title: The effects of emotional valence on hemispheric processing of metaphoric word pairs.
abstract: Recent theories of metaphor comprehension discuss the cognitive substrates involved in processing metaphors. However, the role of valence perception during metaphor comprehension has received little attention. The present study aims to examine the effect of emotional valence on metaphor processing, as well as the interaction between this effect and hemispheric differences. Metaphoric, literal, and meaningless word pairs were presented to 43 participants who performed a semantic judgment task. Results showed that processing of metaphors with negative valence was faster when done in the right hemisphere as compared with the left hemisphere. These findings indicate that emotional valence interacts with cognitive processes of metaphor comprehension. We discuss valence with respect to the class inclusion model and the fine versus coarse semantic coding model of metaphor processing.
authors: a School of Education , Bar-Ilan University , Ramat-Gan , Israel.
authors: Nira
authors: N
authors: Mashal
authors: Oksana
authors: O
authors: Itkes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D019365:Metaphor; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading; D012660:Semantics; D014825:Vocabulary
keywords: Divided visual field; Emotion lateralization; Hemispheric asymmetry; Metaphors