Language is a sophisticated product and its comprehension is a complex ability, even more when words are used to convey a metaphorical message. Nonetheless, hearing utterances like “that runner is a cheetah” one immediately understands that the runner is particularly fast, even if at a literal level the sentence does not make sense. The ability to automatically understand such figurative meanings was extensively investigated in the psycholinguistic and neurolinguistics literature, and different theories tried to explain it appealing to extra-linguistic cognitive skills such as Working Memory and Theory of Mind. Among these, the embodiment account of language proposed that metaphor comprehension is reached through the involvement of sensory-motor mechanisms. Although this account found robust supporting evidence for the processing of literal language, in the case of figurative language results are controversial, with an extensive debate in literature. Meanwhile, studies on embodiment started to take interest in the ability of motor imagery, i.e., the ability to mentally represent a specific movement without displaying its execution, which was found to play a role in the modulation of several cognitive processes. The MetaMoto (Metaphor and Motor Imagery) Project was created to explore the role of this new bodily-related aspect in metaphor comprehension and to further understand the connection between language and embodiment. In this study, 50 Italian speaking students were evaluated for their motor imagery skills and they also performed a computerized test that evaluated their ability to understand metaphors in terms of accuracy and reaction times. Besides, the project was articulated in two different experiments to test two different kind of metaphorical expressions. In experiment 1 we investigated the role of motor imagery in the comprehension of action metaphors, i.e., sentences in which an action verb is used in a figurative way (e.g., “Franco kicks the remorse of conscience” as opposed to “Franco kicks the bedspread in his sleep”). Based on previous literature on embodiment, we expected to find a relevant effect of motor imagery and we also tested somatotopicity by including verbs referring to both upper and lower limbs. With experiment 2, instead, we wanted to verify if the involvement of motor imagery could be extended also to nominal metaphors, i.e., expressions without motion verbs (e.g. “those lawyers are sharks” as opposed to the literal “those fishes are sharks”). Considering the evidence coming from previous literature, we had two main expectations about our findings: (1) less accuracy and slower reaction times in the computerized test for metaphors with respect to their literal counterparts, due to the figurativity effect of these expressions; (2) a significant correlation between motor imagery skills and accuracy and/or RTs in action metaphors. As for nominal metaphors, we did not formulate an explicit prediction, but we were interested in assessing whether embodiment effects can extend to non-action language. Consistently with our predictions, experiment 1 highlighted an involvement of motor imagery in both literal and metaphorical sentences with action verbs and also showed that this effect is somatotopic, since better motor imagery for hands movements facilitated the comprehension of sentences involving specifically upper limbs verbs. Findings from experiment 2 showed that this embodiment process is also present in literal and metaphorical expressions that do not involve action verbs, establishing an interesting starting point for further investigations about the involvement of motor imagery in language in general. In conclusion, by investigating a measure such as motor imagery, our study offers novel support to the embodiment theory of language comprehension, extending to figurative expressions.
La comprensione del linguaggio è un'abilità complessa, soprattutto quando le parole vengono utilizzate per trasmettere messaggi non letterali. Tuttavia, sentendo "quel corridore è un ghepardo" si capisce immediatamente che la persona in questione è molto veloce, anche se a livello letterale la frase non ha senso. La capacità di comprendere questi significati figurati è stata studiata nella letteratura psicolinguistica e neurolinguistica e diverse teorie hanno cercato di spiegare questo fenomeno considerando abilità cognitive extra-linguistiche come la memoria di lavoro e la teoria della mente. Tra queste, la teoria dell’Embodiment del linguaggio ha ipotizzato che la comprensione delle metafore sia possibile grazie a meccanismi sensomotori. Sebbene riguardo al linguaggio letterale siano state trovate solide prove a sostegno di questa tesi, i risultati rispetto al linguaggio figurato sono stati più controversi, alimentando un acceso dibattito nella letteratura. Parallelamente le ricerche sull'Embodiment si sono interessate alla Motor Imagery, ossia la capacità di rappresentare mentalmente un movimento specifico senza eseguirlo, e gli studi hanno dimostrato che questa abilità è implicata nella modulazione di processi cognitivi. Il progetto MetaMoto (Metafora e Motor Imagery) è stato creato per esplorare il ruolo di questo nuovo aspetto corporeo nella comprensione delle metafore e approfondire così la natura della connessione tra Embodiment e linguaggio. In questo studio 50 studenti di lingua italiana sono stati valutati per le loro abilità di Motor Imagery e hanno eseguito un test per stimare la loro capacità di comprensione delle metafore in termini di accuratezza e tempi di reazione. Il progetto è stato diviso in due diversi esperimenti che hanno testato due tipi di metafore. Nell'esperimento 1 abbiamo studiato il ruolo della Motor Imagery nella comprensione delle metafore motorie, cioè frasi in cui un verbo di movimento è usato in modo figurato (e.g. "Franco scalcia i rimorsi di coscienza" paragonato a "Franco scalcia il copriletto nel sonno”). Sulla base della letteratura precedente ci aspettavamo di trovare un effetto rilevante della Motor Imagery e ne abbiamo anche verificato la somatotopicità, includendo verbi che si riferiscono sia agli arti superiori che a quelli inferiori. Con l'esperimento 2 volevamo verificare se il coinvolgimento della Motor Imagery potesse estendersi anche alle metafore nominali, ovvero espressioni metaforiche prive di verbi di movimento (e.g. "quegli avvocati sono squali" paragonato a "quei pesci sono squali"). Avevamo due aspettative sui nostri risultati: (1) meno accuratezza e tempi di reazione più lenti nel test computerizzato per le metafore rispetto alle loro controparti letterali, a causa di un effetto di figuratività; (2) una correlazione significativa tra le abilità di Motor Imagery e accuratezza e / o RT nelle metafore motorie. Riguardo alle metafore nominali non abbiamo formulato una previsione esplicita, ma eravamo interessati a valutare se gli effetti dell'Embodiment potessero estendersi al linguaggio non motorio. Coerentemente con le nostre previsioni, l'esperimento 1 ha evidenziato un coinvolgimento della Motor Imagery in frasi sia letterali che metaforiche e ha mostrato che questo effetto è somatotopico, poiché una migliore Motor Imagery per i movimenti delle mani ha facilitato la comprensione di frasi che coinvolgono verbi specifici degli arti superiori. I risultati dell'esperimento 2 hanno mostrato che questo processo è presente anche in espressioni letterali e metaforiche che non coinvolgono verbi di movimento, stabilendo un interessante punto di partenza per ulteriori indagini sul coinvolgimento della Motor Imagery nel linguaggio in generale. In conclusione, considerando la Motor Imagery il nostro studio supporta la teoria dell'Embodiment nella comprensione del linguaggio, estendendolo anche alle espressioni figurate.
Afferrare i significati metaforici grazie all'immaginazione motoria: il progetto Metafore e Motor Imagery (META-MOTO)
GALASSO, NADIA
2019/2020
Abstract
Language is a sophisticated product and its comprehension is a complex ability, even more when words are used to convey a metaphorical message. Nonetheless, hearing utterances like “that runner is a cheetah” one immediately understands that the runner is particularly fast, even if at a literal level the sentence does not make sense. The ability to automatically understand such figurative meanings was extensively investigated in the psycholinguistic and neurolinguistics literature, and different theories tried to explain it appealing to extra-linguistic cognitive skills such as Working Memory and Theory of Mind. Among these, the embodiment account of language proposed that metaphor comprehension is reached through the involvement of sensory-motor mechanisms. Although this account found robust supporting evidence for the processing of literal language, in the case of figurative language results are controversial, with an extensive debate in literature. Meanwhile, studies on embodiment started to take interest in the ability of motor imagery, i.e., the ability to mentally represent a specific movement without displaying its execution, which was found to play a role in the modulation of several cognitive processes. The MetaMoto (Metaphor and Motor Imagery) Project was created to explore the role of this new bodily-related aspect in metaphor comprehension and to further understand the connection between language and embodiment. In this study, 50 Italian speaking students were evaluated for their motor imagery skills and they also performed a computerized test that evaluated their ability to understand metaphors in terms of accuracy and reaction times. Besides, the project was articulated in two different experiments to test two different kind of metaphorical expressions. In experiment 1 we investigated the role of motor imagery in the comprehension of action metaphors, i.e., sentences in which an action verb is used in a figurative way (e.g., “Franco kicks the remorse of conscience” as opposed to “Franco kicks the bedspread in his sleep”). Based on previous literature on embodiment, we expected to find a relevant effect of motor imagery and we also tested somatotopicity by including verbs referring to both upper and lower limbs. With experiment 2, instead, we wanted to verify if the involvement of motor imagery could be extended also to nominal metaphors, i.e., expressions without motion verbs (e.g. “those lawyers are sharks” as opposed to the literal “those fishes are sharks”). Considering the evidence coming from previous literature, we had two main expectations about our findings: (1) less accuracy and slower reaction times in the computerized test for metaphors with respect to their literal counterparts, due to the figurativity effect of these expressions; (2) a significant correlation between motor imagery skills and accuracy and/or RTs in action metaphors. As for nominal metaphors, we did not formulate an explicit prediction, but we were interested in assessing whether embodiment effects can extend to non-action language. Consistently with our predictions, experiment 1 highlighted an involvement of motor imagery in both literal and metaphorical sentences with action verbs and also showed that this effect is somatotopic, since better motor imagery for hands movements facilitated the comprehension of sentences involving specifically upper limbs verbs. Findings from experiment 2 showed that this embodiment process is also present in literal and metaphorical expressions that do not involve action verbs, establishing an interesting starting point for further investigations about the involvement of motor imagery in language in general. In conclusion, by investigating a measure such as motor imagery, our study offers novel support to the embodiment theory of language comprehension, extending to figurative expressions.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/242