Hemispheric Processing of Chinese Scientific Metaphors: Evidence via Hemifield Presentation
The role of the two hemispheres in processing metaphoric language is controversial. In order to complement current debates, the current divided visual field (DVF) study introduced scientific metaphors as novel metaphors, presenting orientation mapping from the specific and familiar domains to the ab...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.894715/full |
| _version_ | 1828815515480489984 |
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| author | Min Huang Lexian Shen Shuyuan Xu Yanhong Huang Shaojuan Huang Xuemei Tang |
| author_facet | Min Huang Lexian Shen Shuyuan Xu Yanhong Huang Shaojuan Huang Xuemei Tang |
| author_sort | Min Huang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The role of the two hemispheres in processing metaphoric language is controversial. In order to complement current debates, the current divided visual field (DVF) study introduced scientific metaphors as novel metaphors, presenting orientation mapping from the specific and familiar domains to the abstract and unfamiliar domains, to examine hemispheric asymmetry in metaphoric processing. Twenty-four Chinese native speakers from science disciplines took part in the experiment. The participants were presented with four types of Chinese word pairs: scientific metaphors, conventional metaphors, literal word pairs, and unrelated word pairs. The first word in each pair was presented centrally, and the second was presented to the left visual field (the Right Hemisphere) or the right visual field (the Left Hemisphere). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded when participants read the target words and judged whether words in each pair were related. The data demonstrated that both hemispheres were involved at the initial stage of metaphor processing, but the right hemisphere took a more privileged role. The significant activation of the left hemisphere for scientific metaphoric processing supports the fine-coarse coding hypothesis. During right-visual-field presentation, the left hemisphere, responsible for the processing of closely related domains, has to integrate the loosely associated domains of scientific metaphor, which greatly increased cognitive taxes. Moreover, the data of late positive components (LPCs) revealed different hemispheric activation between scientific metaphors and conventional metaphors. Compared with literal pairs, conventional metaphors elicited significantly higher LPCs during right visual field presentation, while the scientific metaphor elicited significantly lower LPCs during left visual field presentation. These results suggest different processing mechanisms between novel metaphors and conventional metaphors and the special role of the right hemisphere in novel metaphoric processing at the later mapping stage. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T10:45:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-919e189621f64d0ba9d6a712c7eae632 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T10:45:46Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-919e189621f64d0ba9d6a712c7eae6322022-12-22T00:26:54ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-05-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.894715894715Hemispheric Processing of Chinese Scientific Metaphors: Evidence via Hemifield PresentationMin Huang0Lexian Shen1Shuyuan Xu2Yanhong Huang3Shaojuan Huang4Xuemei Tang5School of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, ChinaSchool of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Modern Teaching Technology, Ministry of Education, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, ChinaSchool of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, ChinaSchool of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, ChinaSchool of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, ChinaThe role of the two hemispheres in processing metaphoric language is controversial. In order to complement current debates, the current divided visual field (DVF) study introduced scientific metaphors as novel metaphors, presenting orientation mapping from the specific and familiar domains to the abstract and unfamiliar domains, to examine hemispheric asymmetry in metaphoric processing. Twenty-four Chinese native speakers from science disciplines took part in the experiment. The participants were presented with four types of Chinese word pairs: scientific metaphors, conventional metaphors, literal word pairs, and unrelated word pairs. The first word in each pair was presented centrally, and the second was presented to the left visual field (the Right Hemisphere) or the right visual field (the Left Hemisphere). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded when participants read the target words and judged whether words in each pair were related. The data demonstrated that both hemispheres were involved at the initial stage of metaphor processing, but the right hemisphere took a more privileged role. The significant activation of the left hemisphere for scientific metaphoric processing supports the fine-coarse coding hypothesis. During right-visual-field presentation, the left hemisphere, responsible for the processing of closely related domains, has to integrate the loosely associated domains of scientific metaphor, which greatly increased cognitive taxes. Moreover, the data of late positive components (LPCs) revealed different hemispheric activation between scientific metaphors and conventional metaphors. Compared with literal pairs, conventional metaphors elicited significantly higher LPCs during right visual field presentation, while the scientific metaphor elicited significantly lower LPCs during left visual field presentation. These results suggest different processing mechanisms between novel metaphors and conventional metaphors and the special role of the right hemisphere in novel metaphoric processing at the later mapping stage.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.894715/fullscientific metaphordivided visual field diagramhemispheric asymmetryN400LPC |
| spellingShingle | Min Huang Lexian Shen Shuyuan Xu Yanhong Huang Shaojuan Huang Xuemei Tang Hemispheric Processing of Chinese Scientific Metaphors: Evidence via Hemifield Presentation Frontiers in Psychology scientific metaphor divided visual field diagram hemispheric asymmetry N400 LPC |
| title | Hemispheric Processing of Chinese Scientific Metaphors: Evidence via Hemifield Presentation |
| title_full | Hemispheric Processing of Chinese Scientific Metaphors: Evidence via Hemifield Presentation |
| title_fullStr | Hemispheric Processing of Chinese Scientific Metaphors: Evidence via Hemifield Presentation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hemispheric Processing of Chinese Scientific Metaphors: Evidence via Hemifield Presentation |
| title_short | Hemispheric Processing of Chinese Scientific Metaphors: Evidence via Hemifield Presentation |
| title_sort | hemispheric processing of chinese scientific metaphors evidence via hemifield presentation |
| topic | scientific metaphor divided visual field diagram hemispheric asymmetry N400 LPC |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.894715/full |
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