the present study is a randomized pilot project that intends to test the graded salience hypothesis (giora, 1997), to investigate the major factors contributing to understanding meaning. according to graded salience hypothesis, more salient meanings–coded meanings foremost on our mind due to conventionality, frequency, familiarity, or prototypicality–are accessed faster than and reach sufficien...

We describe the pattern of fixations of subjects looking at figurative and abstract paintings from different artists (Molina, Mondrian, Rembrandt, della Francesca) and at modified versions in which different aspects of these art pieces were altered with simple digital manipulations. We show that the fixations of the subjects followed some general common principles (e.g., being attracted to sali...

This article addresses how to enhance metaphor and metonymy comprehension in children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HF-ASD), who are known to have difficulties with figurative language. After considering some major issues on typical development and in HF-ASD, and some studies on treatment in this specific domain, the authors describe an intervention methodology that can be use...

Recent emphases on differences between metaphors and similes pose a quandary. The two forms clearly differ in strength, but often seem to require similar interpretations. In Experiment 1 we show that ratings of comprehensibility are highly correlated across simile and metaphor sentences differing only in the presence or absence of “like”. In Experiment 2 we show that comprehensibility ratings f...

The difficulties experienced by autistic individuals with regard to communication and language are widely known and well documented. Individuals with High functioning autism (ASD) are distinguished by relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive skills. However, problems with pragmatic language skills have been consistently reported across the autistic spectrum, even when structural langua...

Cognitive scientists interested in the link between language and visual experience have shown that linguistic input influences eye movements. Research in this area, however, tends to focus on literal language alone. In the current study, we investigate whether figurative language influences eye movements. In our experiment, participants viewed two-dimensional depictions of static spatial scenes...

This paper aims at exploring the educational scholarly writing on teacher-student relationship and performance within use of Social Network Sites (SNSs) for purposes. To that end, a systematic review 111 journal articles focused young people, found in ten relevant databases (ERIC, SCOPUS, WOS, JCR (SSCI), DOAJ, EBSCO, ISOC, REDIB, JSTOR, PsycARTICLES), has been performed. The results show conti...

According to an influential view of conceptual representation, action concepts are understood through motoric simulations, involving motor networks of the brain. A stronger version of this embodied account suggests that even figurative uses of action words (e.g., grasping the concept) are understood through motoric simulations. We investigated these claims by assessing whether Parkinson's disea...

In this paper I review some of the theoretical issues surrounding metaphor, and trace them through the context of the cognitive neuroscience debate. Metaphor, like all figurative language, has been usually explained as a secondary linguistic process which takes place as a function taking place on literal language. However this explanation does not fit well with some of the recent work on right ...