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Attribute saliency and metaphor interpretation in school-age children*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Mary Ann Evans  and
Dianna Lynn Gamble
Mary Ann Evans*
Affiliation:
University of Guelph
Dianna Lynn Gamble
Affiliation:
University of Guelph
*
Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.
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Abstract

The present investigation examined the relationship between attribute saliency and metaphor interpretation in school children. Ortony's theory that metaphors entail salience imbalance prompted the generation of two types of metaphors, PREDICATE-PROMOTING (PP) and PREDICATE-INTRODUCING (PI) metaphors. An adult sample was used to select metaphors of each type which were then presented to 24 children in each of grades three, five, and seven (mean ages 8; 5, 10; 6 and 12; 8). The children were asked to generate attribute lists for TOPIC and VEHICLE terms and, six weeks later, to verbally explain metaphors containing those terms. Older children correctly interpreted more metaphors than younger children, and at each grade level no difference was observed between the number of correct interpretations of PP and PI metaphors. In addition, at all grade levels the incorrect ground of each child's interpretation errors most often had been listed in his/her attribute lists. This suggests that attribute saliency for the individual perceiving the metaphor plays a key role in the interpretation process.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , June 1988 , pp. 435 - 449
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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Footnotes

*

Grateful acknowledgement is extended to the Board of Education involved and to the teachers and children who so generously accommodated us in their classroom time.

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