Homo-schematic Metaphors: A Study of Metaphor Comprehension in Three Different Priming Conditions

The aim of this study was to investigate the process of metaphor comprehension in three different conditions of metaphor-prime, literal-prime, and no-prime. To achieve this objective, three experiments were conducted. In the metaphor-prime condition, each metaphor was preceded by a homo-schematic metaphor prime. In the literal-prime condition, each metaphor was preceded by a literal prime that provided some information about literal meanings of topic and vehicle of the following metaphor. In the no-prime condition, each metaphor was preceded by no stimulus. In each condition, a group of 20 participants made judgment on the sensibility of 15 metaphors. In Experiment 1, sensibility judgments in the literal-prime and metaphor-prime conditions were compared with each other. In Experiment 2, sensibility judgments in the no-prime and metaphor-prime conditions were compared with each other. In Experiment 3, sensibility judgments in the no-prime and literal-prime conditions were compared with each other. The obtained results indicated that in the metaphor-prime condition, metaphors were judged to have the highest degree of sensibility, and participants were faster in making sensibility judgments. On the other hand, in the literal-prime condition, metaphors were judged to have the lowest degree of sensibility. Therefore, it is suggested that the understanding of a homo-schematic metaphor prime activates an abstract schema. The activation of this schema prepares the ground for the understanding of the following metaphor. When a metaphor prime and its following metaphor share the same schema, the comprehender does not need to re-activate this schema to understand the following metaphor, as this schema has already been activated by metaphor prime.