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Semantic priming effect of metaphor constituent terms
1Department of Educational Psychology, School of Education, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. keikon@mn.waseda.ac.jp
Perceptual and Motor Skills
|April 23, 2003
Summary
Metaphor comprehension is asymmetric. Priming effects occur when the vehicle term precedes the topic term, but not vice versa, challenging prior research on metaphor constituents.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Linguistics
- Psycholinguistics
Background:
- Prior research by Camac and Glucksberg found no priming effect between metaphor constituents.
- This prior work overlooked the asymmetry inherent in metaphor constituent roles.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of constituent order in metaphor comprehension.
- To replicate previous findings under conditions accounting for constituent asymmetry.
Main Methods:
- Japanese participants processed Japanese metaphoric sentences.
- The experiment manipulated the order of metaphor constituents (topic and vehicle) as primes and targets.
Main Results:
- A significant priming effect was observed when the vehicle term preceded the topic term.
- No priming effect was found when the topic term preceded the vehicle term.
Conclusions:
- Metaphor comprehension exhibits directional asymmetry.
- Findings support the class inclusion model of metaphor processing, highlighting the vehicle's role in establishing the metaphorical mapping.