Conceptual metaphors and embodied cognition: EEG coherence reveals brain activity differences between primary and complex conceptual metaphors during comprehension

Abstract

Because cognitive linguists assert that primary and complex conceptual metaphors are theoretical constructs with a plausible yet uncertain psychological reality, we investigated if and how EEG coherence would differ between these two categories during comprehension. We formalized an algorithm of conceptual metaphor processing for the purpose of hypothesis testing, before collecting EEG data from 50 normal adults, looking for condition-specific EEG coherence patterns. Results confirm the psychological reality of these two metaphor categories. However, they also support alternative conceptions regarding the algorithm and nature of complex metaphors, developed and discussed in this article.

The Elephant in the Room: A Systematic Review of Stimulus Control in Neuro-Measurement Studies on Figurative Language Processing

“…Imageability is linked to the factor of concreteness; the two factors are not always used in clear separation (e.g., Lachaud, 2013;Lai et al, 2015). Imageability refers to the ease with which an expression evokes a mental image.…”

Revealing Unconscious Consumer Reactions to Advertisements That Include Visual Metaphors. A Neurophysiological Experiment

“…Due to its recent adoption in marketing, research on visual metaphors in advertising by applying neuroscientific techniques is still scarce (Bambini et al, 2016). The studies on this matter are mainly focused on the analysis of textual metaphors and are mostly restricted to semantic processing (Sotillo et al, 2004;Lachaud, 2013;Rataj, 2014).…”

A CULTure of entrepreneurship education

“…Future research could for instance investigate, beyond providing anecdotal evidence through vignettes, whether mainstream EE risks the creation of a conceptual metaphor (Lakoff and Johnson 1980a, b), by promoting a belief system rather than a field of science. Quantitative metaphor analysis (Lachaud 2013) could further our understanding of what students understand by 'entrepreneurial' and 'entrepreneurship' as in (Dodd, Jack, and Anderson 2013). Likewise, researchers could highlight and explore the values underpinning, for example, social, sustainable, and community entrepreneurship, and in doing so emphasise the diversity of political, social and economic possibilities and their intertwined nature.…”