Effects of categorical dissimilarity and affective similarity between constituent words on metaphor appreciation

This study examines the effects of categorical and affective similarities between the constituent words of sentence (Noun-A is like Noun-B) on metaphor appreciation. In the preliminary studies using 48 words to be used later, the two kinds of similarity were measured separately by either sorting or semantic differential technique. In the main study, a set of five rating tasks concerning three types of formulaic sentences (literal, metaphorical, and anomalous) was given for each of 28 subjects in relation to (a) similarity between the words in a pairing, (b) similarity of the words in a particular formulaic sentence, (c) sentence comprehensibility, (d) sentence novelty, and (e) metaphor aptness. The application of path analysis for the above data revealed the following: (1) Categorical dissimilarity affects novelty [N], (2) affective similarity influences comprehensibility [C], and (3) [N] and [C] affect metaphor aptness.A portion of the results was reported at the First Annual Conference of the Japanese Cognitive Science Society, Kyoto, July 1984.