Authorial intentions and metaphor comprehension

Area of Science:

• Psycholinguistics
• Cognitive Psychology
• Literary Theory

Background:

• Figurative language comprehension is a complex cognitive process.
• The role of authorial intent in understanding non-literal language remains an area of exploration.
• Previous research has not fully elucidated how perceived authorship influences metaphor interpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of authorial intentions on metaphor comprehension.
• To determine if attributing metaphors to intentional agents (poets) versus non-intentional sources (computer) affects interpretation.
• To examine how perceived authorship impacts judgments of meaningfulness and the generation of interpretations.

Main Methods:

• Three experiments were conducted using metaphoric, literal, and anomalous comparison statements.
• Participants rated meaningfulness, made speeded meaningfulness judgments, or provided interpretations.
• A key manipulation involved attributing the statements to either famous poets or a computer program.

Main Results:

• Metaphoric and literal comparisons were rated as more meaningful when attributed to poets.
• Participants judged metaphors faster in the poet condition but were slower to reject anomalous statements.
• Attributing statements to poets led to the generation of more interpretations for comparisons.

Conclusions:

• Implied authorial intentions play a crucial role in facilitating metaphor comprehension.
• The perceived intentionality of the author influences the processing and interpretation of figurative language.
• Findings have implications for psycholinguistic models of figurative language and literary interpretation theories.