PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Metaphor”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Using metaphors as modifiers: children's production of metaphoric compounds.

Although much research has investigated children's use of metaphoric language, methodological concerns raise questions about the conclusions, and it remains unclear whether preschoolers can produce metaphors. These studies employed a new methodology to test children's ability to produce metaphors incorporated into metaphoric compounds. In two studies, 59 children aged 2:8-4:3, 63 children aged 4:4-6:1, and 34 adults participated in elicited production tasks. In Study 1, subjects in the COMPOUND condition corrected a puppet's incorrect compound labels for pictures that had metaphoric resemblances to other objects (e.g. 'leaf-bug' for a bug shaped like a stick). Subjects in the NONMETAPHORIC condition heard incorrect compounds describing pictures without obvious metaphoric resemblance (e.g. 'leaf-bug' for a round black beetle). Children in the REVERSAL condition heard compounds with nouns reversed (e.g. 'bug-leaf' for the stick-bug) to discover whether children distinguished between the literal and metaphoric labels. Study 2 provided an additional test of children's metaphoric-literal distinction. Results showed that children as young as 3:0 produced intentional, appropriate metaphors incorporated into compound nouns when the stimuli and puppet's labels primed recognition of metaphoric similarity and compound production. Moreover, children showed evidence of a distinction between literal and metaphoric labels. The data show that preschool children have an early ability to use metaphoric language but that significant developmental change occurs between the ages of 3:0 and 5:0 as well as beyond 5:0. Additionally, metaphoric language in preschoolers is not limited to single-word renamings.

Child↗
PubMed2002

Metaphorical and non-metaphorical links: a behavioral and ERP study in young and elderly adults.

Event-related potentials (ERPs) and reaction times were recorded in a semantic decision task with isolated word pairs. The two words in each pair had either a metaphorical semantic link or a non-metaphorical semantic link. The metaphorical semantic link implied familiar expressions. Two conditions without any semantic link were also used, where the two words had a phonological relationship or not. Normal young adults and elderly people participated in this task. Subjects had to decide whether a target word presented 700 ms after a prime word was or was not semantically linked to the prime. Among word pairs with semantic relation, some pairs presented a metaphorical link, and the others presented a non-metaphorical link. Among word pairs without semantic relation, some pairs had a phonological relationship, and the others had no specific relationship. Familiar metaphorical expressions were used. In the two groups, target words elicited larger N400 components when they were related to the prime word by a metaphorical semantic link than when the semantic link was not metaphorical. No significant differences were found between the metaphorical semantic link condition and the two conditions without semantic link. The reaction times analysis showed that young and elderly people took more time to respond to the metaphorical semantic link than to the non-metaphorical semantic link. These results suggest that understanding metaphorical semantic links requires a lexical controlled process and that metaphors have a special status in the semantic memory.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

On learning to draw the distinction between physical and metaphorical motion: is metaphor an early emerging cognitive and linguistic capacity?

Situated within the framework of the conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1999), this study investigated young children's understanding of metaphorical extensions of spatial motion. Metaphor was defined as a conceptual-linguistic mapping between a source and a target domain. The study focused on metaphors that are structured by the source domain of motion in space (e.g. time flies by, ideas pass through one's mind, sickness crawls through one's body). The study investigated whether metaphor comprehension varied by the age of the participant, target domain of the metaphorical mapping, and the conventionality of the linguistic form with which the metaphor was conveyed. Data were gathered using a story comprehension task and a semi-structured interview from 60 monolingual Turkish-speaking children, at the mean ages 3;6, 4;5 and 5;5 (20 participants per age group), and 20 adult native speakers of Turkish. The results showed metaphor understanding to be an early emerging cognitive and linguistic capacity.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1994

Metaphor in illness and nursing: a two-edged sword. A discussion of the social use of metaphor in everyday language, and implications of nursing and nursing education.

Study of the use of language, and in particular metaphor, is a valuable approach to an understanding of the experiential, lived world of the patient. There is an emerging focus on the need for nursing care to be informed by an appreciation of the experience of the phenomena of illness and patienthood. Related nursing epistemological issues are discussed as background. The anatomy and social use of metaphor in language in general are described. The metaphors surrounding cancer are examined to illustrate the two main functions of metaphor; the instrumental and the expressive. Illness metaphors may have negative consequences, imbibing myth, fear and stigma. However, the author concludes that awareness of the expressive function of metaphor provides a valuable focus for listening to and understanding the experience of the patient. Finally, some of the implications of both functions of metaphor in nurse education are outlined.

Education, Nursing↗
PubMed1993

Metaphoric reference: when metaphors are not understood as easily as literal expressions.

Gibbs (1990) found that metaphoric referential descriptions take longer to read than literal references, in contrast to the usual result that metaphors and literal sentences are about equally easy to comprehend. This study was performed as an investigation of Gibb's finding. In Experiment 1, subjects received story contexts in which characters clearly shared knowledge relevant to the metaphoric referring term. In Experiment 2, we tried to ensure that the intended referent was very salient by mentioning it in the sentence just prior to the crucial sentence. Neither of these manipulations eliminated the large response time advantage for literal referring expressions. In Experiment 3, the same metaphors were used as sentence predicates rather than as referring expressions: the metaphors were no more difficult to understand than literal paraphrases. Possible explanations for the difficulty of metaphoric references, as opposed to metaphoric predicates, are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Processing of metaphoric and non-metaphoric alternative meanings of words after right- and left-hemispheric lesion.

This study examines the specificity of the contribution of the right hemisphere to the processing of metaphoric meaning of words. Ten right- and 10 left-hemisphere-damaged subjects, and 20 normal control subjects were submitted to: (1) a word-triad task where they had to associate alternative metaphoric and non-metaphoric words to a target word, and to (2) a word-dyad task where they had to decide whether or not there was a semantic relationship between two words. The two tasks aimed at differentiating between the subjects' preference for a given semantic meaning versus a genuine semantic deficit for a particular meaning. Results revealed that both right- and left-hemisphere-damaged groups presented a genuine semantic deficit for the processing of metaphoric meaning. The absence of a double dissociation between the two brain-damaged groups does not support the hypothesis of a specific contribution of the right-hemisphere to the processing of metaphoric meaning of words.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Hearing metaphor: an approach to working with family-generated metaphor.

This article presents a step-by-step approach to working with family-generated metaphor in family therapy. Although the use of therapist-generated "therapeutic metaphors" has been widely advocated and practiced for many years now, less attention has been paid to the metaphors used by family members. We argue that the family's metaphors are a neglected linguistic resource in family therapy. Highlighting and validating these metaphors produces a therapeutic conversation in which the voices of family members are heard more clearly by the therapist, and the families' own imaginative energies are engaged in defining and pursuing the goals of therapy. Several case examples illustrate the use of this approach with children of various ages.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

[Metaphors and power. A qualitative study of metaphorical thinking among Danish cancer patients].

The use of metaphors concerning cancer was investigated by interviewing nine Danish cancer patients, aged 30-85 years. Metaphors about the disease were widely used, e.g. personification metaphors. Most patients considered their cancer as a metaphor for a physical and psychological imbalance in the period before the disease. Some patients felt responsible for the disease. The metaphors of cancer patients should be considered when communicating with cancer patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Metaphoric structuring: understanding time through spatial metaphors.

The present paper evaluates the claim that abstract conceptual domains are structured through metaphorical mappings from domains grounded directly in experience. In particular, the paper asks whether the abstract domain of time gets its relational structure from the more concrete domain of space. Relational similarities between space and time are outlined along with several explanations of how these similarities may have arisen. Three experiments designed to distinguish between these explanations are described. The results indicate that (1) the domains of space and time do share conceptual structure, (2) spatial relational information is just as useful for thinking about time as temporal information, and (3) with frequent use, mappings between space and time come to be stored in the domain of time and so thinking about time does not necessarily require access to spatial schemas. These findings provide some of the first empirical evidence for Metaphoric Structuring. It appears that abstract domains such as time are indeed shaped by metaphorical mappings from more concrete and experiential domains such as space.

Cognition↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Keeping the metaphor of scaffolding fresh--a response to C. Addison Stone's "The metaphor of scaffolding: its utility for the field of learning disabilities".

This author suggests three responses to Professor Stone's call for enriching the scaffolding metaphor: (a) repositioning the metaphor in its theoretical frame; (b) considering the ways in which contexts and activities, as well as individuals, scaffold learning; and (c) examining the relationship between scaffolding and effective teaching. The author describes research that has been conducted toward these ends.

Child↗
PubMed1995

Metaphor-based schemas and text representations: making connections through conceptual metaphors.

Four experiments were conducted to examine the role of metaphor-based schemas in text comprehension and representation. In Experiment 1, schemas facilitated recognition judgements for schema-related sentences that had been presented in a text. Similar facilitation was found for the recognition of individual words in Experiments 2, 3, and 4. The results are interpreted as evidence for the use of metaphor-based schemas to link elements within a text representation.

Humans↗
PubMed2002

A concordance-based study of metaphoric expressions used by general practitioners and patients in consultation.

BACKGROUND: All languages use metaphoric expressions; some deliberately chosen, some (for example, 'digesting information') not usually perceived as metaphoric. Increasingly, it is suggested metaphoric expressions constrain the way we conceptualise the world, as well as being a means of achieving stylistic effect. AIM: To study metaphoric expressions used by doctors and patients in general practice. DESIGN OF STUDY: Concordance-based language analysis of spoken data. METHOD: A database containing transcriptions of 373 consultations with 40 doctors in a UK general practice setting was scrutinised for metaphoric expressions, using 'concordancing' software. Concordancing enables identification of strings of text with similar lexical properties. Comparators (for example, 'like'), selected verb-types (for example, of feeling), and the verb 'to be' were used as starting points for systematically exploring the data. Quantitative and qualitative thematic methods were used in analysis. RESULTS: Doctors and patients use different metaphors. Doctors use mechanical metaphors to explain disease and speak of themselves as problem-solvers' and 'controllers of disease'. Patients employ a range of vivid metaphors, but fewer metaphors of machines and problem/solution. Patients use metaphors to describe symptoms and are more likely to use metaphoric language at the interface of physical and psychological symptoms ('tension, 'stress'). CONCLUSION: The different patterns of metaphoric expression suggest that doctors make limited attempts to enter the patients' conceptual world. This may not be a bad thing. One function of the consultation may be to reinterpret vivid and unique descriptions as accounts of the familiar and systemically comprehensible. Doctors may use different conceptual metaphors as a reassuring signal of expertise.

Communication↗
PubMed2004

Teaching qualitative research: a metaphorical approach.

BACKGROUND: In the Western tradition, drawing attention to the linguistic significance of analogy and metaphor can be traced back to the writings of the early Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle. More recently, philosophers of science have drawn attention to the role of analogy and metaphor in the development of scientific theory. Also, linguists and psychologists now suggest that, in addition to being distinctive uses of language with various rhetorical functions, metaphors constitute fundamental processes of thought with basic epistemological functions. AIM: Drawing on numerous sources from outside the nursing literature, this paper seeks to show the implications of current theory relating to analogy and metaphor for nursing and educational practice. It also seeks to demonstrate, using a practical example, how this theory can be applied to the teaching of qualitative research. METHOD: Using reflection on our experiences of using analogy and metaphor in teaching the qualitative research process on a Master's degree programme, we assess the potential for using analogy and metaphor as a teaching strategy. This experience is also used to explore and discuss the wider implications of the use of analogy and metaphor in health and educational practices. DISCUSSION: While analogies and metaphors can help students make creative and imaginative links between existing conceptual frameworks and those associated with new knowledge, thereby facilitating its assimilation, the use of analogy and metaphor remains an under-researched area of nursing and educational practice. The cultural specificity of a metaphor does not necessarily prevent its usefulness cross culturally. The use of metaphor and analogy can also facilitate the injection of humour to a subject students frequently find 'dry' and intimidating. CONCLUSION: Analogies and metaphors are potentially powerful teaching and learning strategies. However, much is still not known about how they work at the cognitive level. Consequently, there is considerable scope for further research in this area in nurse education and clinical practice.

Education, Nursing↗
PubMed1997

The synergy of memory, affects and metaphor.

Recently, the concept of metaphor has been revitalized as a result of the convergence of interest in this subject from a variety of disciplines including neurobiology, linguistics and cognitive science. Metaphor is now viewed as an emergent property of mind. Metaphor is rooted in the body in two senses: metaphor is used to organize bodily sensation cognitively, especially affects, and secondly, metaphor is rooted in the body as it rests on the border between mind and brain. Metaphor is therefore viewed as a developmentally early, primitive mental function related to synesthesia. There is a significant distinction between frozen or foreclosed metaphors and open and generative metaphors. The foreclosed metaphor will dominate the perception of others in cases of trauma and can be understood as an explanation of transference repetition. Clinical examples of foreclosed metaphors are illustrated by vignettes of patients who have suffered traumas. Examples taken from two artists are used to illustrate instances in which the artist's own unassimilated experiences appear as generative metaphors.

Affect↗