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In this paper, we explore the use of a generative metaphor for analyzing qualitative interviews on abortion attitudes. U.S. abortion attitudes are notably complex and multidimensional, thus, requiring subtle, complex, and multidimensional tools of study. We used the generative metaphor of a \"doorway\" as an analytic tool to enable new understandings of abortion attitudes as expressed across 24 one-on-one semi-structured qualitative interviews with U.S. adults. The doorway metaphor gave us an understanding of the ways in which participants thought of their abortion attitudes as open to revision or change to some degree while also being closed to revision in other ways. This spectrum of openness and closedness does not come into view when examining abortion attitudes through the dichotomous framings. In this methodological paper, we thoroughly describe how we used the metaphor to explicate the complexities and multidimensionalities of a person's abortion attitudes.

Metaphors are increasingly recognized as influencing cognition and consumption. While these linkages typically have been qualitatively generated, this article presents a framework of convergent quantitative methodologies that can further document the validity of a metaphor. To illustrate this multimethod framework, the authors explore whether there is a metaphoric link between meat and maleness in Western cultures. The authors address this in six quantifiable studies that involve (1) implicit associations, (2) free associations, (3) indirect-scenario-based inferences, (4) direct measurement profiling, (5) preference and choice, and (6) linguistic analysis and conclude that there is a metaphoric relationship between mammal muscle meat and maleness.

Neuroscience research has thoroughly studied how nonliteral language is processed during metaphor comprehension. However, it is not clear how the brain actually creates nonliteral language. Therefore, the present study for the first time investigates the neural correlates of metaphor production. Participants completed sentences by generating novel metaphors or literal synonyms during functional imaging. Responses were spoken aloud in the scanner, recorded, and subsequently rated for their creative quality. We found that metaphor production was associated with focal activity in predominantly left-hemispheric brain regions, specifically the left angular gyrus, the left middle and superior frontal gyri—corresponding to the left dorsomedial prefrontal (DMPFC) cortex—and the posterior cingulate cortex. Moreover, brain activation in the left anterior DMPFC and the right middle temporal gyrus was found to linearly increase with the creative quality of metaphor responses. These findings are related to neuroscientific evidence on metaphor comprehension, creative idea generation and episodic future thought, suggesting that creating metaphors involves the flexible adaptation of semantic memory to imagine and construct novel figures of speech. Furthermore, the left DMPFC may exert executive control to maintain strategic search and selection, thus facilitating creativity of thought. •Figurative language production was studied for the first time with fMRI.•Verbal responses were recorded and analyzed for quality.•Generation of novel metaphors relies on activity in left AG and the PCC.•Activity in left DMPFC increases linearly as a function of metaphor creativity.

Grounded cognition assumes that language and concepts are understood using simulations in different modalities. Evidence for this assumption mainly stems from studies using concrete concepts. Less evidence for grounding exists for abstract concepts, which are assumed to be grounded via metaphors associated with them or via experiences with them in specific situations. In the present study, we developed a new paradigm and investigated grounding of abstract concepts related to power or the exercise of power. As stimulus material, we chose pairs of concepts, for example, democracy and dictatorship. Participants were presented each concept separately and were asked to create a visual image in their mind. Then they were asked to rate images on several aspects. Afterwards they were asked to draw a sketch of the image. Results showed that drawings of high-power concepts had a larger vertical extension than low-power concepts. Results of the questions depended on the specific concepts. For instance, wealth (high-power) was rated as more colorful than poverty (low-power), but democracy (low-power) was rated as more colorful than dictatorship (high-power). These results may partly be explained by the valence of the concepts. Drawings often contained persons, objects, and situations, but were rarely abstract. Sometimes drawings contained metaphorical content and sometimes the content of drawings related to specific experiences. In conclusion, abstract concepts related to power can be depicted visually via grounding in different ways, such as using metaphors, experiences, and actions.

The effect of visual metaphor in advertising is claimed to follow a curvilinear pattern: visual metaphors that constitute a moderate challenge are said to have a bigger impact on appreciation than simpler or more complex metaphors. Until now, empirical evidence has been scarce. This study verifies whether the tipping point can indeed be identified. In an experiment, 485 participants judged 16 different metaphors (in advertisements for 16 different product categories) varying in conceptual complexity. Mediation analyses showed that metaphors of moderate complexity, although comprehended less well than simpler metaphors, are appreciated more than simpler and more complex metaphors.

Deliberate Metaphor Theory (DMT) claims that there is an essential processing difference between non-deliberate and deliberate metaphor use which can explain all this. This book is the first full account of the DMT model for metaphor comprehension.

One of the most debated topics in figurative language studies is whether the access to non-literal meanings is direct or indirect. Although models that argue for longer processing times for figurative compared to literal meanings have been largely criticized, figurative language is often associated with increased cognitive work. We investigated whether such greater cognitive work is indicative of more time-consuming processes or rather lower availability of figurative meanings, and whether there are differences between figurative types. We used a multi-response Speed-Accuracy Trade-off paradigm, where a meaningfulness judgment task was combined with a response deadline procedure to estimate speed and accuracy independently for metaphorical (Those dancers are butterflies) and metonymic sentences (That student reads Camilleri), compared with literal equivalents. While both metaphors and metonymies showed lower asymptote, that is, they were judged less accurately than literal counterparts, only metonymies were associated with a processing delay. Moreover, the difference in asymptote with respect to the literal condition was greater for metaphor than for metonymy. These findings indicate that the process that derives metaphor and metonymy is more complex than the process that derives literal meanings, even more so for metaphor. The processing delay, however, is present only in the case of metonymies. Taken together, our study offers key findings that reconcile a lively debate on the time course of figurative language comprehension, showing that the cost of non-literal meaning is not always a matter of time, and depends also on the figurative type. L'un des sujets les plus débattus dans les études sur le langage figuré est l'accès au sens non littéral - est-il direct ou indirect. Bien que les modèles arguant des délais de traitement plus longs pour le langage figuré comparativement au sens littéral aient été largement critiqués, le langage figuré est souvent associé à un effort cognitif accru. Nous avons examiné si un tel effort cognitif accru indiquait le recours à des processus exigeant plus de temps, ou un accès réduit aux sens figurés, et s'il existait des différences entre les types de langage figuré. Nous avons utilisé un paradigme à réponses multiples du compromis vitesse-précision, où le sens d'une tâche de jugement était combiné à une procédure de délai pour la réponse afin d'évaluer la vitesse et la précision de façon distincte pour les phrases métaphoriques (Those dancers are butterflies) et les phrases métonymiques (That student reads Camilleri), en comparaison d'équivalents au sens littéral. Bien que les métaphores et les métonymies aient présenté des asymptotes plus basses, c'est-à-dire qu'elles ont été jugées avec moins de précision que leurs pendants au sens littéral, seules les métonymies étaient associées à un retard de traitement. De plus, la différence entre les asymptotes pour la condition littérale était plus grande pour la métaphore que pour la métonymie. Ces résultats indiquent que le processus qui dégage la métaphore et la métonymie est plus complexe que celui qui dégage le sens littéral, en particulier pour la métaphore. Le retard de traitement, toutefois, est seulement présent pour les métonymies. Dans son ensemble, notre étude présente des résultats clés qui résolvent un débat animé sur le temps requis pour la compréhension du langage figuré, en montrant que le coût du sens non littéral n'en est pas toujours un de durée, et qu'il dépend également du type de langage figuré. Public Significance Statement The study suggests that the derivation of figurative language (here, metaphor and metonymy) is more complex than the processing of literal meaning and that metaphor is more demanding than metonymy. This points to the need for a nuanced differentiation between different types of figurative language. The findings further bring together theoretical assumptions about figurative language and processing evidence, which has been a core concern of experimental pragmatics.

Metaphorical sentences are assumed to be related to more costly processes than their literal counterparts. However, given their frequent use in our daily lives, metaphorical sentences “must come with a benefit” (Noveck et al. Metaphor Symb 16:109–121. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2001.9678889 , 2001). In this paper, we investigated whether metaphorical sentences were better remembered than their literal counterparts. In addition, we were interested in assessing whether the relevance of the metaphors impacted this recall. Anchoring this hypothesis in the appraisal theory, we hypothesized that food-related metaphorical sentences may be particularly relevant when one is hungry, and consequently, be better remembered in that particular physiological state. Participants were presented with randomized metaphorical sentences and their literal counterparts and were later asked to remember the missing word in both metaphorical and literal sentences. General mixed model analyses revealed that metaphorical sentences were better remembered. However, there was no significant effect of hunger. We discuss these results in relation to (1) the metaphor literature and (2) the appraisal theory of emotion.