Metaphor-related figurative language comprehension in clinical populations: a critical review

  • Maity Siqueira Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8775-4563
  • Daniela Fernandes Marques Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre.
  • Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr University of California, Santa Cruz.
Palavras-chave: Figurative language, Metaphor, Metonymy, Proverb, Clinical populations.

Resumo

This paper aims to critically review current studies with respect to definitions, methods, and results on the comprehension of metaphor, metonymy, idioms, and proverbs under the following clinical conditions: aphasia, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, brain injuries, specific language impairment, and Williams Syndrome. A comprehensive search of experimental psycholinguistic research was conducted using EBSCOhost, PsychInfo, PUBMED, and Web of Science databases. Thirty-eight studies met the review inclusion criteria. Results point to deficits in figurative language comprehension in all conditions considered, lack of clear definitions of the phenomena investigated, and varied methods throughout the sample. Patients’ difficulties are attributed to multiple factors, such as a lack of Theory of Mind, executive dysfunctions, and poor semantic knowledge. The study of nonliteral aspects of language comprehension in clinical populations reveals a range of disparate impairments. There was no specific feature about metaphor-related phenomena identified that could, on its own, account for the difficulty some populations have to understand figurative language. Rather, metaphor-related language comprehension difficulties are often part of pragmatic, linguistic, and/or cognitive impairments.

 

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Biografia do Autor

Maity Siqueira, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Professora Associada da UFRGS (Departamento de Linguística, Filologia e Teoria Literária), com vínculo permanente no PPG Letras. Possui graduação em Psicologia pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (1991), mestrado em Linguística e Letras pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (1999), doutorado em Linguística e Letras pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (2004), Doutorado Sanduiche (2003) na University of California, Santa Cruz . Realizou Estágio Sênior no departamento de Psicologia Cognitiva da University Of California Santa Cruz (2014), onde trabalhou com Raymond Gibbs. Atua na área da Psicolinguística, com ênfase em Linguística Cognitiva. Seus interesses de pesquisa atuais incluem compreensão e aquisição de linguagem figurada (por populações clínicas e não clínicas) e o desenvolvimento e validação de um teste psicométrico que avalia a capacidade de compreender linguagem figurada (particularmente metáforas, metonímias, expressões idiomáticas, provérbios e ironias).
Daniela Fernandes Marques, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre.
Possui graduação em Fonoaudiologia pelo Instituto Metodista de Educação e Cultura (2001). É especialista em Fonoaudiologia Hospitalar pelo Centro Educacional São Camilo (2003). Possui Curso de Capacitação em Reabilitação de Deficientes Auditivos pelo Serviço de Otorrinolaringologia do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (2006). É mestre em Psicologia pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (2010) e doutoranda em Letras pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Atualmente é Fonoaudióloga do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre. Tem experiência em reabilitação nas áreas de linguagem e neuroaudiologia.
Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Raymond W. Gibbs Jr. foi professor de Psicologia e pesquisador na Universidade da Califórnia, em Santa Cruz. Seus interesses de pesquisa estão nos campos da psicolinguística experimental e da ciência cognitiva. Seu trabalho diz respeito a uma série de questões teóricas, que vão desde questões sobre o papel da experiência incorporada no pensamento e da linguagem, a olhar para o uso das pessoas e a compreensão da linguagem figurada (por exemplo, metáfora, ironia, expressões idiomáticas). A pesquisa de Raymond Gibbs é especialmente focada na experiência corporal e no significado linguístico. Grande parte de sua pesquisa é motivada por teorias de significado em filosofia, lingüística e literatura comparada. (Dados do Wikipedia)

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Publicado
23-12-2016
Como Citar
SIQUEIRA, M.; MARQUES, D. F.; GIBBS, JR, R. W. Metaphor-related figurative language comprehension in clinical populations: a critical review. Scripta, v. 20, n. 40, p. 36-60, 23 dez. 2016.
Seção
Dossiê Metáfora