Publications

Publication details [#6280]

Janc, Henry. 1992. Metaphoric comprehension: A higher psychological process mediated by signs. Greenvale, N.Y.. 147 pp.

Abstract

This study examined the role of context in generating metaphoric understanding in young children. Context was viewed as a facilitator of sign use, which could then mediate the processing involved in metaphoric comprehension. Three contexts were examined: linguistic narratives, verbalized speech, and play enactment. One hundred and eight children from the kindergarten and third grades were equally divided amongst these contexts and a control condition. Within each context, they were asked to provide interpretations of metaphoric statements. They were then asked to respond to a generalization task involving additional metaphors which were not supported by contexts. The children also participated in a memory task to examine the relevancy of available contexts. Findings indicated that context, in general, does have an influence on the generation of successful metaphoric understanding by children. However, specific differences between the various contexts were not evident. The different contexts did offer distinct influence upon the children's use of various categories in responding to the metaphors. Children's performance within the generalization task reflected their difficulty in generating understanding within decontextualized situations. Their memories for the narrative contexts suggested the importance of the relevancy of available contexts. These findings were explored within the perspective of Vygotsky's (1978) theory on the development of higher psychological functions. (Dissertation Abstracts)