Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 12, 2026

Eye Tracking During Visually Situated Language Comprehension: Flexibility and Limitations in Uncovering Visual Context Effects
Published on: November 30, 2018
Analogy use in naturalistic settings: the influence of audience, emotion, and goals
1Department of Psychology, University of London, Birbeck College, United Kingdom. kevin.n.dunbar@dartmouth.edu
Abstract:
The ways in which analogy was used in a nonexperimental environment-politics-was investigated. We used the framework developed in analogy research to analyze the selection of analogical sources in political discourse. We took all the analogies reported in newspapers during the final week of a referendum campaign in Canada and analyzed the features of the different analogies used. We identified 234 analogies and analyzed the range over which analogies were used, semantic categories of analogies, goals of the analogizer, and emotional connotation of the analogies. Our results reveal that analogy was frequently used, that over two-thirds of the analogical sources were nonpolitical, and that many of the sources had strong emotional connotations. Furthermore, the goal of the analogizer influenced the selection of sources. We conclude that characteristics of the audience and emotionality of the source analog are important features in the selection of source analogs.
Related Concept Videos
Naturalistic Observations
Framing Effects
Nonconscious Mimicry
Routes of Persuasion
Causes of Social Behavior I: Actions and Characteristics of Individuals
Non-Verbal Cues

