Evidence for role-neutral initial processing of metaphors

Two models of metaphor processing are contrasted. The structure-mapping mod el postulates an initially role-neutral alignment process, followed by dire ctional projection of inferences. The attributive categorization model post ulates role-specific processing throughout comprehension. To test between t hese models, the early stages of metaphor comprehension were probed using a technique based on S. Glucksberg, P. Gildea, and H. Bookin's (1982) findin g that metaphorical meaning interferes with literal truthfulness judgments. In Experiment 1, interference effects did not differ between normal metaph ors and metaphors with reversed terms, suggesting that initial processing i s role-neutral. In Experiment 2, we again found no role dependence in inter ference effects, even for highly conventional metaphors. In Experiment 3, i t was verified that (a) full comprehension is role-sensitive and (b) full c omprehension reaction times (RTs) are far longer than interference RTs, but tressing the claim that interference is an early-stage effect. Overall, the results support the structure-mapping model of metaphor processing.