Processing Conceptual Metaphors in On-Going Discourse

Abstract

In this study, we investigate whether or not conceptual mappings are accessed and used in on-going discourse when people process conceptual metaphors. In particular, we postulate that the conflicting results of previous studies (CitationNayak & Gibbs, 1990; CitationGlucksberg et al., 1993) may be due to either one or both of the two diverse methods employed: (1) the different task demands (a judgment task employed by the former versus a reading task employed by the latter) and (2) the distinct visual presentations of stimuli (a paragraph presentation in the former versus the line-by-line presentation in the latter). We carried out one off-line and four on-line tasks in order to examine which factors affect the access of conceptual mappings in on-going discourse. Our study supports the hypothesis that conceptual mappings exist and are accessed in on-going language processing when materials are presented in a paragraph style. We argue that the line-by-line presentation method creates an expectation for new information, and thus, does not facilitate the activation of conceptual mappings, while a paragraph presentation method allows for conceptual representations to be built and accessed, regardless of what type of task is used.

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