Exploring the impact of domain, conventionality, and creativity on predicate metaphor processing in Turkish speaking preschool children: evidence from verbal and non-verbal tests

Date

2023-11

Author

Karabulut, Berfin

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Although metaphor processing is important for language and cognitive development, there is currently no agreement on how predicate metaphor processing works in children. Additionally, there is a lack of research on how linguistic and cognitive factors contribute to the development of metaphor processing. This study investigated the metaphor comprehension abilities of 35 Turkish-speaking preschool children with a mean age of 4.7 (Mage = 56.9 months, range = 44–67 months). The impact of domain, conventionality, and creativity on children's metaphor processing abilities was explored. An analysis using mixed-effects multinomial logistic regression in R was conducted to examine how children comprehend metaphors conveyed through gesture-based non-verbal and verbal assessments. The study looked at how the comprehension of metaphors varied based on their domain (emotion and body) and conventionality (familiar, unfamiliar, and novel), as well as the age of the children and their creativity scores, which were measured by The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking Figural Form's fluency and originality levels. The analysis aimed to predict the likelihood of children providing metaphorical, literal, or no-response answers in the metaphorical assessment tasks. The study findings indicate that as children age, their metaphor comprehension abilities improve, with abstract domains being more directly processed compared to concrete body-related expressions, which are often interpreted indirectly. Additionally, novel metaphors, in the emotional domain, were more likely to be understood metaphorically. Although creativity did not show significant effects, trends suggest that fluency may promote a deeper understanding of metaphorical expressions, while originality may influence the tendency to interpret metaphors literally. Further investigation is required to understand creativity's role in metaphor processing.

Subject Keywords

Metaphor processing, Metaphor Comprehension, Creative Thinking, Direct Processing, Indirect Processing

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/106055

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis