No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Determinants of Aesthetic Preference for Product Metaphors
Abstract
To generate a product metaphor, designers have to come up with a metaphorical association between a target and a source, and then apply this association to physical form. In this article, we address the interplay between novelty and understandability of a metaphorical association, and subtlety and identifiability of metaphor application, via two studies conducted to investigate how these four factors affect aesthetic preference for product metaphors. In Study 1, it was shown that these four factors jointly explain the preference, but each factor suppresses the effect of its counterpart. Direct correlations between variables and aesthetic preference were only moderate or not significant, but each relationship became significant when the influence of the other factor was statistically controlled for. Study 2 focused on the application component of a metaphor by systematically manipulating the factors of subtlety and identifiability in the design of two product metaphors. It was again shown that these factors together explain aesthetic preference: metaphors that maximize identifiability and subtlety were found to be most aesthetically pleasing. In combination, these studies demonstrate that the aesthetic quality of product metaphors results from simultaneously maximizing clarity (i.e., the metaphor is understandable and identifiable) and interestingness (i.e., the metaphor is novel and its application subtle) at the association and application levels. This finding is discussed in light of a "dual impulses" model of aesthetic preference.
... The investigation of product metaphors on consumers' comprehension of RNPs can provide important contributions to the existing literature. Current research related to product metaphors focuses on how designers use product metaphors in their creative performance (Casakin, 2007), how designers generate product metaphors (Cila, Hekkert, et al., 2014a;Cila, Hekkert, & Visch, 2014b), and consumers' aesthetic appreciation of product metaphors (Cila, Borsboom, & Hekkert, 2014;Lin & Cheng, 2014). This current research can contribute to this line of research by focusing on the context of RNPs. ...
... As not all the product metaphors are equally effective, it is beneficial to investigate the effects of using product metaphors in specific contexts (Hekkert & Cila, 2015). More specifically, by investigating the use of product metaphors in RNPs, we tackle pragmatic intentions for using product metaphors, which extends current studies that focus on experiential intentions (Cila, Borsboom, et al., 2014;Lin & Cheng, 2014). Prior research has suggested that product metaphors with pragmatic intentions should focus on the most salient quality of the target product and design product metaphors in a direct and clear way (Cila, Hekkert, et al., 2014a). ...
... As textual clues are necessary to positively influence consumers' comprehension, product metaphors may not need to be as obvious as the stimuli used in both studies. As demonstrated in the prior study (Cila, Borsboom, et al., 2014), an identifiable but subtle product metaphor contributes to consumers' aesthetic preference. Going back to the two examples of the Bluetooth speaker 'SSSSSpeaker' (see Figure 4) and the 'Mother' smart home system (see Figure 2), the product metaphor of the travel cup is used for the 'SSSSSpeaker' Bluetooth speaker in a straightforward manner: the colour, shape and materials are identical to a travel cup. ...
Really new products (RNPs) are often difficult to comprehend, which may hinder consumers’ adoption. It is generally believed that designers can stimulate consumers’ comprehension by embodying RNPs in the form of product metaphors. However, empirical evidence for this is lacking. This study empirically examines the effects of product metaphors on consumers’ comprehension of RNPs. The findings of an experiment (N= 114) demonstrated an interaction effect of the presence of a product metaphor and a textual clue that explains the product metaphor on consumers’ comprehension of RNPs. Specifically, embodying a RNP in the form of a product metaphor will confuse consumers and reduce comprehension, unless the product metaphor is also explained through a textual clue.
... Some of them appeal to us; others strike us as very clever, whereas still others are far-fetched or incomprehensible. In order to be effective and aesthetically pleasing, a metaphor should strike a balance between its clarity and interestingness (Cila, Borsboom, & Hekkert, 2014). Clarity comes from the understandability and appropriateness of a metaphoric association, and the identifiability of its source. ...
... Design Studies Vol 40 No. C Month 2015 Handle with care! 211 metaphors results from simultaneously maximizing the understandability and novelty of their association, as well as the identifiability and subtlety of the mapping (Cila et al., 2014). ...
Metaphors are not only a powerful tool in the hands of a poet; they are also powerful in the hands of a designer. In this paper we examine (1) several intentions behind metaphor conception and selection, and (2) consider various ways a product metaphor can be designed. Whereas both classifications emphasise the enormous potential metaphors have, we will also attempt to describe the risks and pitfalls associated with their use. It takes a careful hand to design a good product metaphor.
... However, metaphorical expression should not necessarily replicate a source precisely; projection of the physical properties of a source onto the corresponding target product should not violate the identity of said product [36]. The aesthetic pleasantness of a metaphor is grounded in the balance between subtlety and the identifiability of the metaphor with its source [37]. ...
The application of metaphors in product design has the potential to enhance products' appeal and meaning to enrich product experiences. In response to the trend of metaphorical expressions in product designs becoming increasingly diverse, this study explored people's recognition and classification of many product metaphors to understand how people form meaning based on such metaphors. This paper proposes a framework to assist designers in creating metaphors in product designs. The research methodology entailed a card-sorting activity and interviews. The results of this study classify assorted product metaphors into nine themes and frame these nine themes within three modes-namely the iconic, indexical, and symbolic modes-to explain the process of product metaphor recognition. In addition, interpretation of metaphorical meaning through comparison and connection is discussed herein. The proposed conceptual framework could serve as a reference for designers for the creation of product metaphors to convey their design intentions and enrich consumers' product experiences.
... Future studies should investigate whether the age of participants impacts the aesthetic appreciation of metaphors. Additionally, our result that metaphorical compliments with high novelty were more attractive fails to support the assumption-preference theory of prototypicality, which proposes that familiarity could be more aesthetically preferred due to the psychological pursuit of humans for safety (Cila et al., 2014;Jochim and Sascha, 2001), i.e., the more familiar, the more secure. However, De Vries et al. (2010) also finds that prototypical effects could decrease when humans are in a safe and positive context. ...
Metaphor is widely used in our daily lives to express strong emotions, comprehend abstract concepts and display aesthetic qualities. Women prefer metaphorical language when men pay them compliments in romantic situations; however, in this context, it remains unclear which factors are likely to contribute to the aesthetic attractiveness of metaphor. In the current study, 90 female undergraduates were recruited to rate 477 compliments in terms of language variables (i.e., appropriateness, figurativeness, familiarity, and imageability) and emotional perception (i.e., attractiveness, valence, romance, and arousal) on a 7-point Likert scale. The compliments were generated by 74 men who were required to use language to impress women in a previous independent experiment. A hierarchical regression model was built to explore the potential factors of the aesthetic attractiveness of metaphors. The results showed that a metaphor's attractiveness was positively correlated with figurativeness, imageability, romance and arousal but negatively associated with familiarity, which suggests that metaphors are more attractive when they incorporate high figurativeness, imageability, romance and arousal and low familiarity. Overall, this study indicates that a metaphor's aesthetic attractiveness may be determined by the social context, a communicator's motivation and specific linguistic aspects.
... UMA projesi kapsamında bu bağlamda yapılmış olan araştırmalar (Cila, et. al., 2014; metaforların sözlü benzetme mekanizmasında olduğu gibi tasarımda da kullanılmakta olduğuna dikkat çekmektedir. ...
Beğenilmesi amacı ile tasarlanmış, estetik değer taşıyan her bir ürün, tüketicinin duyularına doğrudan hitap ederek onda haz uyandıran birer sosyal iletişim aracıdır. Blijlevens ve arkadaşları tasarım ürünlerinden alınan estetik haz ve estetik hazzın belirleyicilerinin ölçülebilmesi için güvenilir, geçerlenmiş ve genellenebilir bir ölçek geliştirerek alan yazına katkıda bulunmuşlardır. Ölçeğin geçerliliği taraflarınca Avusturya, Hollanda ve Tayvan’da da ayrıca test edilmiştir. Ölçek, estetik haz (5 madde) ile estetik hazzın belirleyicilerini betimlediği kabul edilen, tipiklik (6 madde), sıradışı yenilik (4 madde), birlik (4 madde) ve çeşitlilik (4 madde) boyutlarından oluşmaktadır. Bu boyutlar aracılığı ile hem estetik hazzın hem de estetik hazzın belirleyicilerinin ayrı ayrı tanımlanabilmesi ve aralarındaki ilişkinin ortaya koyulabilmesi mümkün olmaktadır. Bu araştırmada, Blijlevens ve arkadaşları tarafından geliştirilmiş olan ölçeğin, Türkçe uyarlaması geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışmasının yapılması amaçlanmıştır. Araştırma evrenini 2017-2018 eğitim-öğretim yılı Selçuk Üniversitesi, Sanat ve Tasarım Fakültesi, Moda Tasarımı bölümü öğrencileri ve akademisyenleri oluşturmaktadır. Olayda örnekleme alma yöntemiyle seçilen 100 katılımcıya uyarlanmış olan ölçek uygulanmıştır. Geçerlik ve güvenirlik analizleri neticesinde 23 soruluk ölçek 22 soruya indirilmiştir. Ölçek maddelerinin tamamı olumlu yargı içermektedir. Ölçeğin güvenirliği Cronbach α, Spearman Brown ve Gutmann Split-Half değerleri ile hesaplanmıştır. Analizler neticesinde Türkçe uyarlaması tamamlanmış olan ölçeğin geçerli ve güvenilir olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.
This paper proposes extending the appearance of artefacts from human to zoomorphic on the basis of the uncanny valley phenomenon, while simultaneously realising the effects of bionic species, product realism, and gender differences on preschool children’s preferences for artificial animal appearances. In this study, animal toys were created as stimuli and a three-factor experiment was conducted with preschool children. Overall, the children demonstrated significantly stronger preferences for animal toys with extremely high or moderate realism compared with those with extremely low realism. Specifically, the boys preferred the toys with extremely high realism, and the girls preferred those with moderate realism. We conclude with some suggestions regarding the direction of design guidelines for the appearance of artificial animals, to facilitate the design and creation of animal products that promote human–robot interactions and design education.
In the product-design domain, metaphors are used as a means of communication between designers and users. A designer generates a metaphor by deciding on a quality of a target to highlight and selecting a corresponding source that conveys this quality; the user interprets the designer’s intentions via the end product. The depth of the generated metaphor can be assessed by the extent to which the highlighted quality is salient for the target: Metaphors focusing on a salient quality of the target are termed “surface” metaphors, whereas those focusing on a non-salient quality are called “deep” metaphors. In this article, we investigated both the effect of the expertise level of the designer (i.e., novice or expert) and different types of intention (i.e., pragmatic or experiential) on metaphor depth, through a study in which groups of expert and novice designers were asked to generate metaphors and external judges evaluated the depth of the metaphors created. Results indicated that having a pragmatic intention or being a novice designer led to the generation of surface metaphors, whereas having experiential intentions or being an expert facilitated the generation of deeper metaphors. Detailed observations are included regarding the nature of decisions made during the product metaphor generation process that produce comprehensible and aesthetically pleasing metaphors. Additionally, our findings have implications for metaphor research and design practice.
In the summer of 2012, I was in the fortunate position of acting as technical advisor to a major European automotive manufacturer. My job was to evaluate over thirty new interior design concepts on their experiential qualities and address the following question Will future customers appreciate these solutions? Solutions indeed, as almost all of the concepts that I was shown were technical solutions to specific problems. What the engineers responsible for these solutions completely ignored was what the fast-moving consumer goods industry calls “the first moment of truth.” When people approach a car in a showroom or see a new car model in a magazine, their first response will be one of visual attractiveness “Does this car appeal to me?” The present chapter presents a framework for understanding and explaining such aesthetic responses. The beauty dilemma Our attitude formation is often prompted by visual appeal or visual aesthetics, and ever since the seminal work of Dion, Berscheid and Walster (1972), we have been aware of the importance of this first impression physically attractive people are assumed to possess more desirable personality traits and expected to be more successful than less attractive people. Although their initial claim was weakened in follow-up studies (see Eagly et al., 1991), attractive people are generally perceived as more competent. In the next section, I will explore whether the “what-is-beautiful-is-good” principle also holds for designed artifacts.
In the product-design domain, metaphors are used as a means of communication between designers and users. A designer generates a metaphor by deciding on a quality of a target to highlight and selecting a corresponding source that conveys this quality; the user interprets the designer’s intentions via the end product. The depth of the generated metaphor can be assessed by the extent to which the highlighted quality is salient for the target: Metaphors focusing on a salient quality of the target are termed “surface” metaphors, whereas those focusing on a non-salient quality are called “deep” metaphors. In this article, we investigated both the effect of the expertise level of the designer (i.e., novice or expert) and different types of intention (i.e., pragmatic or experiential) on metaphor depth, through a study in which groups of expert and novice designers were asked to generate metaphors and external judges evaluated the depth of the metaphors created. Results indicated that having a pragmatic intention or being a novice designer led to the generation of surface metaphors, whereas having experiential intentions or being an expert facilitated the generation of deeper metaphors. Detailed observations are included regarding the nature of decisions made during the product metaphor generation process that produce comprehensible and aesthetically pleasing metaphors. Additionally, our findings have implications for metaphor research and design practice.
We present a theory of human artistic experience and the neural mechanisms that mediate it. Any theory of art (or, indeed, any aspect of human nature) has to ideally have three components. (a) The logic of art: whether there are universal rules or principles; (b) The evolutionary rationale: why did these rules evolve and why do they have the form that they do; (c) What is the brain circuitry involved? Our paper begins with a quest for artistic universals and proposes a list of Eight laws of artistic experience -- a set of heuristics that artists either consciously or unconsciously deploy to optimally titillate the visual areas of the brain. One of these principles is a psychological phenomenon called the peak shift effect: If a rat is rewarded for discriminating a rectangle from a square, it will respond even more vigorously to a rectangle that is longer and skinnier that the prototype. We suggest that this principle explains not only caricatures, but many other aspects of art. Example: An evocative sketch of a female nude may be one which selectively accentuates those feminine form-attributes that allow one to discriminate it from a male figure; a Boucher, a Van Gogh, or a Monet may be a caricature in colour space rather than form space. Even abstract art may employ supernormal stimuli to excite form areas in the brain more strongly than natural stimuli. Second, we suggest that grouping is a very basic principle. The different extrastriate visual areas may have evolved specifically to extract correlations in different domains (e.g. form, depth, colour), and discovering and linking multiple features (grouping) into unitary clusters -- objects -- is facilitated and reinforced by direct connections from these areas to limbic structures. In general, when object-like entities are partially discerned at any stage in the visual hierarchy, messages are sent back to earlier stages to alert them to certain locations or features in order to look for additional evidence for the object (and these processes may be facilitated by direct limbic activation). Finally, given constraints on allocation of attentional resources, art is most appealing if it produces heightened activity in a single dimension (e.g. through the peak shift principle or through grouping) rather than redundant activation of multiple modules. This idea may help explain the effectiveness of outline drawings and sketches, the savant syndrome in autists, and the sudden emergence of artistic talent in fronto-temporal dementia. In addition to these three basic principles we propose five others, constituting a total of eight laws of aesthetic experience(analogous to the Buddha's eightfold path to wisdom).
Empirical investigations of metaphor's persuasive effects have produced mixed results. In an effort to integrate the literature, we present a review and meta-analytic summary of existing studies. Six explanations for the potential suasory advantage of metaphor over literal language were reviewed: (a) pleasure or relief, (b) communicator credibility, (c) reduced counterarguments, (d) resource-matching, (e) stimulated elaboration, and (f) superior organization. Next, a meta-analysis was conducted and the impact of seven moderator variables was tested. The overall effect for the metaphor-literal comparison for attitude change was r = .07, which supported the claim that metaphors enhance persuasion. The effect rose to r = .42 under optimal conditions, when a single, nonextended metaphor was novel, had a familiar target, and was used early in a message. Metaphor appeared to exert a small effect on perceptions of source dynamism (r = .06), but showed no demonstrable impact on competence (r =−.01) or character (r =−.02). Of the six theories considered, the superior organization explanation of metaphor's persuasive impact was most supported by the results.
Two rating studies examined several dimensions of metaphorical sentences. A pool of 260 metaphors was constructed, all in the form (noun phrase) is/are (noun phrase). In Study 1 all of the items, and in Study 2, 98 of the items were evaluated on ten scales presumed to be important to the comprehension or interpretation of metaphors: semantic relatedness of the subject and predicate, comprehensibility, imageability, imageability of the subject (topic), imageability of the predicate (vehicle), degree of metaphoricity, metaphor goodness, ease of interpretation, number of alternative interpretations, and felt familiarity of the metaphoric ground. Both experiments revealed the rated dimensions to be highly interrelated, but some analyses allowed evaluation of alternative predictions based on current theoretical approaches to metaphor quality and interpretation. The results indicated consistent but mixed support for the general poisitions under consideration as each appeared to have strong and weak areas of applicability. The interrelationships among the scales are discussed, together with implications of the findings for current theories and future metaphor research.
Many researchers have theorized or demonstrated a relationship between tenor and vehicle similarity and the judged quality of metaphors. In four experiments, each using different materials, the relationship between similarity and metaphoric quality was examined. Undergraduates in two different institutions rated: (1) the similarity of tenor and vehicle concepts, (2) the quality of metaphors in isolated, formulaic, sentences (the sort of materials used in previous experiments), or (3) the quality of the same metaphors in various extended, natural contexts. Average ratings of all three variables were determined for each metaphor. In all four experiments, similarity was highly positively correlated with the quality of metaphors in isolated, formulaic contexts, but similarity was either not correlated highly (Experiment 3) or not correlated at all (Experiment 1,2 & 4) with the quality of metaphors in extended, natural contexts. In three of the experiments, the quality of metaphors in isolated, formulaic sentences was not significantly correlated with the quality of metaphors in extended context.
With metaphoric quality divided into an appropriateness and novelty component, college-student subjects rated 75 metaphoric sentences on those components and on imageability. Different subjects were assigned to each of the three rating conditions (n=45 in each). Correlations based on mean ratings of the metaphors indicated that imageability was negatively related to novelty and positively related to appropriateness. A composite of the novelty and appropriateness ratings (deemed to reflect metaphoric quality) proved to be independent of imageability. Examination of metaphors with the highest and lowest imagery ratings suggested that imagery was facilitated by perceptual-configural linkages and inhibited by remote conceptual linkages between topic and vehicle. This configural-conceptual distinction appears to be of greater importance than quality in influencing the extent to which a metaphor is imaged.
In this paper I propose that only part of our experience of events, and products in particular, should be coined aesthetic. This part, the aesthetic experience, is restricted to the (dis)pleasure that results from sensory perception. The main part of the paper is devoted to explaining why we experience certain things as gratifying to our senses. Following thinking in evolutionary psychology, it is argued that we aesthetically prefer environmental patterns and features that are beneficial for the development of the senses’ functioning and our survival in general. Four general principles of aesthetic pleasure, operating across the senses, can be explained on the basis of such argumentation: (1) maximum effect for minimum means, (2) unity in variety, (3) most advanced, yet acceptable, and (4) optimal match.
Metaphor and Thought, first published in 1979, reflects the surge of interest in and research into the nature and function of metaphor in language and thought. In this revised and expanded second edition, the editor has invited the contributors to update their original essays to reflect any changes in their thinking. Reorganised to accommodate the shifts in central theoretical issues, the volume also includes six new chapters that present important and influential fresh ideas about metaphor that have appeared in such fields as the philosophy of language and the philosophy of science, linguistics, cognitive and clinical psychology, education and artificial intelligence.
Empirical investigations of metaphor's persuasive effects have produced mixed results. In an effort to integrate the literature, we present a review and meta-analytic summary of existing studies. Six explanations for the potential suasory advantage of metaphor over literal language were reviewed: (a) pleasure or relief, (b) communicator credibility, (c) reduced counterarguments, (d) resource-matching, (e) stimulated elaboration, and (f) superior organization. Next, a meta-analysis was conducted and the impact of seven moderator variables was tested. The overall effect for the metaphor-literal comparison for attitude change was r = .07, which supported the claim that metaphors enhance persuasion. The effect rose to r = .42 under optimal conditions, when a single, nonextended metaphor was novel, had a familiar target, and was used early in a message. Metaphor appeared to exert a small effect on perceptions of source dynamism (r = .06), but showed no demonstrable impact on competence (r = -.01) or character (r = -.02). Of the six theories considered, the superior organization explanation of metaphor's persuasive impact was most supported by the results.
We propose that in understanding a metaphor, an individual sees a concept from one class or domain in terms of its similarity in two different respects to a concept from another class or domain. The two kinds of similarity are within-domain similarity, or the degree to which two concepts occupy similar positions with respect to their own class or domain; and between-domain similarity, or the degree to which the classes or domains occupied by the concepts are themselves similar. To test this dual notion of similarity, we obtained ratings of the aptness of 64 metaphors from one group of subjects and ratings of their comprehensibility from another group of subjects. The terms of the metaphors had been scaled (based on the ratings of pretest subjects) to give measures of distance both within and between domains. Aptness of metaphors related positively to betweendomain distance, negatively to within-domain distance, and not at all to overall distance. Metaphors are thus perceived as more apt to the extent that their terms occupy similar positions within domains that are not very similar to each other. Comprehensibility also related to aptness. In a second experiment, subjects ranked a set of terms as possible completions for metaphors. For both groups of subjects in this experiment, the rank of an alternative's within-domain distance correlated with its relative popularity. Quantitative models, patterned after a model proposed by D. Rumelhart and A. A. Abrahamson (Cognitive Psychology, 1973, 5, 1–28) for analogical reasoning, afforded significant prediction of the choices of the group of subjects in which all the possible completions of a metaphor were from a single domain. The same models did not predict the choices of a group of subjects in which the possible completions of the metaphors were from different domains.
Metaphors of the formX is a Ymay be conceived as statements of property attribution, in which properties of the vehicleYare attributed to the topicX. The properties attributed from the vehicle to the topic are those that are epitomized by the vehicle, and may characterize a dimension of within-category variation in the topic. We report two experiments that tested the implications of this “property attribution” view of metaphor comprehension. One implication of this view is that metaphors are not implicitly transformed into comparisons (X is like a Y), but rather are understood as what they appear to be: class-inclusion assertions. If metaphors are understood as class-inclusion assertions, they should either change meaning or become nonsensical when reversed. Experiment 1 provides evidence for this claim. A second implication of the property attribution view is that topics and vehicles provide different kinds of information to guide and constrain the comprehension process. Experiment 2 provides evidence for this claim. These findings cannot be accounted for by models which assume that metaphors are understood as implicit comparisons.
Metaphor and Thought, first published in 1979, reflects the surge of interest in and research into the nature and function of metaphor in language and thought. In this revised and expanded second edition, the editor has invited the contributors to update their original essays to reflect any changes in their thinking. Reorganised to accommodate the shifts in central theoretical issues, the volume also includes six new chapters that present important and influential fresh ideas about metaphor that have appeared in such fields as the philosophy of language and the philosophy of science, linguistics, cognitive and clinical psychology, education and artificial intelligence.
What factors affect the processes by which vehicles are selected for metaphors and similes? What determines the form of figurative statement people prefer to use? To answer these questions we contrast the predictions of class-inclusion theory and the structure mapping theory and its career of metaphor variant with respect to aptness, conventionality, and working memory (WM) in a figurative statement production task. Consistent with both theories we found that property-aptness influences the time required to generate a vehicle, that conventionality predicts the quality of vehicles and the time it takes to generate them, and that WM capacity predicts the quality of vehicles produced. However, it was class-inclusion theory that best explained why we observed no effect of aptness on vehicle quality and why WM and vehicle quality, but not conventionality, influenced the likelihood of using the metaphor or simile form. We end with a discussion of how these results relate to Kintsch's Predication Model of comprehension and how the model may be extended to account for behavior in figurative statement production.
Beauty has received sparse attention from emotion theorists, some of whom have argued that aesthetic pleasure is cognitive in nature and too "disinterested" to be emotional. This view is supported by research suggesting that aesthetic pleasure is based on processing fluency. The authors review recent findings in the psychology of aesthetics and present two arguments. First, processing fluency explains the mild pleasure associated with simple or familiar objects, but it cannot account for the more intense pleasure associated with complex or novel objects. Immediately recognizing an object tends to be mildly pleasant, whereas sensing the prospect of successfully representing a complex object can be exhilarating. Second, to explain how these forms of aesthetic pleasures differ, a theory must go beyond cognitive dynamics. The authors' affect-based model of emotion differentiates aesthetic pleasures in terms of epistemic goals. Pretty, fluently processed stimuli implicate prevention goals that maintain and protect knowledge. Beautiful, novel stimuli implicate promotion goals that reshape and expand knowledge. The emotional nature of interest and awe are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in figurative language. Much of this work has focussed on tests of the 'standard pragmatic model of metaphor' in which metaphor is seen as a special process which can only occur after a defect is found in the default literal processing. This view has been largely refuted, and current thinking sees metaphor as much more central to language and cognition. This paper explores how the characteristics of metaphor may interact with the characteristics of the comprehender in metaphor understanding. Results of research on working memory and metaphor, including that of the author, indicate that individual differences play a role in metaphor comprehension and interpretation and point out some important methodological issues for future work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The concept of the good Gestalt has been criticised for vagueness; it can be clarified by relating it to the principles formulated by writer's aesthetics, to define beauty. Concepts like unity in variety, perfect energizing, etc., are replaceable by a formula provisionally given as O (order) times C (complexity). The various factors entering into aesthetic appreciation, i.e. the T, K, and specific factors, experimentally isolated, are reviewed. Those factors active in the process of perception involve the same O and C elements which enter into the aesthetic formula, so the laws of aesthetics can be reduced to those of perception. This is attempted on the basis of Gestalt theory as follows: "The pleasure derived from a percept as such is directly proportional to the decrease of energy capable of doing work in the total nervous system, as compared with the original state of the whole system." Three corollaries of the law are deduced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Previous research has shown that the ease of metaphor interpretation and judgments of metaphor goodness are correlated with the degree of similarity between the two nouns linked in a metaphor. This study was designed to investigate the effects of adding adjective modifiers to the nouns constituting metaphorical sentences. Four types of associative relationships, between adjectives and nouns were defined. It was found that different patterns of adjective modification influenced constituent phrase similarity (e.g., the ADJECTIVE-NOUNA is an ADJECTIVE-NOUNB), and such differences were consistent with changes in metaphor goodness and interpretability. However, the intercorrelations among these variables were a function of the level of similarity between unmodified constituent nouns. With initially similar constituent nouns, the three variables were about equally intercorrelated. With initially dissimilar constituent nouns, constituent phrase similarity and metaphor goodness were highly correlated, but interpretability was not predictable from a linear model. Results are discussed in terms of a cognitive-feature model of association and metaphor processing.
Empirical research on metaphor has focused on the interpretation and comprehension of figurative language, while ignoring the production or encoding of metaphors. This research presents a basic model that attempts to explain the encoding of metaphors in expressive communication. A basic premise of the model is that similarity in connotative meaning, measured as proximity in semantic space, leads to metaphor selection. Two experiments that tested the premise are described here. The first utilized a semantic differential based on Osgood's work, while the second utilized a specially developed instrument. Results of both experiments supported the hypothesis.
Participants were given sentence frames (e.g., Chemistry is the—of science). Their task was to select, from a set of alternatives, a vehicle which would make for a comprehensible and aesthetically pleasing metaphor. The vehicles chosen by the participants to best complete the metaphor were those moderately distant from the topic, both on a measure of domain-relevant distance (similarity between conceptual domains) and on a measure of instance-specific distance (similarity that crosscut domain distinctions). Moreover, participants preferred to complete metaphors with vehicles (1) from referentially concrete domains and (2) closer to the topic on domain-relevant distance. Finally, choice of vehicle differed as a function of analogic reasoning ability but not of imagery differences, suggesting the observed concreteness effects were not due to imagery processes.
Most contemporary theories of creativity recognize originality and some kind of appropriateness (e.g. fit or practicality). The present investigation was conducted to assess the contributions of originality and appropriateness to judgments of creativity. Three different collections of ideas, or “ideational pools” were organized on stimulus cards, with the number of original and appropriate ideas systematically manipulated in each. The ideas were responses from two different Instances divergent thinking tasks. Judges (71 college students) were asked to sort the pools according to three different criteria: originality, appropriateness, and creativity. Trend analyses were used to assess the degree to which the subjective ratings were associated with the objective levels of originality and appropriateness. Regression analyses were also conducted with the subjective ratings of originality and appropriateness (and their interaction) as predictors of subjective creativity ratings. In general, the subjective ratings of originality and appropriateness followed the objective levels, but an inverse relation between originality and appropriateness was apparent, with the lowest originality ratings occuring for the ideational pools with the highest number of appropriate ideas and vice versa. Furthermore, only subjective originality ratings were associated with creativity ratings. When all ideas were unoriginal, creativity ratings decreased (though not significantly) with increasing numbers of appropriate ideas within the pools. However, when objective levels of both originality and appropriateness increased, creativity ratings increased significantly. These results suggest that although it is not necessary for an original idea to be appropriate to be viewed as creative, original ideas are not valued less by being appropriate. However, with unoriginal ideas, appropriateness may inhibit judgments of creativity.
This paper discusses consumer response to product visual form within the context of an integrated conceptual framework. Emphasis is placed on the aesthetic, semantic and symbolic aspects of cognitive response to design. The accompanying affective and behavioural responses are also discussed and the interaction between cognitive and affective response is considered. All aspects of response are presented as the final stage in a process of communication between the design team and the consumer. The role of external visual references is examined and the effects of moderating influences at each stage in the process of communication are discussed. In particular, the personal, situational and cultural factors that moderate response are considered. In concluding the paper, implications for design practice and design research are presented.
Bowdle and Gentner (2005) proposed a reconciliation of the comparison and categorization models of metaphor comprehension. Their career of metaphor model posits that, as a metaphorical term becomes more conventional, its mode of processing shifts from comparison to categorization. However, other recent studies (
[12] and [29]) suggest instead that aptness may mediate metaphorical processing. We empirically contrasted conventionality and aptness to examine their roles in metaphor comprehension. Aptness predicted the preference for metaphors over similes (Experiment 1), the speed and ease of metaphor comprehension (Experiment 2), and the category membership of metaphorical terms (Experiment 3). Conventionality did not reliably predict any of these aspects of metaphorical processing. Thus, results supported the categorization model, and failed to support the career of metaphor.
Although several current theories concern the meaning of metaphors, relatively few empirical studies directly examine that issue. This paper reports a series of three experiments on how subjects interpret and evaluate metaphors. In the first, subjects characterized the meaning of metaphors (e.g.,The eagle is a lion among birds), as well as their tenors (eagle) and vehicles (lion). The results suggest that many of the features in the interpretation of the metaphor are emergent and are not well established parts of preexisting conceptions of the tenor or vehicle. Conversely, many features thought to characterize both tenor and vehicle are not seen as relevant to the interpretation. In the second study, subjects rated features listed in the first study. The rating scales included salience, relationality, and distinctiveness—the key variables according to earlier theories of metaphor. These ratings indicate that, although they may help describe the features included in the interpretation of a metaphor, factors such as salience imbalance or relationality do not predict the rated goodness of the metaphors. In the final study, subjects judged which of two types of interpretation better captured the meaning of metaphors drawn from modern poetry. For each metaphor, one interpretation was based on features shared by the tenor and vehicle; the other was based on emergent features. Subjects overwhelmingly preferred the interpretations based on the emergents.
We consider three theories that have dominated discussions of metaphor. One view is that metaphors make comparisons, the basis for the comparison being the features (or categories) that the terms of the metaphor share. The second view is that metaphors involve an anomaly. The third view is that metaphors are 'interactive', producing a new way of seeing the terms. We propose a new theory-the domains-interaction view-that draws on elements of all three earlier views, but borrows especially from the interaction view. We consider the implications of our theory for three questions: What are metaphors? How are they understood? What makes a good metaphor? We argue that metaphors correlate two systems of concepts from different domains. The best metaphors involve two diverse domains (more distance between domains making for better metaphors) and close correspondence between the terms within those domains. We call the degree of correspondence within-domain similarity. Metaphors are interpreted in several stages: the terms of the metaphor are encoded; the domains involved are inferred; the structures to be seen as parallel are found; the correspondences between these structures are 'mapped' or constructed; the terms of the metaphor are compared. If the terms are not seen to match or occupy analogous roles in their different domains, then the metaphor may be reinterpreted. The evidence on all this is tentative but supports our view. We review two studies (Tourangeau and Sternberg, 1981) that support the hypothesis that distance within domain relates negatively to aptness, whereas distance between domains relates positively. Several studies on comprehension tend to disconfirm the comparison theory's notion that the tenor and vehicle necessarily share features. Tenor and vehicle also appear to have asymmetrical roles in the interpretive process.
Typicality and novelty have often been shown to be related to aesthetic preference of human artefacts. Since a typical product is rarely new and, conversely, a novel product will not often be designated as typical, the positive effects of both features seem incompatible. In three studies it was shown that typicality (operationalized as 'goodness of example') and novelty are jointly and equally effective in explaining the aesthetic preference of consumer products, but that they suppress each other's effect. Direct correlations between both variables and aesthetic preference were not significant, but each relationship became highly significant when the influence of the other variable was partialed out. In Study 2, it was furthermore demonstrated that the expertise level of observers did not affect the relative contribution of novelty and typicality. It was finally shown (Study 3) that a more 'objective' measure of typicality, central tendency - operationalized as an exemplar's average similarity to all other members of the category - yielded the same effect of typicality on aesthetic preference. In sum, all three studies showed that people prefer novel designs as long as the novelty does not affect typicality, or, phrased differently, they prefer typicality given that this is not to the detriment of novelty. Preferred are products with an optimal combination of both aspects.
A central question in metaphor research is how metaphors establish mappings between concepts from different domains. The authors propose an evolutionary path based on structure-mapping theory. This hypothesis--the career of metaphor--postulates a shift in mode of mapping from comparison to categorization as metaphors are conventionalized. Moreover, as demonstrated by 3 experiments, this processing shift is reflected in the very language that people use to make figurative assertions. The career of metaphor hypothesis offers a unified theoretical framework that can resolve the debate between comparison and categorization models of metaphor. This account further suggests that whether metaphors are processed directly or indirectly, and whether they operate at the level of individual concepts or entire conceptual domains, will depend both on their degree of conventionality and on their linguistic form.
Chronic wellness. Unpublished Master's thesis, Pratt Institute Aesthetics and psychobiology
- E Arsan
- Art
- Design
- Ny Brooklyn
- D E Berlyne
Arsan, E. (2011). Chronic wellness. Unpublished Master's thesis, Pratt Institute, School of Art and Design, Brooklyn, NY. Berlyne, D. E. (1971). Aesthetics and psychobiology. New York, NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Modes of expertise in creative thinking: Evidence from case studies The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance Direct reprint requests to
- R W Weisberg
Weisberg, R. W. (2006). Modes of expertise in creative thinking: Evidence from case studies. In K. A. Ericsson, N. Charness, P. J. Feltovich, & R. R. Hoffman (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance (pp. 761-787). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Direct reprint requests to: Nazli Cila Department of Industrial Design Delft University of Technology Landbergstraat 15, 2628 CE Delft, The Netherlands e-mail: n.cila@tudelft.nl PRODUCT METAPHOR AESTHETICS / 203
The new experimental aesthetics Only the tip of the iceberg: Who understands what about metaphor
- D E Berlyne
Berlyne, D. E. (1974). The new experimental aesthetics. In D. E. Berlyne (Ed.), Studies in the new experimental aesthetics (pp. 1-25). Washington, DC: Hemisphere. Blasko, D. G. (1999). Only the tip of the iceberg: Who understands what about metaphor? Journal of Pragmatics, 31, 1675-1683.
Watches tell more than time: Product design, information and the quest for elegance
- D Coates
Coates, D. (2003). Watches tell more than time: Product design, information and the quest for elegance. London, UK: McGraw-Hill.