Evidence for role-neutral initial processing of metaphors.

Two models of metaphor processing are contrasted. The structure-mapping model postulates an initially role-neutral alignment process, followed by directional projection of inferences. The attributive categorization model postulates role-specific processing throughout comprehension. To test between these models, the early stages of metaphor comprehension were probed using a technique based on S. Glucksberg, R. Gildea, and H. Bookin's (1982) finding that metaphorical meaning interferes with literal truthfulness judgments. In Experiment 1, interference effects did not differ between normal metaphors and metaphors with reversed terms, suggesting that initial processing is role-neutral. In Experiment 2, we again found no role dependence in interference effects, even for highly conventional metaphors. In Experiment 3, it was verified that (a) full comprehension is role-sensitive and (b) full comprehension reaction times (RTs) are far longer than interference RTs, buttressing the claim that interference is an early-stage effect. Overall, the results support the structure-mapping model of metaphor processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Respects for similarity.

Reviews the status of similarity as an explanatory construct with a focus on similarity judgments. For similarity to be a useful construct, one must be able to specify the ways or respects in which 2 things are similar. One solution to this problem is to restrict the notion of similarity to hard-wired perceptual processes. It is argued that this view is too narrow and limiting. Instead, it is proposed that an important source of constraints derives from the similarity comparison process itself. Both new experiments and other evidence are described that support the idea that respects are determined by processes internal to comparisons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning and transfer: A general role for analogical encoding.

Teaching by examples and cases is widely used to promote learning, but it varies widely in its effectiveness. The authors test an adaptation to case-based learning that facilitates abstracting problem-solving schemas from examples and using them to solve further problems: analogical encoding, or learning by drawing a comparison across examples. In 3 studies, the authors examined schema abstraction and transfer among novices learning negotiation strategies. Experiment 1 showed a benefit for analogical learning relative to no case study. Experiment 2 showed a marked advantage for comparing two cases over studying the 2 cases separately. Experiment 3 showed that increasing the degree of comparison support increased the rate of transfer in a face-to-face dynamic negotiation exercise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structure mapping in analogy and similarity.

Analogy and similarity are often assumed to be distinct psychological processes. In contrast to this position, the authors suggest that both similarity and analogy involve a process of structural alignment and mapping, that is, that similarity is like analogy. In this article, the authors first describe the structure-mapping process as it has been worked out for analogy. Then, this view is extended to similarity, where it is used to generate new predictions. Finally, the authors explore broader implications of structural alignment for psychological processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reasoning and learning by analogy: Introduction.

Analogy is a powerful cognitive mechanism that people use to make inferences and learn new abstractions. The history of work on analogy in modern cognitive science is sketched, focusing on contributions from cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, and philosophy of science. This review sets the stage for the 3 articles that follow in this Science Watch section. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Making a silk purse out of two sow's ears: Young children's use of comparison in category learning.

Comparison mechanisms have been implicated in the development of abstract, relational thought, including object categorization. D. Gentner and L. L. Namy (1999) found that comparing 2 perceptually similar category members yielded taxonomic categorization, whereas viewing a single member of the target category elicited shallower perceptual responding. The present experiments tested 2 predictions that follow from Gentner and Namy's (1999) model: (a) Comparison facilitates categorization only when the targets to be compared share relational commonalities, and (b) providing common labels for targets invites comparison, whereas providing conflicting labels deters it. Four-yr-olds participated in a forced-choice task. They viewed 2 perceptually similar target objects and were asked to "find another one." Results suggest an important role for comparison in lexical and conceptual development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The evolution of mental metaphors in psychology: A 90-year retrospective.

Examined the evolution of mental metaphors in psychology by tracing changes in the types of metaphors used by psychologists to describe mental phenomena. A corpus of metaphors from 1894 to the present was collected and examined. The corpus consisted of all metaphors for mental phenomena used in the 1st issue of Psychological Review in each decade, beginning with the inception of the journal in 1894 and continuing through 1975. These 9 issues yielded 265 mental metaphors that were categorized according to the type of analogical domain from which the comparison was drawn. Results show that the nature of the mental metaphors changed over time. Spatial metaphors and animate-being metaphors predominated in the early stages, then declined in favor of systems metaphors taken from mathematics and the physical sciences. The numbers of mental metaphors varied. Metaphors for mental phenomena were more prevalent in the early and late stages of the corpus than in the middle stages (1935–1955). These patterns are interpreted in terms of conceptual evolution in psychologists' models of the mind. (52 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)