lexical Priming. It is proposed that the theory of lexical priming can be adopted to provide an explanation of linguistic norms and exploitations involved in metaphoric language. Finally, the paper provides a brief corpus analysis of the verb to kindle found in a corpus of Nineteenth Century writings. The analysis will focus upon evidence of linguistic and secondary meaning primings within concordance lines.

A new metaphor for projection-based visual analysis and data exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schreck, Tobias; Panse, Christian

2007-01-01

In many important application domains such as Business and Finance, Process Monitoring, and Security, huge and quickly increasing volumes of complex data are collected. Strong efforts are underway developing automatic and interactive analysis tools for mining useful information from these data repositories. Many data analysis algorithms require an appropriate definition of similarity (or distance) between data instances to allow meaningful clustering, classification, and retrieval, among other analysis tasks. Projection-based data visualization is highly interesting (a) for visual discrimination analysis of a data set within a given similarity definition, and (b) for comparative analysis of similarity characteristics of a given data set represented by different similarity definitions. We introduce an intuitive and effective novel approach for projection-based similarity visualization for interactive discrimination analysis, data exploration, and visual evaluation of metric space effectiveness. The approach is based on the convex hull metaphor for visually aggregating sets of points in projected space, and it can be used with a variety of different projection techniques. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated by application on two well-known data sets. Statistical evidence supporting the validity of the hull metaphor is presented. We advocate the hull-based approach over the standard symbol-based approach to projection visualization, as it allows a more effective perception of similarity relationships and class distribution characteristics.

It Is Time to Cancel Medicine's Social Contract Metaphor.

PubMed

Harris, John M

2017-09-01

There is agreement that the complex relationship between medicine and society is best described as a metaphorical social contract and that professionalism is the medical profession's contribution to this contract. Metaphors can help clarify abstract concepts, but they can also be abused if the counterfactual attributes of a metaphor become attributed to its subject. This seems to be happening with medical professionalism, which has sometimes been reduced to a contracted deliverable and a bargaining chip. The undesirable attributes of the social contract metaphor may be hindering efforts to understand and teach medical professionalism.Despite its theoretical weaknesses, the social contract metaphor has historical credibility because of its alleged association with the 1847 Code of Medical Ethics and the subsequent ascension of regular (allopathic) medicine in the early 20th century. However, the record does not support an argument that the intended purpose of the 1847 Code was to create a social contract or that one ever arose. The alternative account that a contract did arise, but physicians were poor partners, is neither satisfying nor explanatory.As now used, medicine's social contract metaphor has serious theoretical and historic weaknesses. Medical educators should remove this narrow and overworked metaphor from their discussions of professionalism. By doing this, educators and the profession in general would only lose the ability to threaten themselves with the cancellation of their social contract. In return they would open the door to a more complex and fruitful consideration of medical professionalism and medicine's relationship with society.

The role of working memory and divided attention in metaphor interpretation.

PubMed

Iskandar, Sam; Baird, Anne D

2014-10-01

Although several types of figurative language exist, neuropsychological tests of non-literal language have focused on proverbs. Metaphors in the form X is (a) Y (e.g., The body's immunological response is a battle against disease.) place a lower demand on language skills and are more easily manipulated for novelty than proverbs. Forty healthy participants completed the Metaphor Interpretation Test (developed by the authors). The task includes 20 items chosen from a list of metaphors that were rated on several scales (e.g. imagery, aptness) in a study by Katz et al. (Metaphor Symb Act 3(4):191-214, 1988). Participants were asked to rate the familiarity and provide an explanation of each metaphor. A scoring system was developed to categorize answers into: abstract complete (AC), abstract partial (AP), concrete (CT), and other/unrelated (OT) types. Participants also completed short-term memory and divided attention tests. Overall, participants produced 56 % AC, 25.38 % AP, 7.88 % CT, and 10.88 % OT responses. It was found that a measure of verbal short-term memory span was the best predictor of performance on this task (adjusted R(2) = .369). It appears that short-term memory span, not working memory or divided attention, contributes most to providing abstract responses in explaining metaphors. This is in line with the idea that when one accesses the semantic network associated with a novel metaphor, one must hold this information in mind long enough to search for and link similar cognitive networks.

Obesity Metaphors: How Beliefs about the Causes of Obesity Affect Support for Public Policy

PubMed Central

Barry, Colleen L; Brescoll, Victoria L; Brownell, Kelly D; Schlesinger, Mark

2009-01-01

Context: Relatively little is known about the factors shaping public attitudes toward obesity as a policy concern. This study examines whether individuals' beliefs about the causes of obesity affect their support for policies aimed at stemming obesity rates. This article identifies a unique role of metaphor-based beliefs, as distinct from conventional political attitudes, in explaining support for obesity policies. Methods: This article used the Yale Rudd Center Public Opinion on Obesity Survey, a nationally representative web sample surveyed from the Knowledge Networks panel in 2006/07 (N = 1,009). The study examines how respondents' demographic and health characteristics, political attitudes, and agreement with seven obesity metaphors affect support for sixteen policies to reduce obesity rates. Findings: Including obesity metaphors in regression models helps explain public support for policies to curb obesity beyond levels attributable solely to demographic, health, and political characteristics. The metaphors that people use to understand rising obesity rates are strong predictors of support for public policy, and their influence varies across different types of policy interventions. Conclusions: Over the last five years, the United States has begun to grapple with the implications of dramatically escalating rates of obesity. Individuals use metaphors to better understand increasing rates of obesity, and obesity metaphors are independent and powerful predictors of support for public policies to curb obesity. Metaphorical reasoning also offers a potential framework for using strategic issue framing to shift support for obesity policies. PMID:19298414

Framing Public Policy and Prevention of Chronic Violence in American Youths

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dodge, Kenneth A.

2008-01-01

Metaphors can both inspire and mislead the public. Current metaphors for youth violence are inconsistent with scientific evidence about how chronic violence develops and evoke inaccurate or harmful reactions. Popular, problematic metaphors include "superpredator", "quarantining the contagious", "corrective surgery", "man as computer", "vaccine",…

Metaphorical Language: Seeing and Hearing with the Heart.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilkins, Lois E.

2002-01-01

Focuses on a multidisciplinary metatheory relevant for the poetry therapist that speaks to holographic reasoning and metaphorical poetic language. Shows how metaphorical poetic language supports both the therapist and the client. Concludes that the poetry therapist will benefit from this theoretical framework that encourages communications across…

Exploring the Use of Conceptual Metaphors in Solving Problems on Entropy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jeppsson, Fredrik; Haglund, Jesper; Amin, Tamer G.; Stromdahl, Helge

2013-01-01

A growing body of research has examined the experiential grounding of scientific thought and the role of experiential intuitive knowledge in science learning. Meanwhile, research in cognitive linguistics has identified many "conceptual metaphors" (CMs), metaphorical mappings between abstract concepts and experiential source domains,…

Mathematical Analogy and Metaphorical Insight

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zwicky, Jan

2010-01-01

How are we to understand the power of certain literary metaphors? The author argues that the apprehension of good metaphors is importantly similar to the apprehension of fruitful mathematical analogies: both involve a structural realignment of vision. The author then explores consequences of this claim, drawing conceptually significant parallels…

Metaphors Describing Energy Transfer through Ecosystems: Helpful or Misleading?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wernecke, Ulrike; Schwanewedel, Julia; Harms, Ute

2018-01-01

Energy transfer in ecosystems is an abstract and challenging topic for learners. Metaphors are widely used in scientific and educational discourse to communicate ideas about abstract phenomena. However, although considered valuable teaching tools, metaphors are ambiguous and can be misleading when used in educational contexts. Educational…

Metaphors for Happiness in English and Mandarin Chinese

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Polley, Carl A.

2012-01-01

Patterns of conceptualization reflected in figurative language are motivated by embodied experience, and comparisons of emotion metaphors in English, Mandarin Chinese and other languages have shown widespread similarity in such metaphors cross-culturally (Lakoff & Johnson 1980, 1999; King 1989; Yu 1996; Kovecses 2005). Nonetheless, we can also…

Elaborated Metaphors Support Viable Inferences about Difficult Science Concepts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diehl, Virginia; Reese, Debbie Denise

2010-01-01

Instructional metaphors scaffold learning better when accompanied by an elaboration. Applying structure mapping theory, we developed and used an elaborated instructional metaphor (text and illustrations) for introductory chemistry concepts. In two studies (N[subscript 1] = 44, N[subscript 2] = 57), college students with little chemistry background…

Cross-modal metaphorical mapping of spoken emotion words onto vertical space.

PubMed

Montoro, Pedro R; Contreras, María José; Elosúa, María Rosa; Marmolejo-Ramos, Fernando

2015-01-01

From the field of embodied cognition, previous studies have reported evidence of metaphorical mapping of emotion concepts onto a vertical spatial axis. Most of the work on this topic has used visual words as the typical experimental stimuli. However, to our knowledge, no previous study has examined the association between affect and vertical space using a cross-modal procedure. The current research is a first step toward the study of the metaphorical mapping of emotions onto vertical space by means of an auditory to visual cross-modal paradigm. In the present study, we examined whether auditory words with an emotional valence can interact with the vertical visual space according to a 'positive-up/negative-down' embodied metaphor. The general method consisted in the presentation of a spoken word denoting a positive/negative emotion prior to the spatial localization of a visual target in an upper or lower position. In Experiment 1, the spoken words were passively heard by the participants and no reliable interaction between emotion concepts and bodily simulated space was found. In contrast, Experiment 2 required more active listening of the auditory stimuli. A metaphorical mapping of affect and space was evident but limited to the participants engaged in an emotion-focused task. Our results suggest that the association of affective valence and vertical space is not activated automatically during speech processing since an explicit semantic and/or emotional evaluation of the emotionally valenced stimuli was necessary to obtain an embodied effect. The results are discussed within the framework of the embodiment hypothesis.

Cross-modal metaphorical mapping of spoken emotion words onto vertical space

PubMed Central

Montoro, Pedro R.; Contreras, María José; Elosúa, María Rosa; Marmolejo-Ramos, Fernando

2015-01-01

From the field of embodied cognition, previous studies have reported evidence of metaphorical mapping of emotion concepts onto a vertical spatial axis. Most of the work on this topic has used visual words as the typical experimental stimuli. However, to our knowledge, no previous study has examined the association between affect and vertical space using a cross-modal procedure. The current research is a first step toward the study of the metaphorical mapping of emotions onto vertical space by means of an auditory to visual cross-modal paradigm. In the present study, we examined whether auditory words with an emotional valence can interact with the vertical visual space according to a ‘positive-up/negative-down’ embodied metaphor. The general method consisted in the presentation of a spoken word denoting a positive/negative emotion prior to the spatial localization of a visual target in an upper or lower position. In Experiment 1, the spoken words were passively heard by the participants and no reliable interaction between emotion concepts and bodily simulated space was found. In contrast, Experiment 2 required more active listening of the auditory stimuli. A metaphorical mapping of affect and space was evident but limited to the participants engaged in an emotion-focused task. Our results suggest that the association of affective valence and vertical space is not activated automatically during speech processing since an explicit semantic and/or emotional evaluation of the emotionally valenced stimuli was necessary to obtain an embodied effect. The results are discussed within the framework of the embodiment hypothesis. PMID:26322007

Superior Temporal Sulcus Disconnectivity During Processing of Metaphoric Gestures in Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Straube, Benjamin; Green, Antonia; Sass, Katharina; Kircher, Tilo

2014-01-01

The left superior temporal sulcus (STS) plays an important role in integrating audiovisual information and is functionally connected to disparate regions of the brain. For the integration of gesture information in an abstract sentence context (metaphoric gestures), intact connectivity between the left STS and the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) should be important. Patients with schizophrenia have problems with the processing of metaphors (concretism) and show aberrant structural connectivity of long fiber bundles. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that patients with schizophrenia differ in the functional connectivity of the left STS to the IFG for the processing of metaphoric gestures. During functional magnetic resonance imaging data acquisition, 16 patients with schizophrenia (P) and a healthy control group (C) were shown videos of an actor performing gestures in a concrete (iconic, IC) and abstract (metaphoric, MP) sentence context. A psychophysiological interaction analysis based on the seed region from a previous analysis in the left STS was performed. In both groups we found common positive connectivity for IC and MP of the STS seed region to the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and left ventral IFG. The interaction of group (C>P) and gesture condition (MP>IC) revealed effects in the connectivity to the bilateral IFG and the left MTG with patients exhibiting lower connectivity for the MP condition. In schizophrenia the left STS is misconnected to the IFG, particularly during the processing of MP gestures. Dysfunctional integration of gestures in an abstract sentence context might be the basis of certain interpersonal communication problems in the patients. PMID:23956120

Inflation Metaphor in the TIME Magazine Corpus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hu, Chunyu; Liu, Huijie

2016-01-01

A historical perspective on economy metaphor can shed new lights on economic thoughts. Based on the TIME Magazine Corpus (TMC), this paper investigates inflation metaphor over 83 years and compares findings against the economic data over the relatively corresponding period. The results show how inflation, an abstract concept and a normal economic…

The Importance of Harmony: An Ecological Metaphor for Writing Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fleckenstein, Kristie S.; Spinuzzi, Clay; Rickly, Rebecca J.; Papper, Carole Clark

2008-01-01

This essay argues for the value of an ecological metaphor in conceptualizing, designing, and enacting research in writing studies. Such a metaphor conceives of activities, actors, situations, and phenomena as interdependent, diverse, and fused through feedback. This ecological orientation invites composition scholars to research rhetorically: to…

Developmental Levels of Processing in Metaphor Interpretation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Janice; Pascual-Leone, Juan

1989-01-01

Outlines a theory of metaphor that posits varying levels of semantic processing and formalizes the levels in terms of kinds of semantic mapping operators. Predicted complexity of semantic mapping operators was tested using metaphor interpretations of 204 children aged 6-12 years and 24 adults. Processing score increased predictably with age. (SAK)

Metaphorical Competence in ESL Student Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kathpalia, Sujata S.; Carmel, Heah Lee Hah

2011-01-01

In language teaching, emphasis is usually placed on grammatical competence rather than metaphorical competence to improve a learner's proficiency in the target language. Research has shown that figurative language poses a problem for second language learners whether it is in their ability to interpret, process, or produce metaphors. This affects…

Metaphors of Time and Installed Knowledge Organization Systems: Ouroboros, Architectonics, or Lachesis?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tennis, Joseph T.

2013-01-01

Introduction: This paper presents three metaphors of time present in knowledge organization systems. Analysis: These three metaphors the architectonic, ouroboric, and lachesic, can be used as lenses to analyse extant or newly designed knowledge organization systems. Conclusion: A foundational view of evaluating and theorizing about knowledge…

Prospective Teachers' Perceptions on Education Policy: A Metaphor Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sezer, Senol

2018-01-01

This study aiming to determine the metaphorical perceptions of prospective teachers regarding Turkey's education policies was modelled in the 'phenomenological pattern' which one of the qualitative research methods. The study group was 150 prospective teachers. Data was collected using a metaphor form and via focus group interviews. Descriptive…

Becoming Teacher: A/r/tographical Inquiry and Visualising Metaphor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boulton, Adrienne; Grauer, Kit; L. Irwin, Rita

2017-01-01

A great deal has been written about the representational use of metaphor to understand teacher candidates'/new teachers' conceptions of teacher practice. This article will discuss recent research that explored secondary visual art teacher candidates'/new teachers' "visualising" of visual metaphors to provoke their a/r/tographical inquiry…

Bridging: A Teacher's Guide to Metaphorical Thinking.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pugh, Sharon L.; And Others

This book provides material and ideas for bringing metaphorical thinking into the classroom in the context of language discussions. It is organized to link the conceptual with the concrete, integrating teaching ideas with discussions concerning the various roles that metaphorical thinking plays in human understanding and communications. The book's…

Metaphor and the Rhetorical Invention of Cold War "Idealists."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ivie, Robert L.

1987-01-01

Presents a procedure for identifying metaphorical concepts guiding the rhetorical invention of three Cold War "idealists": Henry Wallace, J. William Fulbright, and Helen Caldicott, whose collective failure to dispel threatening images of the Soviets is located in a recurrent system of metaphors that promotes a reversal of the enemy-image…

Strengthening Language Control through Metaphor Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geiger, William A., Jr.

Three universes of discourse are at work when writers create or use a metaphor: the analogical or metaphorical universe from which they borrow words, things, and relationships (sometimes called the "vehicle"); the contextual universe in which the analogy is being used (sometimes called the "topic"); and the metauniverse, or the comprehensive…

Making Meaning of Educational Leadership: The Principalship in Metaphor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linn, Genie B.; Sherman, Ross; Gill, Peggy B.

2007-01-01

This article explores how future educational leaders make meaning of the principalship through metaphor. At the conclusion of a university principal preparation program, principal interns were asked to use figurative language to represent the principalship. The metaphors identified four distinct themes: (a) protection and nurturing; (b) skill,…

Root Metaphor Theory: A Philosophical Framework for Counseling and Psychotherapy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lyddon, William J.

1989-01-01

Offers an overview of the root metaphors and philosophical assumptions associated with formism, mechanism, contextualism, and organicism, the four world views described in Pepper's 1942 philosophical treatise and his presentation of root metaphor theory. Examines recent and historical trends of development in counseling theory and practice within…

Friendly Fire: War-Normalizing Metaphors in the Israeli Political Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gavriely-Nuri, Dalia

2009-01-01

Combining principles of peace education and political discourse analysis, this study dwells on one powerful metaphorical mechanism engaged in by Israeli political leaders: war-normalizing metaphors, a mechanism for framing war as part of human nature and normal life. Six core semantic fields were identified as particularly useful "raw…

Exploring Metaphoric Language Use to Assess Collaboration between Educational Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newberry, Melissa; Richardson, Michael

2015-01-01

In this single case study of a school and university collaborative project, positioning theory was used to deconstruct the metaphors expressed in descriptions of roles of 23 participants. Present in the metaphors were discrepancies in understandings of collaboration that revealed ways that collaboration was inhibited as participants positioned…

Cognitive Metaphor Theory and the Metaphysics of Immediacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madsen, Mathias W.

2016-01-01

One of the core tenets of cognitive metaphor theory is the claim that metaphors ground abstract knowledge in concrete, first-hand experience. In this paper, I argue that this grounding hypothesis contains some problematic conceptual ambiguities and, under many reasonable interpretations, empirical difficulties. I present evidence that there are…

Metaphor-Visual Aid in Grief Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwartz-Borden, Gwen

1992-01-01

Sees use of metaphor as providing powerful and useful framework for lowering resistance to pain of bereavement for parental grief. Contends that metaphor offers graphic, nonjudgmental symbolic representation through which mourner may freely express sorrow, loss, anger, and guilt needed to accomplish tasks of grieving. Notes that neutral symbol can…

The Role of Working Memory in Metaphor Production and Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiappe, Dan L.; Chiappe, Penny

2007-01-01

The following tested Kintsch's [Kintsch, W. (2000). "Metaphor comprehension: a computational theory." "Psychonomic Bulletin & Review," 7, 257-266 and Kintsch, W. (2001). "Predication." "Cognitive Science," 25, 173-202] Predication Model, which predicts that working memory capacity is an important factor in metaphor processing. In support of his…

An Exploratory Use of Musical Metaphors to Enhance Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weinrauch, J. Donald

2005-01-01

This article provides the role, scope, instructional experiences, and prospects of employing musical metaphors as a possible teaching tool. Interactive student learning is encouraged by actually playing songs in marketing strategy courses. First, an overview on the explanation and popularity of metaphors in both nonbusiness and business fields…

Reframing Metaphors in Business and Education Teams

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marcellino, Patricia Ann

2007-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to conduct an action-research study of metaphors and metaphoric fragments composed by graduate students in 17 teams in two business (MBA) and three educational administration courses taught by the same instructor and action-researcher. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology of the paper was…

The Persuasiveness of Metaphor: A Replication and Extension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siltanen, Susan A.

1981-01-01

Tested the persuasiveness of three extended concluding metaphors: sex, death, and sex-death. (Speech topic for high school students was the anti-legalization of marihuana.) Results indicated that attitudes changed more toward the position advocated in the speech when it contained a concluding sex metaphor than when it did not. (PD)

Metaphorical Duality: High School Subject Departments as Both Communities and Organizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melville, Wayne; Wallace, John

2007-01-01

This article investigates the metaphorical duality that exists when school subject departments are concurrently conceptualized as both communities and organizations. Employing a narrative methodology, we use the metaphorical duality to examine the manner in which science teachers negotiate two key aspects of their work; professional learning and…

From Pipelines to Tasting Lemonade: Reconceptualizing College Access

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pitcher, Erich N.; Shahjahan, Riyad A.

2017-01-01

Pipeline metaphors are ubiquitous in theorizing and interpreting college access processes. In this conceptual article, we explore how a lemonade metaphor can open new possibilities to reimagining higher education access and going processes. We argue that using food metaphors, particularly the processes of mixing, tasting, and digesting lemonade,…

Body Metaphors: Some Implications for Movement Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Carol-Lynne

1987-01-01

Images of one's body, shared consciously or unconsciously by teacher and student, significantly influence all aspects of movement education including instructional philosophy, curriculum, and method. Discussed are the metaphors of body as beast, as machine, as objet d'art, and as child and how these metaphors affect instruction. (MT)

Metaphors We Teach By: The Language of "Learning Outcomes"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Batten, Alicia J.

2012-01-01

This article employs George Lakoff and Mark Johnson's work on metaphor (1980) to examine the current use of the term "learning outcomes" within higher education. It argues that "learning outcomes" is an ontological metaphor (education becomes focused on results that one can understand and measure) that resonates with contemporary academic…

Teaching Scientific Metaphors through Informational Text Read-Alouds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnes, Erica M.; Oliveira, Alandeom W.

2018-01-01

Elementary students are expected to use various features of informational texts to build knowledge in the content areas. In science informational texts, scientific metaphors are commonly used to make sense of complex and invisible processes. Although elementary students may be familiar with literary metaphors as used in narratives, they may be…

Emotion Metaphors and Emotional Labor in Science Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zembylas, Michalinos

2004-01-01

An understanding of the importance of metaphors and beliefs in the development of teachers' practical knowledge has already been explored in science education research. However, the significance of "emotion metaphors" and the consequences of "emotional labor" as part of being a science teacher have been little addressed. This study describes the…

Sinking Maps: A Conceptual Tool for Visual Metaphor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giampa, Joan Marie

2012-01-01

Sinking maps, created by Northern Virginia Community College professor Joan Marie Giampa, are tools that teach fine art students how to construct visual metaphor by conceptually mapping sensory perceptions. Her dissertation answers the question, "Can visual metaphor be conceptually mapped in the art classroom?" In the Prologue, Giampa…

Reflecting on the Use of Metaphor: Two Professors' Processes of Discovery

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Price, Christine G.; McGee, Christy D.

2009-01-01

This article summarizes the literature concerning the use of visual and textual metaphors and describes outcomes of a project designed to help teacher education candidates begin integrating their personal beliefs about teaching with their growing professional knowledge and emergent practice. By using metaphors, teacher educators have the…

Students' and Teachers' Conceptual Metaphors for Mathematical Problem Solving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yee, Sean P.

2017-01-01

Metaphors are regularly used by mathematics teachers to relate difficult or complex concepts in classrooms. A complex topic of concern in mathematics education, and most STEM-based education classes, is problem solving. This study identified how students and teachers contextualize mathematical problem solving through their choice of metaphors.…

Real and Imagined Body Movement Primes Metaphor Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Nicole L.; Gibbs, Raymond W., Jr.

2007-01-01

We demonstrate in two experiments that real and imagined body movements appropriate to metaphorical phrases facilitate people's immediate comprehension of these phrases. Participants first learned to make different body movements given specific cues. In two reading time studies, people were faster to understand a metaphorical phrase, such as push…

Merging the Metaphors: Surviving and Thriving as a New Academic.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Jean Grace

1997-01-01

Finds that, to examine the challenges new faculty members face, it is helpful to use three "survival metaphors": a new marriage; going to work on an assembly line; and being given "15 to 20" in the state penitentiary. Compares professional duties to each metaphor in turn. (PA)

Globalization: In Terms of Teachers' Opinion and Metaphorical Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Çayak, Semih; Eskici, Menekse

2018-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to investigate teachers' opinion and metaphorical perceptions about globalization. In this paper, phenomenology one of the qualitative research type was used. 61 teachers' metaphorical perceptions about globalization were collected and interviewed with 12 teachers about globalization in education. Teachers'…

Personal Metaphors of Prospective Secondary Economics and Science Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mellado, Lucia; Bermejo, Maria Luisa; Mellado, Vicente

2012-01-01

Using the responses to open questions, this qualitative study examines the personal metaphors expressed by prospective secondary education teachers, 46 science graduates and 41 economics graduates. The metaphors are classified into the four categories of Leavy, McSorley, and Bote: the behaviourist/transmissive, the cognitivist/constructivist, the…

Computer Graphics and Metaphorical Elaboration for Learning Science Concepts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ChanLin, Lih-Juan; Chan, Kung-Chi

This study explores the instructional impact of using computer multimedia to integrate metaphorical verbal information into graphical representations of biotechnology concepts. The combination of text and graphics into a single metaphor makes concepts dual-coded, and therefore more comprehensible and memorable for the student. Visual stimuli help…

How We Write: Understanding Scholarly Writing through Metaphor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyd, Michelle

2012-01-01

This article introduces the "writing metaphor" and examines why political scientists should consider developing one to describe their own writing process. Drawing on the author's experience with writing accountability groups, it defines the components of the writing metaphor, provides an example, and discusses its advantages and disadvantages. The…

Frames of Reference: A Metaphor for Analyzing and Interpreting Attitudes of Environmental Policy Makers and Policy Influencers

PubMed

Swaffield

1998-07-01

/ The concept of frame of reference offers a potentially useful analytical metaphor in environmental management. This is illustrated by a case study in which attitudes of individuals involved in the management of trees in the New Zealand high country are classified into seven distinctive frames of reference. Some practical and theoretical implications of the use of the frame metaphor are explored, including its potential contribution to the emerg- ing field of communicative planning. KEY WORDS: Frames of reference; Environmental policy analysis; Metaphor; New Zealand high country

The authoritative metaphor and social change: Surgeon General C. Everett Koop's Direct Mailer, "Understanding AIDS".

PubMed

Jensen, Robin E; King, Abigail Selzer

2013-01-01

In 1988, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop published "Understanding AIDS," the nation's first and only direct mailing sent to every private home in the country. His appeals therein were driven by what we label authoritative metaphors. Communicated by and/or attributed to persons of authority, authoritative metaphors capitalize on the symbolic force of sanctioned power by appealing to the ethos of office. In "Understanding AIDS," we find that Koop drew from his positions as a surgeon and a general, respectively, to equate AIDS with an unprecedented plague and an unprecedented war. He created new authoritative metaphors out of the vestiges of familiar metaphors related to disease and public health and thereby portrayed AIDS as a recognizable but decisively unique dilemma requiring distinct preventative behaviors.

A neural network model of metaphor understanding with dynamic interaction based on a statistical language analysis: targeting a human-like model.

PubMed

Terai, Asuka; Nakagawa, Masanori

2007-08-01

The purpose of this paper is to construct a model that represents the human process of understanding metaphors, focusing specifically on similes of the form an "A like B". Generally speaking, human beings are able to generate and understand many sorts of metaphors. This study constructs the model based on a probabilistic knowledge structure for concepts which is computed from a statistical analysis of a large-scale corpus. Consequently, this model is able to cover the many kinds of metaphors that human beings can generate. Moreover, the model implements the dynamic process of metaphor understanding by using a neural network with dynamic interactions. Finally, the validity of the model is confirmed by comparing model simulations with the results from a psychological experiment.

Neural correlates of combinatorial semantic processing of literal and figurative noun noun compound words.

PubMed

Forgács, Bálint; Bohrn, Isabel; Baudewig, Jürgen; Hofmann, Markus J; Pléh, Csaba; Jacobs, Arthur M

2012-11-15

The right hemisphere's role in language comprehension is supported by results from several neuropsychology and neuroimaging studies. Special interest surrounds right temporoparietal structures, which are thought to be involved in processing novel metaphorical expressions, primarily due to the coarse semantic coding of concepts. In this event related fMRI experiment we aimed at assessing the extent of semantic distance processing in the comprehension of figurative meaning to clarify the role of the right hemisphere. Four categories of German noun noun compound words were presented in a semantic decision task: a) conventional metaphors; b) novel metaphors; c) conventional literal, and; d) novel literal expressions, controlled for length, frequency, imageability, arousal, and emotional valence. Conventional literal and metaphorical compounds increased BOLD signal change in right temporoparietal regions, suggesting combinatorial semantic processing, in line with the coarse semantic coding theory, but at odds with the graded salience hypothesis. Both novel literal and novel metaphorical expressions increased activity in left inferior frontal areas, presumably as a result of phonetic, morphosyntactic, and semantic unification processes, challenging predictions regarding right hemispheric involvement in processing unusual meanings. Meanwhile, both conventional and novel metaphorical expressions induced BOLD signal change in left hemispherical regions, suggesting that even novel metaphor processing involves more than linking semantically distant concepts. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The metaphors of collaboration, or the social construction of collaborative interactions between health professionals.

PubMed

Tomelleri, Stefano; Lusardi, Roberto; Artioli, Giovanna

2015-03-13

This article illustrates the ways in which symbolic representations of reality, embodied in metaphors and language, can affect collaborative interactions in the current situation of social and economic change. We assume that corporate transformation and organizational configurations influence health professionals' representations in largely unconscious ways and, with these, their everyday practice. On the basis of empirical data collected through 13 focus groups in an Italian hospital, our intention is to show the extent to which joint working can be linked to three main metaphors each matching specific forms of social and professional interaction. The three metaphors of collaboration constitute different attempts to interpret social and organizational changes in proactive - encouraging social innovation - or defensive terms - as actions of cultural resistance. The three metaphors are: apparatus, family and team. In different ways, the first two represent forms of resistance to change and are widely present within organizations. The latter, on the other hand, consists of a proactive way to deal with ongoing social and organizational change. This metaphor testifies to the existence of a different approach to collaborative interactions, a perspective related to specific combinations of organizational and professional characteristics. This study indicates that organizational change and collaboration can be strengthened by metaphors that illustrate open, plural and highly heterogeneous professional settings.

The neural career of sensory-motor metaphors.

PubMed

Desai, Rutvik H; Binder, Jeffrey R; Conant, Lisa L; Mano, Quintino R; Seidenberg, Mark S

2011-09-01

The role of sensory-motor systems in conceptual understanding has been controversial. It has been proposed that many abstract concepts are understood metaphorically through concrete sensory-motor domains such as actions. Using fMRI, we compared neural responses with literal action (Lit; The daughter grasped the flowers), metaphoric action (Met; The public grasped the idea), and abstract (Abs; The public understood the idea) sentences of varying familiarity. Both Lit and Met sentences activated the left anterior inferior parietal lobule, an area involved in action planning, with Met sentences also activating a homologous area in the right hemisphere, relative to Abs sentences. Both Met and Abs sentences activated the left superior temporal regions associated with abstract language. Importantly, activation in primary motor and biological motion perception regions was inversely correlated with Lit and Met familiarity. These results support the view that the understanding of metaphoric action retains a link to sensory-motor systems involved in action performance. However, the involvement of sensory-motor systems in metaphor understanding changes through a gradual abstraction process whereby relatively detailed simulations are used for understanding unfamiliar metaphors, and these simulations become less detailed and involve only secondary motor regions as familiarity increases. Consistent with these data, we propose that anterior inferior parietal lobule serves as an interface between sensory-motor and conceptual systems and plays an important role in both domains. The similarity of abstract and metaphoric sentences in the activation of left superior temporal regions suggests that action metaphor understanding is not completely based on sensory-motor simulations but relies also on abstract lexical-semantic codes.

Unveiling Pre-Service Language Teachers' Conceptualizations of Teachers of English through Metaphors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kavanoz, Suzan

2016-01-01

The present research aimed at conducting an analysis of metaphors Turkish pre-service language teachers generated about English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. This study also examined whether and how the metaphors created by teacher candidates at different phases of their education demonstrated variation. The data gathered from 94…

The Vampire's Seduction: Using Bram Stoker's "Dracula" as a Metaphor in Treating Parasitic Relationships.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cascio, Toni; Gasker, Janice

2001-01-01

Discusses the use of stories as metaphor in therapy. Outlines the themes of the story of "Dracula," presenting five primary and three subthemes of the story which characterize parasitic relationships. Offers a case study illustrating these themes and demonstrating the therapeutic value of this metaphor. (SR)

The Translatability of Metaphor: Study and Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alghbban, Mohammed

2011-01-01

The appropriate handling of the metaphorical meaning during translation, along with maximizing its level of equivalence in the target language, is going to be my central focus through the course of this dissertation. Unlike many contributions that attempt to reconcile the problem of translating metaphor, this study has come to approach the subject…

(Re)braiding to Tell: Using "Trenzas" as a Metaphorical-Analytical Tool in Qualitative Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quiñones, Sandra

2016-01-01

Metaphors can be used in qualitative research to illuminate the meanings of participant experiences and examine phenomena from insightful and creative perspectives. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how I utilized "trenzas" (braids) as a metaphorical and analytical tool for understanding the experiences and perspectives of…

The Hamstringing of Moral Education: Athletic Metaphors and Educational Administration.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byrum, C. Stephen

This discussion of "dominant metaphors" characterizing the nation's history focuses specifically on the period of metaphor change surrounding the ascent of the National Football League. The terms AGON and PAIDIA, used by the ancient Greeks to describe two dimensions of sports activities, provide the framework for a discussion of the athletic…

Metaphor Clusters: Characterizing Instructor Metaphorical Reasoning on Limit Concepts in College Calculus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patel, Rita Manubhai; McCombs, Paul; Zollman, Alan

2014-01-01

Novice students have difficulty with the topic of limits in calculus. We believe this is in part because of the multiple perspectives and shifting metaphors available to solve items correctly. We investigated college calculus instructors' personal concepts of limits. Based upon previous research investigating introductory calculus student…

Scientific Knowledge, Popularisation, and the Use of Metaphors: Modern Genetics in Popular Science Magazines

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pramling, Niklas; Saljo, Roger

2007-01-01

The article reports an empirical study of how authors in popular science magazines attempt to render scientific knowledge intelligible to wide audiences. In bridging the two domains of "popular" and "scientific" knowledge, respectively, metaphor becomes central. We ask the empirical question of what metaphors are used when communicating about…

The Role of Metaphorical Thinking in the Creativity of Scientific Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanchez-Ruiz, Maria-Jose; Santos, Manuela Romo; Jiménez, Juan Jiménez

2013-01-01

This article critically reviews the extant literature on scientific creativity and metaphorical thinking. Metaphorical thinking is based on a conceptual transfer of relationships or mapping, from a well-known source domain to a poorly known target domain, which could result in creative outcomes in sciences. Creativity leads to products that are…

Teaching about the U.S. Constitution through Metaphor: Government as a Machine.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mills, Randy K.

1988-01-01

Briefly reviews theories of brain hemisphere functions and draws implications for social studies instruction. Maintains that the metaphor aids the development of understanding because it connects right and left brain functions. Provides a learning activity based on the metaphor of the U.S. government functioning as a machine. (BSR)

Teaching the Techniques of Making Architectural Metaphors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fez-Barringten, Barie

2010-01-01

This monograph is in response to a request to explain the application of the metaphoric theorem and metaphors in teaching architecture in Saudi Arabia. It incorporates views by Mark Gelertner presented in 1988 at the Association of the Collegiate Schools of Architecture's Seventy-sixth annual meeting. These views are particularly relevant to any…

Belgian and Turkish Pre-Service Primary School Teachers' Metaphoric Expressions about Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kiliç, Çigdem; Yanpar Yelken, Tugba

2013-01-01

Problem Statement: Recent studies in education have focused on how to handle metaphors as research and evaluation tools. Metaphors have many advantages for researchers, educators and learners with the most important being that they can help educators understand pre-service teachers' thinking and belief systems of mathematics. A study of previous…

Mind Machines, Myth, Metaphor, and Scientific Imagination.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jansen, Sue Curry

This paper builds upon the poetics of scientific discourse which provide extraordinary insights into the workings of the scientific imagination and into the ways it is both colonized and liberated by the medium of social and ideological transfer--metaphor. The paper examines what constructivism is teaching us about the role metaphor plays in…

The Integration of Evaluation Paradigms Through Metaphor.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Felker, Roberta M.

The point of view is presented that evaluation projects can be enriched by not using either an exclusively quantitative model or an exclusively qualitative model but by combining both models in one project. The concept of metaphor is used to clarify the usefulness of the combination. Iconic or holistic metaphors describe an object or event as…

Understanding Starts in the Mesocosm: Conceptual Metaphor as a Framework for External Representations in Science Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niebert, Kai; Gropengiesser, Harald

2015-01-01

In recent years, researchers have become aware of the experiential grounding of scientific thought. Accordingly, research has shown that metaphorical mappings between experience-based source domains and abstract target domains are omnipresent in everyday and scientific language. The theory of conceptual metaphor explains these findings based on…

Aristotle's Definition of Rhetoric in the "Rhetoric": The Metaphors and Their Message.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newman, Sara J.

2001-01-01

Investigates Aristotle's metaphorical definitions of rhetoric in book 1 of his "Rhetoric," using his own theory of metaphor as a measure of his practice in these definitions. Indicates that Aristotle's practice in the situation does not match his theory, a circumstance that has consequences for one's reading of the "Rhetoric."…

Conceptual Metaphors as Interpretive Tools in Qualitative Research: A Re-Examination of College Students' Diversity Discussions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kochis, Bruce; Gillespie, Diane

2006-01-01

In this contribution to the growing literature on conceptual metaphor as a fruitful heuristic for qualitative analysis, the authors re-analyzed transcripts of college student discussions of problematic situations involving cultural diversity and interpersonal conflict. The authors show how they identified metaphorical linguistic expressions and…

Investigating Primary School Teachers' Perception about Democracy through Metaphor Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nasirci, Hasan; Sadik, Fatma

2018-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine democracy perception of classroom teachers via metaphor analysis. Study group for research is formed of 253 classroom teachers. "Democracy Metaphors Questionnaire" (DMQ) has been used in collecting data. Content analysis has been used on analysis of qualitative data of research and descriptive…

Metaphors--Messengers of Meaning: A Contribution to an Evolutionary Sociology of Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maasen, Sabine; Weingart, Peter

1995-01-01

Presents the idea that the central link between science and society is established by a diffusion of knowledge. Suggests knowledge transfers may be analyzed in a metaphorical context and that a metaphorical analysis should be combined with discourse analysis and central concepts of evolutionary theory. (50 references) (Author/AEF)

Making Sense of Stewardship: Metaphorical Thinking and the Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foster, John

2005-01-01

This paper sketches the fundamental characteristics of metaphorical language which enable it to subserve not only the shaping of particular discourses, but also crucial aspects of our powers of enquiry and understanding. It argues that without metaphorical creativity we cannot make adequate sense of the more complex and open-ended aspects of our…

The large-scale structure of software-intensive systems

PubMed Central

Booch, Grady

2012-01-01

The computer metaphor is dominant in most discussions of neuroscience, but the semantics attached to that metaphor are often quite naive. Herein, we examine the ontology of software-intensive systems, the nature of their structure and the application of the computer metaphor to the metaphysical questions of self and causation. PMID:23386964

Evaluating the Use of Metaphor in Online Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Falconer, Liz

2008-01-01

Metaphor appears to be an innate tendency in human communication and can be shown to have significant potential when applied to the design of online learning environments. This paper describes and discusses an example of an online research methods learning resource that employs metaphoric navigation. Feedback from the tutors who design and…

Gertrude Buck on Metaphor: Twentieth-Century Concepts in a Late Nineteenth-Century Dissertation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vivian, Barbara G.

Gertrude Buck's doctoral dissertation, published in 1899, represented a radical departure from traditional treatments of metaphor. By approaching metaphor from an entirely new vantage point--psychology--Buck offered fresh insight and provided new explanations for the origin and function of figurative language. Buck made at least four other…

Active Engagement and the Use of Metaphors in Employment Counseling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amundson, Norman E.

2011-01-01

This article illustrates some of the foundational principles of active engagement/metaphors through the work of the author from the University of British Columbia, Canada. The author's intention is to highlight some of the important concepts underlying active engagement and the use of metaphors in employment counseling. In his work, the author…

Metaphors for the Internet Used by Nursing Students in Turkey: A Qualitative Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Senyuva, Emine; Kaya, Hülya

2013-01-01

Purpose of Study: This study was conducted within the scope of a qualitative and quantitative study pattern in order to determine nursing students' perceptions of the Internet through metaphors and the variables affecting such metaphors. Method: The study sampling included all undergraduate students (575 individuals) attending a nursing school…

Metaphor and Second Language Learning: The State of the Field

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoang, Ha

2014-01-01

Once considered a stylistic issue, metaphor is now considered a critical component of everyday and specialized language and most importantly, a fundamental mechanism of human conceptualizations of the world. The use of metaphor in language, thought and communication has been examined in second language (L2) learning. The body of literature that…

Entrapment and Escape: Inventional Metaphors in Ronald Reagan's Economic Rhetoric.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aden, Roger C.

1989-01-01

Examines Ronald Reagan's use of inventional metaphors of entrapment and escape, language meshing with the American public's perception of the economy in the early 1980s. Notes that Reagan's reliance on inventional metaphors produced a rigidity in his approach to new situations, ultimately damaging his ability to lead the nation. (MM)

Culture and Sustainability: Lessons from the Oyster and Other Metaphors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galloway, Vicki

2015-01-01

Consider the oyster. Like all good metaphors, it has done some morphing since the days of Shakespeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor." Newer bands of shell material have repainted the mollusk metaphor, transforming it from ostracism, opportunism, and exploitation to openness, opportunity and exploration, and thus an apt symbol for the…

Kill the Song--Steal the Show: What Does Distinguish Predicative Metaphors from Decomposable Idioms?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caillies, Stephanie; Declercq, Christelle

2011-01-01

This study examined the semantic processing difference between decomposable idioms and novel predicative metaphors. It was hypothesized that idiom comprehension results from the retrieval of a figurative meaning stored in memory, that metaphor comprehension requires a sense creation process and that this process difference affects the processing…

Functional MRI of Conventional and Anomalous Metaphors in Mandarin Chinese

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahrens, Kathleen; Liu, Ho-Ling; Lee, Chia-Ying; Gong, Shu-Ping; Fang, Shin-Yi; Hsu, Yuan-Yu

2007-01-01

This study looks at whether conventional and anomalous metaphors are processed in different locations in the brain while being read when compared with a literal condition in Mandarin Chinese. We find that conventional metaphors differ from the literal condition with a slight amount of increased activation in the right inferior temporal gyrus. In…

Elementary Students' Metaphors for Democracy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dundar, Hakan

2012-01-01

The purpose of the research was to reveal elementary 8th grade students' opinions concerning democracy with the aid of metaphors. The students were asked to produce metaphors about the concept of democracy. 140 students from 3 public schools in Ankara (Turkey) participated in the research. 55% of the students were females and 45% were males. The…

Uses of Metaphors & Imagery in Counseling. Instructor's Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gladding, Samuel T.

This document presents an instructor's manual designed to accompany the videotape, "Uses of Metaphors and Imagery in Counseling," a tool to teach beginning and experienced counselors how to more efficiently help their clients by focusing on the use of non-literal language and thoughts (i.e., metaphors and images). The format and content of the…

An Analysis of Metaphors Used by High School Students to Describe Physics, Physics Lesson and Physics Teacher

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Çetin, Ali

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to describe high school students' "physics", physics lesson" and "physics teacher" conceptions by using metaphors. 313 students participated in the study from different high school types in Siirt, Turkey. A metaphorical perception form constructed by researcher was individually conducted,…

A Corpus-Based Evaluation of Metaphors in a Business English Textbook

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skorczynska Sznajder, Hanna

2010-01-01

This study aims to evaluate the selection of metaphors in a published business English textbook using findings from a specialised corpus of written business English. While most scholars agree that metaphors should be included in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) syllabuses as a potentially problematic area in successful language learning, it is…

Arrow of Time: Metaphorical Construals of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amin, Tamer G.; Jeppsson, Fredrik; Haglund, Jesper; Stromdahl, Helge

2012-01-01

Various features of scientific discourse have been characterized in the science education literature, and challenges students face in appropriating these features have been explored. Using the framework of conceptual metaphor, this paper sought to identify explicit and implicit metaphors in pedagogical texts dealing with the concept of entropy and…

Prospective Teachers' Metaphorical Perceptions on the Concept of Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aysegul, Derman; Serdar, Derman

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to reveal prospective teachers' perceptions of the concept of science by asking them to use metaphors to describe it. A metaphor elicitation method was employed in this study. The data obtained from the study were considered with both quantitative and qualitative (Content Analysis) analyses. The study determined the…

Composition Theory as Metaphor: For Our Eyes Only?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matzen, Richard N., Jr.

Teachers know that these metaphors affect the teaching of composition: the banking concept of knowledge, student ownership of writing, and writing as risk-taking. However, these metaphors explain more to teachers and less to students who are writers. When teachers speak of the writing process in such terms as mapping, voicing, and brainstorming,…

How Mentor Principals Interpret the Mentoring Process Using Metaphors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schechter, Chen; Firuz, Florit

2015-01-01

The study focused on how principal mentors perceived the mentoring process by means of the metaphors they used to represent it. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 principal mentors. Findings were analysed qualitatively, generating themes as an inductive process, grounded in the various metaphors articulated by participants.…

Toolbox or Adjustable Spanner? A Critical Comparison of Two Metaphors for Adaptive Decision Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Söllner, Anke; Bröder, Arndt

2016-01-01

For multiattribute decision tasks, different metaphors exist that describe the process of decision making and its adaptation to diverse problems and situations. Multiple strategy models (MSMs) assume that decision makers choose adaptively from a set of different strategies (toolbox metaphor), whereas evidence accumulation models (EAMs) hold that a…

Double Mapping in Metaphorical Expressions of Thought and Communication in Catalan Sign Language (LSC)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jarque, Maria-Josep

2005-01-01

This document illustrates that mental functioning and communication in Catalan Sign Language (LSC) are conceptual through metaphorical projection of bodily experiences. The data in this document show how concepts are grasped, put on student's heads, exchanged, manipulated, and so on, constituting instantiations of the basic metaphors: ideas are…

Metaphors & Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching Any Subject

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wormeli, Rick

2009-01-01

Metaphors and analogies are more than figurative language suitable only for English classes and standardized test questions. They are "power tools" that can electrify learning in every subject and at all grade levels. Metaphors show students how to make connections between the concrete and the abstract, prior knowledge and unfamiliar concepts, and…

What We Learned about Using Metaphors in College Teaching: Methods and Meanings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lynch, Heather Lynn; Fisher-Ari, Teresa Renae

2018-01-01

The field of education is rich with metaphors that reveal one's perspective on the nature of teaching and learning--ideas are "covered," students "absorb" information, teachers offer writing "clinics." Each of these metaphors indicate nuanced ideas about what schooling is and is for--to be checked off? Taken in…

Machine metaphors and ethics in synthetic biology.

PubMed

Boldt, Joachim

2018-06-04

The extent to which machine metaphors are used in synthetic biology is striking. These metaphors contain a specific perspective on organisms as well as on scientific and technological progress. Expressions such as "genetically engineered machine", "genetic circuit", and "platform organism", taken from the realms of electronic engineering, car manufacturing, and information technology, highlight specific aspects of the functioning of living beings while at the same time hiding others, such as evolutionary change and interdependencies in ecosystems. Since these latter aspects are relevant for, for example, risk evaluation of uncontained uses of synthetic organisms, it is ethically imperative to resist the thrust of machine metaphors in this respect. In addition, from the perspective of the machine metaphor viewing an entity as a moral agent or patient becomes dubious. If one were to regard living beings, including humans, as machines, it becomes difficult to justify ascriptions of moral status. Finally, the machine metaphor reinforces beliefs in the potential of synthetic biology to play a decisive role in solving societal problems, and downplays the role of alternative technological, and social and political measures.

The Analyst's "Use" of Theory or Theories: The Play of Theory.

PubMed

Cooper, Steven H

2017-10-01

Two clinical vignettes demonstrate a methodological approach that guides the analyst's attention to metaphors and surfaces that are the focus of different theories. Clinically, the use of different theories expands the metaphorical language with which the analyst tries to make contact with the patient's unconscious life. Metaphorical expressions may be said to relate to each other as the syntax of unconscious fantasy (Arlow 1979). The unconscious fantasy itself represents a metaphorical construction of childhood experience that has persisted, dynamically expressive and emergent into adult life. This persistence is evident in how, in some instances, long periods of an analysis focus on translating one or a few metaphors, chiefly because the manifest metaphorical expressions of a central theme regularly lead to better understanding of an unconscious fantasy. At times employing another model or theory assists in a level of self-reflection about clinical understanding and clinical decisions. The analyst's choice of theory or theories is unique to the analyst and is not prescriptive, except as illustrating a way to think about these issues. The use of multiple models in no way suggests or implies that theories may be integrated.

Differentiating among pragmatic uses of words through timed sensicality judgments.

PubMed

Bambini, Valentina; Ghio, Marta; Moro, Andrea; Schumacher, Petra B

2013-01-01

Pragmatic and cognitive accounts of figurative language posit a difference between metaphor and metonymy in terms of underlying conceptual operations. Recently, other pragmatic uses of words have been accounted for in the Relevance Theory framework, such as approximation, described in terms of conceptual adjustment that varies in degree and direction with respect to the case of metaphor. Despite the theoretical distinctions, there is very poor experimental evidence addressing the metaphor/metonymy distinction, and none concerning approximation. Here we used meticulously built materials to investigate the interpretation mechanisms of these three phenomena through timed sensicality judgments. Results revealed that interpreting metaphors and approximations differs from literal interpretation both in accuracy and reaction times, with higher difficulty and costs for metaphors than for approximations. This suggests similar albeit gradual interpretative costs, in line with the latest account of Relevance Theory. Metonymy, on the contrary, almost equates literal comprehension and calls for a theoretical distinction from metaphor. Overall, this work represents a first attempt to provide an empirical basis for a theory-sound and psychologically-grounded taxonomy of figurative and loose uses of language.

Differentiating among pragmatic uses of words through timed sensicality judgments

PubMed Central

Bambini, Valentina; Ghio, Marta; Moro, Andrea; Schumacher, Petra B.

2013-01-01

Pragmatic and cognitive accounts of figurative language posit a difference between metaphor and metonymy in terms of underlying conceptual operations. Recently, other pragmatic uses of words have been accounted for in the Relevance Theory framework, such as approximation, described in terms of conceptual adjustment that varies in degree and direction with respect to the case of metaphor. Despite the theoretical distinctions, there is very poor experimental evidence addressing the metaphor/metonymy distinction, and none concerning approximation. Here we used meticulously built materials to investigate the interpretation mechanisms of these three phenomena through timed sensicality judgments. Results revealed that interpreting metaphors and approximations differs from literal interpretation both in accuracy and reaction times, with higher difficulty and costs for metaphors than for approximations. This suggests similar albeit gradual interpretative costs, in line with the latest account of Relevance Theory. Metonymy, on the contrary, almost equates literal comprehension and calls for a theoretical distinction from metaphor. Overall, this work represents a first attempt to provide an empirical basis for a theory-sound and psychologically-grounded taxonomy of figurative and loose uses of language. PMID:24391608

Children's comprehension skill and the understanding of nominal metaphors.

PubMed

Seigneuric, Alix; Megherbi, Hakima; Bueno, Steve; Lebahar, Julie; Bianco, Maryse

2016-10-01

According to Levorato and Cacciari's global elaboration model, understanding figurative language is explained by the same processes and background knowledge that are required for literal language. In this study, we investigated the relation between children's comprehension skill and the ability to understand referential nominal metaphors. Two groups of poor versus good comprehenders (8- to 10-year-olds) matched for word reading and vocabulary skills were invited to identify the referent of nouns used metaphorically or literally in short texts. Compared with good comprehenders, performance of poor comprehenders showed a substantial decrease in the metaphoric condition. Moreover, their performance was strongly affected by the degree of semantic incongruence between the terms of the nominal metaphor. These findings are discussed in relation to several factors, in particular the ability to use contextual information and semantic processing. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Tragic Aspect of Teaching: Hope in Face of Uncertainty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, Kieran

2017-01-01

Educators throughout the ages have offered metaphors and analogies for teaching and teachers. Prominent among them are: gardener, midwife, facilitator, guide, sacrament. Each of these metaphors shed light, from a different angle, on the act of teaching. This article proposes the metaphor of tragedy as a way of shedding new light, from a totally…

On Grounding Metaphors in Space: The Role of Metaphorical Connections in Accessing the Abstract Meanings of English Prepositions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Breaux, Brooke O.

2013-01-01

Indirect metaphors are pervasive in everyday language: People talk about "long" vacations, "short" tempers, and "colorful" language. But, why do we use concrete lexical items that are associated with the physical world when we talk about abstract, or non-physical, concepts? A potential answer is provided by proponents…

Metaphors and the Pejorative Framing of Marginalized Groups: Implications for Social Work Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Brien, Gerald V.

2009-01-01

Although the importance of metaphors is described in the social work literature, few articles or books in the profession have considered the role of metaphors in social policy, especially in providing a negative frame within which marginalized groups can be considered. This negative framing naturally supports aversive social policies designed to…

Principals' Metaphors as a Lens to Understand How They Perceive Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hernández-Amorós, María J.; Martínez Ruiz, María A.

2018-01-01

A prolific number of researchers have chosen to study metaphorical narratives, confirming their usefulness in educational research. The aim of this paper is to analyse the metaphorical expressions used by 68 principals from infant, primary and secondary schools in Alicante (Spain), concerning the way they see the figure of the principal and how it…

Metaphor as a Methodological Tool: Identifying Teachers' Social Justice Dispositions across Diverse Secondary School Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mills, Carmen; Molla, Tebeje; Gale, Trevor; Cross, Russell; Parker, Stephen; Smith, Catherine

2017-01-01

This article investigates the social justice dispositions of teachers and principals in secondary schools as inferred from their metaphoric expressions. Drawing on a Bourdieuian account of disposition, our focus is the use of metaphor as a methodological tool to identify and reveal these otherwise latent forces within our data. Our analysis shows…

To Die, To Sleep: A Contrastive Study of Metaphors for Death and Dying in English and Spanish.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marin-Arrese, Juana I.

1996-01-01

Contrasts the use of metaphors for death and dying in English and Spanish and makes some observations concerning universal and culture-specific conceptualizations. The article points out that the human capacity to conceptualize and reason derives from experience (perceptions, cultural practices, motor activity) and imagination (metaphor, metonymy,…

Betty Is a Bouncing Bubble: Children's Comprehension of Emotion-Descriptive Metaphors.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waggoner, John E.; Palermo, David S.

1989-01-01

Two experiments provide strong evidence that very young children are capable of constructing the meaning of metaphors pertaining to psychological phenomena, even when not given opportunity to derive the meaning of the metaphor from context alone. Subjects at all ages from five years to college age were able to achieve above-chance levels of…

Examining the Use of New Science Metaphors in the Learning Organisation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ng, Pak Tee

2009-01-01

Purpose: In recent years, the new science has become popular in management literature. This involves the use of metaphors from the field of science (e.g. mathematics, chemistry, physics and biology) in the field of management. This paper aims to examine the use of new science metaphors in learning organisation (LO) discourse and research.…

The Haunting of Communication Research by Dead Metaphors: For Reflexive Analyses of the Communication Research Literature.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Christian K.

2001-01-01

Explicates two closely related metaphors about communication in everyday discourse that lead to a picture of communication as an indeterminate process for sharing subjective meanings. Demonstrates the tacit utilization of these metaphors by the Michigan State tradition of compliance-gaining research through examination of both their theory and…

The Serious Use of Play and Metaphor: Legos and Labyrinths

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

James, Alison; Brookfield, Stephen

2013-01-01

In this paper the authors wish to examine kinesthetic forms of learning involving the body and the physical realm. The authors look at two particular techniques; using Legos to build metaphorical models and living the physical experience of metaphors in the shape of labyrinth-walking and its attendant activities. The authors begin by discussing…

Animal Metaphor in Cognitive Linguistics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rouhi, Mehri; Mahand, Mohammad Rasekh

2011-01-01

The phenomenon of AM (animal metaphor) can be discussed based on the class-inclusion model in cognitive linguistics. In this article, we try to prove that this kind of metaphor accords more with this model than with correspondence model of Lakoff. It does not mean that the correspondence model is not valid in this regard, but we argue that…

The Repetition Paradigm: Enhancement of Novel Metaphors and Suppression of Conventional Metaphors in the Left Inferior Parietal Lobe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Subramaniam, Karuna; Faust, Miriam; Beeman, Mark; Mashal, Nira

2012-01-01

The neural mechanisms underlying the process of understanding novel and conventional metaphoric expressions remain unclear largely because the specific brain regions that support the formation of novel semantic relations are still unknown. A well established way to study distinct cognitive processes specifically associated with an event of…

Cognitive Analysis of Chinese-English Metaphors of Animal and Human Body Part Words

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Song, Meiying

2009-01-01

Metaphorical cognition arises from the mapping of two conceptual domains onto each other. According to the "Anthropocentrism", people tend to know the world first by learning about their bodies including Apparatuses. Based on that, people begin to know the material world, and the human body part metaphorization emerges as the times…

Using Metaphors to Know the Conceptions about the Teaching Profession in Initial Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martínez-de-la-Hidalga, Zoe; Villardón-Gallego, Lourdes

2017-01-01

The Conceptions about the teaching profession affect professional performance, and metaphors are a tool to identify them. In this qualitative study metaphors are used to gain insight into conceptions held by pre-service teachers, and their development during Initial Teacher Training in the Bachelor's Degree in Primary Education. A total of 247…

From Students' and Teachers' Perspectives: Metaphor Analysis of Beliefs about EFL Teachers' Roles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wan, Wan; Low, Graham David; Li, Miao

2011-01-01

The paper reports on a study about how a group of Chinese university teachers and two groups of their English major students used personal "teacher" metaphors via a metaphor prompt "An English teacher is...because..." to represent their beliefs relating to EFL teachers' roles. Data sources also included follow-up individual…

Teaching Metaphorical Extensions of Private Events through Rival-Model Observation to Children with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dixon, Mark R.; Belisle, Jordan; Munoz, Bridget E.; Stanley, Caleb R.; Rowsey, Kyle E.

2017-01-01

The study evaluated the efficacy of observational learning using the rival-model technique in teaching three children with autism to state metaphorical statements about emotions when provided a picture, as well as to intraverbally state an appropriate emotion when provided a scenario and corresponding metaphorical emotion. The results provide a…

Metaphor Explanation Attenuates the Right-Hand Preference for Depictive Co-Speech Gestures that Imitate Actions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kita, Sotaro; de Condappa, Olivier; Mohr, Christine

2007-01-01

Differential activation levels of the two hemispheres due to hemispheric specialization for various linguistic processes might determine hand choice for co-speech gestures. To test this hypothesis, we compared hand choices for gesturing in 20 healthy right-handed participants during explanation of metaphorical vs. non-metaphorical meanings, on the…

Improving Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Metaphors and Models for Partnership Consultancy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrison, Keith

2003-01-01

The management of partnerships with external consultants is discussed with reference to seven metaphors of partnership, illuminated by an external consultancy review of teaching and learning in a University Language Centre. Shortcomings are shown in each of the seven metaphors. A model of partnership is advocated, based on Habermas' principles of…

Metaphor Use in a Specific Genre of Engineering Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roldan-Riejos, Ana Maria; Ubeda-Mansilla, Paloma

2006-01-01

The following paper deals with the importance of genre in academic and professional engineering discourse. The main objective is to explore the use of analogy and metaphor in one specific genre, namely civil engineering research journal articles both in English and in Spanish. Thus, we will start by briefly outlining the use of metaphor in…

Computers Track the Elusive Metaphor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guernsey, Lisa

2009-01-01

Computers may not be able to master poetics like Aristotle, but they have become smart enough to know a metaphor when they see one. An online database called The Mind Is a Metaphor, created by Brad Pasanek, an assistant professor of English at the University of Virginia, is a searchable bank of phrases, verses, and lines from literature that…

Educational Supervisors' Metaphorical Roots of Beliefs about Teaching and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buaraphan, Khajornsak

2012-01-01

Beliefs are a complex psychological construct that have potential to drive a person to make decisions and act. A person's metaphors can serve as roots of their beliefs. In this study, the metaphor construction task (MCT) was utilized to uncover beliefs about teaching and learning held by 216 educational supervisors from 10 provinces in the central…

Metaphors and Sense of Teaching: How These Constructs Influence Novice Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Massengill, Donita; Mahlios, Marc; Barry, Arlene

2005-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify the root metaphors of secondary classroom teachers and to observe ways in which these constructs influence teachers' work with their students and their environments. Specifically, five case studies of novice teachers were presented. Results indicated that the metaphor of life as a tree was the most common…

The Fetish of the Lens: Persistent Sexist and Ableist Metaphor in Education Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKnight, Lucinda; Whitburn, Ben

2017-01-01

The scientific metaphor of the lens remains widely used in qualitative education research, despite critiques of positivism. Informed by two recently completed empirical doctoral studies relying on "Metaphors We Live By," we propose that the attachment to the lens is a fetish. We argue that this fetish, evident even in purportedly…

"A Refusal of Strict Patterns of Interpretation": Metaphor, Narrative, and Literary Connections in Katherine Mansfield's "The Fly"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glotova, Elena

2014-01-01

This paper explores how narrative and metaphor combine to articulate the moral and ideological message in a short story "The Fly" by Katherine Mansfield. The research addresses some of the most popular interpretations of the story that demonstrate its ambiguity and intertextual connections. The story metaphorical language is compared…

Metaphorical Perceptions of Teachers, Principals and Staff on School Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kadi, Aysegül; Beytekin, Osman Ferda

2017-01-01

It is necessary to know how the members of a school perceive their school management to investigate how they are related to their organizations. In this case, we can refer to metaphors, which are excellent tools for people to express their subconscious thoughts and perceptions about their organizations. On the other hand, metaphors help us to…

Try to See It My Way: The Discursive Function of Idiosyncratic Mathematical Metaphor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abrahamson, Dor; Gutierrez, Jose F.; Baddorf, Anna K.

2012-01-01

What are the nature, forms, and roles of metaphors in mathematics instruction? We present and closely analyze three examples of idiosyncratic metaphors produced during one-to-one tutorial clinical interviews with 11-year-old participants as they attempted to use unfamiliar artifacts and procedures to reason about realistic probability problems.…

Metaphors of Nature and Development: Reflection on Critical Course of Sustainable Business

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kopnina, Helen

2016-01-01

This article examines the role of metaphors of nature, sustainable development, and neoliberalism in business education. The research underpinning this article focused on a shift in the language business students used in response to a critical course on the neoliberal economic model. Results of the examination of metaphors before and after this…

Metaphorical Conceptualizations of Football Coach through Social Cognitive Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dervent, Fatih; Inan, Mehmet

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the metaphors which were used to describe the concept "football coach" by some stakeholders in football, such as players, club officials and referees. Each individual (N = 389) within the study group was asked to reveal the single metaphor s/he has in mind in respect of the concept of football…

What the Shadow Knows: Exploring the Hidden Dimensions of the Consumer Metaphor in Management Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gross, Michael A.; Hogler, Raymond

2005-01-01

This article aims to uncover hidden dimensions of the metaphor of consumerism in management education. By exploring the metaphor, the authors elucidate the implicit claims in the assertion that teachers produce business education and students consume that product. The image of commodification structures a discourse that involves conceptions of…

Conducting Qualitative Data Analysis: Qualitative Data Analysis as a Metaphoric Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chenail, Ronald J.

2012-01-01

In the second of a series of "how-to" essays on conducting qualitative data analysis, Ron Chenail argues the process can best be understood as a metaphoric process. From this orientation he suggests researchers follow Kenneth Burke's notion of metaphor and see qualitative data analysis as the analyst systematically considering the "this-ness" of…

Dancing on the Heads of Snakes: An Intertextual Analysis of Political Metaphor in Yemen

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Zuraiki, Mokhtar

2013-01-01

This dissertation examines the use and linguistic behavior of the "al-raqs ala ru'oos al-tha'abeen" "dancing on the heads of snakes" metaphor and metaphors about unity in pro-government and anti-government discourse in Yemen. It adopts an intertextual, discourse-based approach that, following Oakley and Coulson (2008),…

New Perspectives--On Art Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Samples, Robert E.

1978-01-01

States that performance in the 3R's improves as the metaphoric and creative capacities are nurtured and that it is an act of prejudice to eliminate from curricula access routes to the metaphoric capacities of human thought. Makes the case for inviting the metaphoric modes of knowing into the basic curriculum as well as to ensure access to the arts…

Applying Metaphor in HRD Research and Practice: Innovative Session.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Short, Darren C.; Ardichvili, Alexander; Daley, Barbara J.; Kalata, Erica; Kraemer, Theresa J.; Kuchinke, K. Peter; Willis, Verna J.

A group of human resource development (HRD) practitioners participated in an innovative session on applying metaphor in HRD research and practice. The session objectives were as follows: (1) facilitate a dialogue between those who wrote for and those who read the Advances in Developing Human Resources (ADHR)issue on metaphor in HRD; (2) extend the…

In the Ellison Tradition: In/Visible Bodies of Adolescent and YA Fiction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, Susan Louise

2009-01-01

When Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" was published in 1952, he could not have known the impact his metaphor of invisibility would have on adolescent and YA literature. However, upon closer inspection, the importance and prevalence of his metaphor becomes evident. Authors of adolescent and YA literature routinely use the metaphor as an intertextual…

Employing imaginative rationality: using metaphor when discussing death.

PubMed

Llewellyn, Rebecca; Jaye, Chrystal; Egan, Richard; Cunningham, Wayne; Young, Jessica; Radue, Peter

2017-03-01

The prevalence of metaphors in medicine is widely acknowledged. In a qualitative study exploring expectations of longevity, we observed repeated recourse to the imaginative rationality provided by metaphors to express perspectives on longevity and death. Bafflement, acceptance, uncertainty and distress were conveyed through metaphors, providing valuable insight into the internal healthcare frameworks of participants. Skilful use of imaginative rationality in the healthcare setting may illuminate the elusive and often eschewed topic of death in a way that fosters clarity and new understandings, and pave the way towards a better life, and death for patients. By becoming aware of the nuances contained within patients'-as well as their own-metaphors, clinicians may enhance patients' overall healthcare experience and avert unintended miscommunication. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

The Interactive Origin and the Aesthetic Modelling of Image-Schemas and Primary Metaphors.

PubMed

Martínez, Isabel C; Español, Silvia A; Pérez, Diana I

2018-06-02

According to the theory of conceptual metaphor, image-schemas and primary metaphors are preconceptual structures configured in human cognition, based on sensory-motor environmental activity. Focusing on the way both non-conceptual structures are embedded in early social interaction, we provide empirical evidence for the interactive and intersubjective ontogenesis of image-schemas and primary metaphors. We present the results of a multimodal image-schematic microanalysis of three interactive infant-directed performances (the composition of movement, touch, speech, and vocalization that adults produce for-and-with the infants). The microanalyses show that adults aesthetically highlight the image-schematic structures embedded in the multimodal composition of the performance, and that primary metaphors are also lived as embedded in these inter-enactive experiences. The findings allow corroborating that the psychological domains of cognition and affection are not in rivalry or conflict but rather intertwined in meaningful experiences.

Order from noise: Toward a social theory of geographic information

USGS Publications Warehouse

Poore, B.S.; Chrisman, N.R.

2006-01-01

In the so-called Information Age, it is surprising that the concept of information is imprecisely defined and almost taken for granted. Historic and recent geographic information science (GIScience) literature relies on two conflicting metaphors, often espoused by the same author in adjacent paragraphs. The metaphor of invariance, derived from telecommunications engineering, defines information as a thing to be transported without loss through a conduit. Another metaphor, originating in the utopian movements of the 19th century, locates information within a hierarchy of refinement-a stopping place on the path to convert mere data into higher forms of knowledge and perhaps to wisdom. Both metaphors rely on long-forgotten debates outside geography and preclude us from seeing that there are important social and ethical concerns in the relationship between geographic information technologies and society. We examine the conflicts between competing metaphors and propose a social theory of geographic information. ?? 2006 by Association of American Geographers.

Counterintuitive Religious Ideas and Metaphoric Thinking: An Event-Related Brain Potential Study.

PubMed

Fondevila, Sabela; Aristei, Sabrina; Sommer, Werner; Jiménez-Ortega, Laura; Casado, Pilar; Martín-Loeches, Manuel

2016-05-01

It has been shown that counterintuitive ideas from mythological and religious texts are more acceptable than other (non-religious) world knowledge violations. In the present experiment we explored whether this relates to the way they are interpreted (literal vs. metaphorical). Participants were presented with verification questions that referred to either the literal or a metaphorical meaning of the sentence previously read (counterintuitive religious, counterintuitive non-religious and intuitive), in a block-wise design. Both behavioral and electrophysiological results converged. At variance to the literal interpretation of the sentences, the induced metaphorical interpretation specifically facilitated the integration (N400 amplitude decrease) of religious counterintuitions, whereas the semantic processing of non-religious counterintuitions was not affected by the interpretation mode. We suggest that religious ideas tend to operate like other instances of figurative language, such as metaphors, facilitating their acceptability despite their counterintuitive nature. Copyright © 2015 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Building metaphors and extending models of grief.

PubMed

VandeCreek, L

1985-01-01

Persons in grief turn to metaphors as they seek to understand and express their experience. Metaphors illustrated in this article include "grief is a whirlwind," "grief is the Great Depression all over again" and "grief is gray, cloudy and rainy weather." Hospice personnel can enhance their bereavement efforts by identifying and cultivating the expression of personal metaphors from patients and families. Two metaphors have gained wide cultural acceptance and lie behind contemporary scientific explorations of grief. These are "grief is recovery from illness" (Bowlby and Parkes) and "death is the last stage of growth and grief is the adjustment reaction to this growth" (Kubler-Ross). These models have developed linear perspectives of grief but have neglected to study the fluctuating intensity of symptoms. Adopting Worden's four-part typology of grief, the author illustrates how the pie graph can be used to display this important aspect of the grief experience, thus enhancing these models.

Metaphor and analogy in everyday problem solving.

PubMed

Keefer, Lucas A; Landau, Mark J

2016-11-01

Early accounts of problem solving focused on the ways people represent information directly related to target problems and possible solutions. Subsequent theory and research point to the role of peripheral influences such as heuristics and bodily states. We discuss how metaphor and analogy similarly influence stages of everyday problem solving: Both processes mentally map features of a target problem onto the structure of a relatively more familiar concept. When individuals apply this structure, they use a well-known concept as a framework for reasoning about real world problems and candidate solutions. Early studies found that analogy use helped people gain insight into novel problems. More recent research on metaphor goes further to show that activating mappings has subtle, sometimes surprising effects on judgment and reasoning in everyday problem solving. These findings highlight situations in which mappings can help or hinder efforts to solve problems. WIREs Cogn Sci 2016, 7:394-405. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1407 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Break the "wall" and become creative: Enacting embodied metaphors in virtual reality.

PubMed

Wang, Xinyue; Lu, Kelong; Runco, Mark A; Hao, Ning

2018-07-01

This study investigated whether the experience of "breaking the walls", the embodiment of the metaphor "breaking the rules", could enhance creative performance. The virtual reality technology was used to simulate the scenario where participants could "break the walls" while walking in a corridor. Participants were asked to solve the creativity-demanding problems (ie., alternative uses tasks, AUT) in either the "break" condition in which they had to break the walls to move forward in VR, or the "no-break" condition where no barrier walls would appear. Results showed higher AUT originality and AUT fluency in the "break" condition than in the "no-break" condition. Moreover, the effects of "breaking the walls" on AUT originality were fully mediated by cognitive flexibility and persistence. These findings may indicate that enacting metaphors such as "breaking the rules" contribute to creative performance. The enhanced cognitive flexibility and persistence may account for the benefits. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using metaphor to translate the science of resilience and developmental outcomes.

PubMed

Kendall-Taylor, Nathaniel; Haydon, Abigail

2016-07-01

Developmental scientists have used a variety of linguistic devices to communicate the science of resilience, but their effectiveness at improving understanding and expanding support for evidence-based social policies has not been empirically tested. We describe the process of developing, testing, and refining an Explanatory Metaphor to communicate the science of resilience to the public and policymakers. We argue that public understanding is key to bridging the research-to-practice divide and that communications is a social science endeavor in its own right that requires careful empirical research. © The Author(s) 2014.

Children's Use of Metaphors in Relation To Their Mental Models: The Case of the Ozone Layer and Its Depletion.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christidou, Vasilia; Koulaidis, Vasilis; Christidis, Theodor

1997-01-01

Examines the relationship between children's use of metaphors and their mental models concerning the ozone layer and ozone layer depletion. Results indicate that the way children represent the role and depletion of ozone is strongly correlated with the types of metaphors they use while constructing and/or articulating their models. Also discusses…

Metaphorical Mirror: Reflecting on Our Personal Pursuits to Discover and Challenge Our Teaching Practice Assumptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagenheim, Gary; Clark, Robert; Crispo, Alexander W.

2008-01-01

The goal of this paper is to examine how our personal pursuits--hobbies, activities, interests, and sports--can serve as a metaphor to reflect who we are in our teaching practice. This paper explores the notion that our favorite personal pursuits serve as metaphorical mirrors to reveal deeper assumptions we hold about the skills, values, and…

Trauma in Schools -- Understanding Staff Reactions through the Application of Psychoanalytic Concepts and Systemic Metaphors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenway, Carol

2005-01-01

As an educational psychologist taking up a therapeutic role in schools following a traumatic event I have struggled to make sense of what happens. This paper is structured around three metaphors that are informed by psychoanalytic thinking, which work both at the individual level and the systemic level. These metaphors have helped me objectify the…

Toward a Rhetorical Theory of Metaphor: A Transactive Analysis of Metaphor in the Arts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bannister, Linda; And Others

Three professors at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, reflected about a course they taught together on the use of metaphor in language, art and literature. In examining a wide range of art works with their students, including prose by E. A. Poe, Nancy Mairs, Henry James, and Woody Allen and movies such as "Dr.…

Towards a Taxonomy of Metaphorical Graphical User Interfaces: Demands and Implementations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cates, Ward Mitchell

The graphical user interface (GUI) has become something of a standard for instructional programs in recent years. One type of GUI is the metaphorical type. For example, the Macintosh GUI is based on the "desktop" metaphor where objects one manipulates within the GUI are implied to be objects one might find in a real office's desktop.…

Building Coping Skills on a Firm Foundation: Using a Metaphorical Interface To Deliver Stress Management Instruction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berkley, Jeannette; Cates, Ward Mitchell

This paper examines the benefits of a metaphorical graphical user interface (GUI) and discusses how metaphorical interfaces can be used to deliver instruction on stress management. A computer-based instructional (CBI) program for college students was developed on the fundamentals of stress and the role of time management as a coping strategy. The…

The Role of Metaphor in Darwin and the Implications for Teaching Evolution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pramling, Niklas

2009-01-01

This article is about the role of metaphor in scientific knowledge formation and reasoning. These issues are studied by means of an example of the theory of evolution through natural selection. The premise is that the theory of evolution contains a set of problems regarding metaphor. A second premise is that these problems have to be handled in…

Discussing Education by Means of Metaphors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guilherme, Alex; Souza de Freitas, Ana Lucia

2018-01-01

Metaphors help us understand a concept by resorting to the imaginary because it is sometimes difficult to do so through the use of words alone. Thinkers have made use of metaphors to not only describe 'falling in love', 'the pain of losing someone dear to us', but also to describe particular concepts both in arts and sciences. In fact, the use of…

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: An Examination of Certificated Teachers' Metaphorical Images of Schooling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soysal, Yilmaz; Radmard, Somayyeh

2017-01-01

This study explored the metaphors of schooling generated by prospective teachers (N = 157) in Turkey who were attending a teacher training program to be certificated for the teaching profession. The schooling (teacher, learner, school) metaphors of certificated teachers were collected by using concept prompts such as "A teacher is like ……

The Use of Metaphoric Language in Introducing Video and Computer Technology in Preservice Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Penn-Edwards, Sorrel

2015-01-01

This paper argues that the use of metaphoric language is common in non-literary fields of learning. Considering its potential for application as evidenced by reference in books, journal papers, e-zine discussions and blogs, and the historical time over which metaphors have been engaged in rhetoric, it is surprising that there is little allusion to…

Keep Your Eye on the Metaphor: The Framing of the Common Core on Twitter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Supovitz, Jonathan; Reinkordt, Elisabeth

2017-01-01

Issue framing is a powerful way for advocates to appeal to the value systems of constituency groups to evoke their support. Using a conceptual framework that focused on radial frames, metaphors, and lexical markers, we examined the linguistic choices that Common Core opponents used on Twitter to activate five central metaphors that reinforced the…

An fMRI Investigation of the Neural Correlates Underlying the Processing of Novel Metaphoric Expressions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mashal, N.; Faust, M.; Hendler, T.; Jung-Beeman, M.

2007-01-01

The neural networks associated with processing related pairs of words forming literal, novel, and conventional metaphorical expressions and unrelated pairs of words were studied in a group of 15 normal adults using fMRI. Subjects read the four types of linguistic expressions and decided which relation exists between the two words (metaphoric,…

The Epistemic Role of Novel Metaphors in Teachers' Knowledge Constructions of School Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Craig, Cheryl J.

2005-01-01

In this article, a parallel is drawn between Steven Hawking's use of common and novel metaphors in his evolving explanation of the theory of the universe and the similar use of common and novel metaphors by educators in four school contexts attempting to illuminate their experiences of school reform storied and restoried over time. The epistemic…

Metaphors as Two-Way Mirrors: Illuminating Preservice to In-Service Teacher Identity Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buchanan, John

2015-01-01

The transition from pre-service to in-service can be difficult for teachers. One means of looking into the minds and hearts of such teachers is to elicit the metaphors they adopt for themselves. Previous studies have indicated that during this transition much of the confidence, idealism and optimism of teacher metaphors is displaced by bleak and…

Training the Brain or Tending a Garden? Students' Metaphors of Learning Predict Self-Reported Learning Patterns

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wegner, Elisabeth; Nückles, Matthias

2015-01-01

Conceptions of learning are seen as an important factor in shaping students' patterns of learning. However, conceptions are often implicit and difficult to assess. Metaphors have been proposed as a method to assess conceptions, because metaphors are closely linked to the conceptual system. Therefore, in our study we assessed which conceptions of…

A Corpus-Based Stylistic Analysis of "Body-Soul" and "Heaviness-Lightness" Metaphors in Kundera's Novel "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hussein, Khalid Shakir; Ameer, May Ali Abdul

2015-01-01

This paper represents an attempt to conduct a corpus-based stylistic analysis of two conceptual metaphors in "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," which is a novel written by Milan Kundera. "Soul-body" and "lightness-heaviness" metaphors are foregrounded as being central themes all through the novel. The way such…

Towards a Critical Re-Appraisal of Ecology Education: Scheduling an Educational Intervention to Revisit the "Balance of Nature" Metaphor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hovardas, Tasos; Korfiatis, Konstantinos

2011-01-01

The "Balance of Nature" metaphor is a pervasive idea in ecology. However, the scientific community acknowledged during the last decades that equilibrium conditions are rare, while disturbance events are not uncommon. We suggest that the exclusive teaching of the "Balance of Nature" metaphor produces cultural, scientific and learning misconceptions…

The Use of Death Metaphors to Understand Personal Meaning of Death among Hong Kong Chinese Undergraduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheung, Wing-Shan; Ho, Samuel M. Y.

2004-01-01

Many Chinese words are pictographic in nature and Chinese people often tend to use metaphorical expressions to communicate emotional feelings. The assessment of death images and metaphors provides a meaningful way of understanding personal perceptions of death among the Chinese. The purpose of this study was to establish an instrument to assess…

The Metaphorical Department Head: Using Metaphors as Analytic Tools to Investigate the Role of Department Head

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paranosic, Nikola; Riveros, Augusto

2017-01-01

This paper reports the results of a study that examined the ways a group of department heads in Ontario, Canada, describe their role. Despite their ubiquity and importance, department heads have been seldom investigated in the educational leadership literature. The study uses the metaphor as an analytic tool to examine the ways participants talked…

Problematizing the STEM Pipeline Metaphor: Is the STEM Pipeline Metaphor Serving Our Students and the STEM Workforce?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cannady, Matthew A.; Greenwald, Eric; Harris, Kimberly N.

2014-01-01

Researchers and policy makers often use the metaphor of an ever-narrowing pipeline to describe the trajectory to a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) degree or career. This study interrogates the appropriateness of the STEM pipeline as the dominant frame for understanding and making policies related to STEM career trajectories.…

Using Metaphor Theory to Examine Conceptions of Energy in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lancor, Rachael

2014-01-01

Energy is one of the most important unifying themes in science. Yet the way energy is conceptualized varies depending on context. In this paper, the discourse used to explain the role of energy in systems from biology, chemistry, and physics is examined from the perspective of metaphor theory. Six substance metaphors for energy are identified in…

In the Same Boat? On Metaphor Variation as Mediating the Individual Voice in Organizational Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Argaman, Einav

2008-01-01

This paper discusses the notion of metaphor variation, and argues that it may play a significant role as a linguistic tool for positioning the subjects in a given organizational change. More specifically, it is argued that metaphor variation enables the subject to corroborate the organization's centripetal forces on the one hand, and to express…

Metaphorical Salience in Artistic Text Processing: Evidence From Eye Movement.

PubMed

Novikova, Eleonora G; Janyan, Armina; Tsaregorodtseva, Oksana V

2015-01-01

The study aimed to explore processing difference between a literal phrase and a metaphoric one. Unlike artificially created stimuli in most experimental research, an artistic text with an ambiguous binary metaphoric phrase was used. Eye tracking methodology was applied. Results suggested difference between the two types of phrases in both early and late processing measures. © The Author(s) 2015.

The Atypical Development of Metaphor and Metonymy Comprehension in Children with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rundblad, Gabriella; Annaz, Dagmara

2010-01-01

One of the most noticeable problems in autism involves the social use of language such as metaphor and metonymy, both of which are very common in daily language use. The present study is the first to investigate the development of metaphor and metonymy comprehension in autism. Eleven children with autism were compared to 17 typically developing…

The metaphorical and mythical use of the kidney in antiquity.

PubMed

Maio, G

1999-01-01

While the Syrians and the Arabs viewed the liver as the center of life, the kidneys, in contrast, held a primary place of importance in Israel. In Hebrew tradition, they were considered to be the most important internal organs along with the heart. In the Old Testament most frequently the kidneys are associated with the most inner stirrings of emotional life. But they are also viewed as the seat of the secret thoughts of the human; they are used as an omen metaphor, as a metaphor for moral discernment, for reflection and inspiration. This field of tension in metaphoric usage is resolved under the conception of the kidneys as life center. In the Old Testament the kidneys thus are primarily used as metaphor for the core of the person, for the area of greatest vulnerability. For us today, this metaphorical use of the kidneys has lost its meaning. One reason for its disappearance is certainly the monopoly of causal-analytic rationality in science of today. The kidney has developed from myth to organ, and with this transition a variety of perspectives and ways of looking at knowledge inherent in imaginative thought have been lost. But the metaphor uncovers a deeper level of truth, it represents another form of reconstruction of reality which needs not necessarily be subordinate to the scientific rationality. Today as well, these imaginative ideas can provide an approach to an essential level of reality which may otherwise remain hidden.

Stuck with/in a 'turn': Can we metaphorize better in Science and Technology Studies?

PubMed

Vasileva, Bistra

2015-06-01

This contribution encourages loosening the cast-iron mould of the 'turn' metaphor that the practices of general and ontology-related turn-talking/making in Science and Technology Studies forge and fortify. Could framing novel themes and thinking in terms of 'turn' be as good as fettering? Not specific to the 'ontological turn' or 'turn to ontology', but haunting Science and Technology Studies across the board to signify supposed tidal change, the metaphor warrants dissection. Thus, this commentary expounds four distinct yet not unrelated versions of 'turn'--rotation, change of course/direction, change in general and occasion/opportunity to act--together with the worlds they beget. Then, the operation of these 'turns' in the debates on the 'ontological turn' is pursued. Enactments of the first three modes/moulds of 'turn', all entailing and tainted by the inexorable directedness of change the coupled 'turn to' framing imparts, either debunk or qualify the extent of the professed 'turn', with the effect of betraying its conceptual and methodological offerings. The fourth version, less substitutable with 'turn to' and thus less infected by intransigent directedness, escapes the rigidity that diminishes the value of ontology-minded studies. Clear of either a resolution to the debate or an alternative trope to cure the maladies of 'turn', the conclusion wishes to open space for pondering how to metaphorize more consciously and judiciously evolution and innovation in Science and Technology Studies.

Metaphors about violence by preservice teachers.

PubMed

Özabaci, Nilüfer; Erkan, Zülal

2015-03-01

Violence consists of a pattern of coercive behaviors used by a competent adult or adolescent to establish and maintain power and control over another competent adult or adolescent. These behaviors, which can occur alone or in combination, sporadically or continually, include physical violence, psychological abuse, talking, and nonconsensual sexual behavior. Research indicates that different types of violence are used as a means of enforcing discipline in the family and the school context. Children and adolescents who grow up in an environment where violence has a natural place tend to resort to violence at every stage of their lives without question. The aim of this research was therefore to preservice teachers' perception of the concept of violence through the use of metaphors. Accordingly, answers to the following questions were sought: What metaphors do the youth use to describe the concept of violence? Under which conceptual categories can these metaphors be grouped in terms of their common features? How do the conceptual categories vary in relation to the students' gender and the subjects they study at university? The study was conducted in 2009 with the help of 303 students at Mersin University and Eskişehir Osmangazi University (Faculty of Education). Incomplete statements such as "Violence is like..., because..." were used in an attempt to understand the students' perception of violence. The students were given questionnaire to complete the statements. Demographic questions were also asked on the students'age, gender and departments. The data were analyzed through qualitative analysis, and processes such as frequency distribution and quantitative correlation data were evaluated through SPSS data analysis. It emerged that the students used 74 metaphors of violence that could be divided into seven categories: (1) Violence as a way of controlling others; 2) Violence as part of social and affective life; (3) Violence as devastation; (4) Violence as learned helplessness; (5) Violence as a consequence of poor communication; (6) Violence as a phenomenon with psychological and physical effects; (7) Violence as a state of mind with long-term ongoing effects. The findings on these categories are presented and recommendations made. The analysis of the research results according to the students' departments indicated that the metaphors describing violence were grouped mainly under the theme (category) of "Violence as a way of controlling others". As the students in these fields of study received an education focused more on concrete and precise facts, they tended to perceive violence in a more conceptual way.

"Commedia Dell'Arte" as a Metaphor for the Art of Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morse, Robert A.

2015-01-01

With my background in acting, stagecraft, and some knowledge of theatre history from high school and college, it was natural for me as a novice teacher to think about theatre as a metaphor for teaching. In this article I will discuss how over my career I conceived of teaching in terms of theatrical metaphors, and make a comparison with a common…

Medical Educators' Metaphoric Talk about Their Assessment Relationships with Students: "You Don't Want to Sort of Be the One Who Sticks the Knife in Them"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rees, Charlotte E.; Knight, Lynn V.; Cleland, Jennifer A.

2009-01-01

Current perspectives in cognitive linguistics highlight the conceptual nature of cognition and how the conceptual metaphors we hold affect ways we think, talk and act. This study examines medical educators' metaphoric talk to understand ways in which assessment relationships with students are conceptualised in order to understand why educators…

Resilient cities: meaning, models, and metaphor for integrating the ecological, socio-economic, and planning realms

Treesearch

S.T.A. Pickett; M.L. Cadenasso; J.M. Grove

2004-01-01

Urban designers, ecologists, and social scientists have called for closer links among their disciplines. We examine a promising new tool for promoting this linkage—the metaphor of "cities of resilience." To put this tool to best use, we indicate how metaphor fits with other conceptual tools in science. We then present the two opposing definitions of...

Chaos Theory & Higher Education: Leadership, Planning, & Policy. Higher Education: Questions about the Purpose(s) of Colleges & Universities. Volume 9.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cutright, Marc, Ed.

This anthology considers some ways that chaos theory might be not only a descriptive metaphor for the conditions of leadership, planning, and policy in higher education, but also a prescriptive metaphor that might be used to improve these functions and others. The essays are: (1) "Introduction: Metaphor, Chaos Theory, and This Book" (Marc…

On the Significance of Conceptual Metaphors in Teaching and Learning Science: Commentary on Lancor; Niebert and Gropengiesser; and Fuchs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Treagust, David F.; Duit, Reinders

2015-01-01

The role of analogies and metaphors has played a significant part in the work on teaching and learning science. This commentary discusses three papers from this current issue that cover a wide range of studies in the spirit of conceptual metaphors--ranging from a study somewhat similar to "classical" conceptual change, to a teacher…

The Role of Metaphors in Fostering Macrocognitive Processes in Distributed Teams

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-07-30

temporal dynamics, and storytelling towards the goal of improving team coordination and performance in distributed decision making teams. Specifically...better reflect the context of organizational and military teams and 3) to investigate how storytelling (complex form of metaphor) can be used as a...Information Sharing, Situation Awareness, Storytelling , Metaphors, Reflexivity.Team Simulation, NeoCITIES 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: a. REPORT b

Engineering good: how engineering metaphors help us to understand the moral life and change society.

PubMed

Coeckelbergh, Mark

2010-06-01

Engineering can learn from ethics, but ethics can also learn from engineering. In this paper, I discuss what engineering metaphors can teach us about practical philosophy. Using metaphors such as calculation, performance, and open source, I articulate two opposing views of morality and politics: one that relies on images related to engineering as science and one that draws on images of engineering practice. I argue that the latter view and its metaphors provide a more adequate way to understand and guide the moral life. Responding to two problems of alienation and taking into account developments such as Fab Lab I then further explore the implications of this view for engineering and society.

Understanding metaphors and idioms: a single-case neuropsychological study in a person with Down syndrome.

PubMed

Papagno, C; Vallar, G

2001-05-01

The ability of subject F.F., diagnosed with Down syndrome, to appreciate nonliteral (interpreting metaphors and idioms) and literal (vocabulary knowledge, including highly specific and unusual items) aspects of language was investigated. F.F. was impaired in understanding both metaphors and idioms, while her phonological, syntactic and lexical-semantic skills were largely preserved. By contrast, some aspects of F.F.'s executive functions and many visuospatial abilities were defective. The suggestion is made that the interpretation of metaphors and idioms is largely independent of that of literal language, preserved in F.F., and that some executive aspects of working memory and visuospatial and imagery processes may play a role.

"I am a waste of breath, of space, of time": metaphors of self in a pro-anorexia group.

PubMed

Bates, Carolina Figueras

2015-02-01

According to recent research on eating disorders, heavy users of pro-anorexia (pro-ana) sites show higher levels of disordered eating and more severe impairment of quality of life than non-heavy users. A better understanding of how pro-ana members self-present in the virtual world could shed some light on these offline behaviors. Through discourse analysis, I examined the metaphors the members of a pro-ana group invoked in their personal profiles on a popular social networking site, to talk about the self. I applied the Metaphor Identification Procedure to 757 text profiles. I identified four key metaphorical constructions in pro-ana members' self-descriptions: self as space, self as weight, perfecting the self, and the social self. These four main metaphors represented discourse strategies, both to create a collective pro-ana identity and to enact an individual identity as pro-ana. In this article, I discuss the implications of these findings for the treatment of eating disorders. © The Author(s) 2014.

Evolution of the personal teaching models of prospective secondary school science teachers as expressed through metaphors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mellado, Lucía; de la Montaña, Juan L.; Luengo, María Rosa; Bermejo, María Luisa

2018-02-01

This study analyses the evolution of the personal metaphors of 31 science graduates enrolled in a Master's degree course in Secondary Education Teaching during the 2012-13 academic year. The instrument used was an open questionnaire that included asking the participants to make drawings representing the roles of the teacher. Four categories of metaphor were considered: behaviourist/transmissive, cognitivist/constructivist, situative/socio-historical, and self-referential. It was found that most of the prospective teachers were indeed able to conceptualize their roles in the form of metaphors. Comparison of the results before and after the teaching practicum revealed no changes in most of the participants' metaphors and associated models. Instead, these appeared to be firmly set already at the beginning of the Master's course, and remained uninfluenced by either the course or the practicum. Only a minority of the participants showed changes in their metaphors—5 with progressive changes, and 5 with regressive changes.

Love-hate for man-machine metaphors in Soviet physiology: from Pavlov to "physiological cybernetics".

PubMed

Gerovitch, Slava

2002-06-01

This article reinterprets the debate between orthodox followers of the Pavlovian reflex theory and Soviet "cybernetic physiologists" in the 1950s and 60s as a clash of opposing man-machine metaphors. While both sides accused each other of "mechanistic," reductionist methodology, they did not see anything "mechanistic" about their own central metaphors: the telephone switchboard metaphor for nervous activity (the Pavlovians), and the analogies between the human brain and a computer (the cyberneticians). I argue that the scientific utility of machine analogies was closely intertwined with their philosophical and political meanings and that new interpretations of these metaphors emerged as a result of political conflicts and a realignment of forces within the scientific community and in society at large. I suggest that the constant travel of man-machine analogies, back and forth between physiology and technology has blurred the traditional categories of the "mechanistic" and the "organic" in Soviet neurophysiology, as perhaps in the history of physiology in general.

Betting is Loving and Bettors are Predators: A Conceptual Metaphor Approach to Online Sports Betting Advertising.

PubMed

Lopez-Gonzalez, Hibai; Guerrero-Solé, Frederic; Estévez, Ana; Griffiths, Mark

2017-10-30

The legalisation of online gambling in multiple territories has caused a growth in the exposure of consumers to online sports betting (OSB) advertising. While some efforts have been made to understand the visible structure of betting promotional messages, little is known about the latent components of OSB advertisements. The present study sought to address this issue by examining the metaphorical conceptualisation of OSB advertising. A sample of Spanish and British television OSB advertisements from 2014 to 2016 was analysed (N = 133). Following Lakoff and Johnson's conceptual metaphor theory, four main structural metaphors that shaped how OSB advertising can be understood were identified: betting as (1) an act of love, (2) a market, (3) a sport, and (4) a natural environment. In general, these metaphors, which were found widely across 29 different betting brands, facilitated the perception of bettors as active players, with an executive role in the sport events bet upon, and greater control over bet outcomes.

The use of religious metaphors by UK newspapers to describe and denigrate climate change.

PubMed

Woods, Ruth; Fernández, Ana; Coen, Sharon

2012-04-01

British newspapers have denigrated anthropogenic climate change by misrepresenting scientific consensus and/or framing climate change within unsympathetic discourses. One aspect of the latter that has not been studied is the use of metaphor to disparage climate change science and proponents. This article analyses 122 British newspaper articles published using a religious metaphor between summer 2003 and 2008. Most were critical of climate change, especially articles in conservative newspapers The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and The Times. Articles used religion as a source of metaphor to denigrate climate change in two ways: (1) undermining its scientific status by presenting it as irrational faith-based religion, and proponents as religious extremists intolerant of criticism; (2) mocking climate change using notions of sin, e.g. describing 'green' behaviours as atonement or sacrifice. We argue that the religious metaphor damages constructive debate by emphasizing morality and how climate change is discussed, and detracting attention from the content of scientific data and theories.

'Schizophrenia' as a metaphor in greek newspaper websites.

PubMed

Athanasopoulou, Christina; Välimäki, Maritta

2014-01-01

Often, newspapers use the term 'schizophrenia' as a metaphor with negative connotations. The use of the term in Greek newspapers, has never been investigated. The aim of this study is to examine how the term 'schizophrenia' is used in Greek newspaper websites. For 2014, 'To Vima', 'Kathimerini', and 'Eleftherotypia', were the most popular newspaper websites. By searching the term 'schizophrenia' in Greek ('σχιζo&phi;ρενεια'), the first fifty results were collected from the three websites (N=150). Deductive content analysis was applied. Out of the included articles (N=140), the majority were news (n=39, 28%), while more than a third (n=48, 34%) reported schizophrenia as a metaphor. The metaphoric use of 'schizophrenia' indicated predominately incoherence/contradiction/split (n=43, 90%). Monitoring how schizophrenia is presented within popular media is crucial, since it could influence public perceptions regarding the disorder. Continual use of schizophrenia as a metaphor could contribute to maintaining the stigma attached to mental illness.

Transforming impostors into heroes. Metaphors for innovative nursing education.

PubMed

Heinrich, K T

1997-01-01

Nurses negotiating professional transitions, whether they are entering an academic program or assuming a new role in the workplace, often feel like impostors. The metaphor of the hero can serve as an "antidote" to the impostor syndrome. The author describes an educational experience shaped around the impostor and hero metaphors that integrates feminist process with expressive methods to transform nurses' perceptions of themselves from impostors into heroes.

"So Let's Talk. Let's Chat. Let's Start a Dialog": An Analysis of the Conversation Metaphor Employed in Clinton's and Obama's YouTube Campaign Clips

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duman, Steve; Locher, Miriam A.

2008-01-01

This paper examines how two American presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, make use of a VIDEO EXCHANGE IS CONVERSATION metaphor on YouTube, a channel of communication that allows the exchange of video clips on the Internet. It is argued that the politicians exploit the metaphor for its connotations of creating involvement and…

Open Pandora's Box: Curiosity and Imagination in the Classroom. Thomas H. Wright Lecture. Occasional Paper Series, Summer 2006.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engel, Susan

2006-01-01

The author of this article examines two powerful metaphors that have shaped the way people have thought about young children over the past 75 years or so, and argues that these two models are off base. These metaphors are "The Wild Child" and "The Little Scientist." The earlier of these two metaphors is that of the Wild Child, which hearkens back…

Psychosomatic symptoms as biomarkers: transcending the psyche-soma dichotomy.

PubMed

Neuman, Yair

2010-01-01

Following the advancement in understanding dynamical systems, the author presents a novel metaphor of psychosomatic symptoms as low-dimensional biomarkers. This metaphor, which transcends the old binary of psyche-soma, resonates with classical psychoanalytic concepts and with Matte-Blanco's idea of repetition as indicative of dimensionality reduction. The relevance of this metaphor for explanation, diagnosis, and treatment is illustrated through a case study of a male patient suffering from hyperprolactinemia.

Neural activity associated with metaphor comprehension: spatial analysis.

PubMed

Sotillo, María; Carretié, Luis; Hinojosa, José A; Tapia, Manuel; Mercado, Francisco; López-Martín, Sara; Albert, Jacobo

2005-01-03

Though neuropsychological data indicate that the right hemisphere (RH) plays a major role in metaphor processing, other studies suggest that, at least during some phases of this processing, a RH advantage may not exist. The present study explores, through a temporally agile neural signal--the event-related potentials (ERPs)--, and through source-localization algorithms applied to ERP recordings, whether the crucial phase of metaphor comprehension presents or not a RH advantage. Participants (n=24) were submitted to a S1-S2 experimental paradigm. S1 consisted of visually presented metaphoric sentences (e.g., "Green lung of the city"), followed by S2, which consisted of words that could (i.e., "Park") or could not (i.e., "Semaphore") be defined by S1. ERPs elicited by S2 were analyzed using temporal principal component analysis (tPCA) and source-localization algorithms. These analyses revealed that metaphorically related S2 words showed significantly higher N400 amplitudes than non-related S2 words. Source-localization algorithms showed differential activity between the two S2 conditions in the right middle/superior temporal areas. These results support the existence of an important RH contribution to (at least) one phase of metaphor processing and, furthermore, implicate the temporal cortex with respect to that contribution.