scholarly journals Figurative meaning in multimodal work by an autistic artist: a cognitive semantic approach

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
JENNY HARTMAN ◽  
CARITA PARADIS
Keyword(s):  
Figurative Language ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Multimodal Approach ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Semantic Approach ◽  
Figurative Meaning ◽  
Meaning Production ◽  
Cognitive Semantic ◽  
Figurative Language Comprehension

ABSTRACT Research on figurative meaning in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) would benefit from considering a greater variety of data types and using more diverse methods. Previous studies have predominantly applied experimental methods to investigate processing of figurative language (mostly metaphor) and have for the most part concluded that individuals with ASD have deficits in figurative language comprehension. In this study, we focus on the creation and communication of figurative meaning in discursively situated and thematically organized verbal, gestural, and pictorial data published by an autistic artist in the form of videos and comics. Across three prominent experiential themes in the data, we isolate types of conceptualizations and generalize over mappings between target and source experiences. We find that the data are rich in figurative meaning expression (e.g., metaphor and metonymy) conveyed through language, co-speech gestures, and pictures in ways that are clearly embodied (experientially based) and that reflect affordances and constraints of these modes of communication. While our case study of meaning production does not contradict previous research on figurative meaning comprehension in populations, it does indicate benefits of taking a broader and multimodal approach to figurative meaning in research on ASD.

Bilingual representation of distance in visual-verbal sign systems: A case study of Guo Xi’s Early Spring

Semiotica ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (222) ◽  
pp. 47-80
Author(s):  
Chengzhi Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Functional Model ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Semantic Approach ◽  
Virtual Museums ◽  
Sign Systems ◽  
Perception Theory ◽  
Cognitive Semantic ◽  
Analytical Tools

AbstractThe purely cognitive semantic approach to verbal distance representation has recently been enriched from the perspective of visual perception theory. Focusing on visual pragmatic effects, the present paper will use distance cues as a set of analytical tools and adopt the cognitive-functional model proposed elsewhere to further explore the issue of visual-verbal coherence through Guo Xi’s Early Spring and the bilingual museum catalogue entries attached to it, in physical exhibitions or virtual museums, with a particular view to explaining how a linguistics- or stylistics-based analysis endorses the interpretation of a specific artwork on discursive and cultural levels.

scholarly journals The Relationship between Comprehension of Figurative Language by Japanese Children with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders and College Freshmen’s Assessment of Its Conventionality of Usage

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Manabu Oi ◽  
Sanae Tanaka ◽  
Harue Ohoka
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Figurative Language ◽  
High Functioning Autism ◽  
Order Theory ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Japanese Children ◽  
High Functioning ◽  
Self In Relation ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Figurative Language Comprehension

Unlike their English-speaking counterparts, Japanese children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs) perform as well as typically developing (TD) children in comprehending metaphor, despite lacking 1st order theory of mind (ToM) reasoning. Additionally, although Japanese sarcasm and “indirect reproach” appear theoretically to need 2nd order ToM reasoning, HFASD children without this comprehended these forms of language as well as TD children. To attempt to explain this contradiction, we asked college freshmen to evaluate the strangeness (unconventionality) of these types of figurative language. We aimed to test the hypothesis that metaphor, sarcasm, and “indirect reproach” might be evaluated as more conventional than irony, which children with HFASDs do not comprehend as well as those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The results for irony, metaphor, and “indirect reproach” supported the hypothesis, while those for sarcasm did not. Sarcasm is comprehended by HFASDs children as well as by TD children despite being evaluated as highly unconventional. This contradiction is discussed from a self-in-relation-to-other perspective. We postulate that a new explanation of disabilities of figurative language comprehension in children with HFASDs is needed instead of relying on a single cognitive process.

Processing multiword idiomatic strings

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Cacciari
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Memory ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Figurative Language ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Behavioral Models ◽  
Idiom Comprehension ◽  
Figurative Meaning ◽  
Multiword Expressions ◽  
Figurative Language Comprehension ◽  
Idiomatic Meaning

Idioms are strings of words whose figurative meaning does not necessarily derive from that of the constituent parts. They belong to the vast and heterogeneous realm of multiword expressions, i.e. literal and non-literal word clusters whose representations are stored in semantic memory. This article provides an updated review of the psycholinguistic and electrophysiological literature on the processes underlying idiom comprehension with specific reference to the cues that lead to idiom recognition, to the syntactic and semantic behavior of idioms, to the relationships between literal compositionality and idiomatic meaning retrieval. Behavioral models of idiom comprehension are presented and discussed also with respect to the electrophysiological correlates of idiom and figurative language comprehension.

scholarly journals Figurative language comprehension in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: A meta-analytic review

Autism ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamar Kalandadze ◽  
Courtenay Norbury ◽  
Terje Nærland ◽  
Kari-Anne B Næss
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Figurative Language ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Matching Strategy ◽  
Core Language ◽  
Figurative Language Comprehension

We present a meta-analysis of studies that compare figurative language comprehension in individuals with autism spectrum disorder and in typically developing controls who were matched based on chronological age or/and language ability. A total of 41 studies and 45 independent effect sizes were included based on predetermined inclusion criteria. Group matching strategy, age, types of figurative language, and cross-linguistic differences were examined as predictors that might explain heterogeneity in effect sizes. Overall, individuals with autism spectrum disorder showed poorer comprehension of figurative language than their typically developing peers (Hedges’ g = –0.57). A meta-regression analysis showed that group matching strategy and types of figurative language were significantly related to differences in effect sizes, whereas chronological age and cross-linguistic differences were not. Differences between the autism spectrum disorder and typically developing groups were small and nonsignificant when the groups were matched based on the language ability. Metaphors were more difficult to comprehend for individuals with autism spectrum disorder compared with typically developing controls than were irony and sarcasm. Our findings highlight the critical role of core language skills in figurative language comprehension. Interventions and educational programmes designed to improve social communication skills in individuals with autism spectrum disorder may beneficially target core language skills in addition to social skills.

Compositionality of Chinese idioms: the issues, the semantic approach and a case study

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-180
Author(s):  
Adrian Tien
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Item ◽  
Literal Meaning ◽  
Semantic Approach ◽  
Real Element ◽  
Figurative Meaning ◽  
Special Place ◽  
Speech Genre ◽  
Chinese Idioms

AbstractIdioms – or something like idioms – occupy a special place as a speech genre in languages. It is compelling that the issues of what idioms are (or are not) and how they distinguish themselves from other related, though different, linguistic and phraseological categories, are of concern to all. This paper first examines various linguistic issues concerning the idiom genre before going into a detailed discussion about the chengyu in Chinese, which is an approximate yet by no means identical counterpart of the idiom as it is understood in English. It is argued that, as phrasal structures, Chinese chengyus are not all lexically fixed, neither are they all semantically non-compositional. By virtue of the example of the sememe zhong lit. ‘(bronze) bell’ and its incorporation into certain chengyus, it is demonstrated that the sememic constituents of a chengyu can be only not compositionally significant semantically speaking but also, they may well hold the key to the reason why the literal meaning of a chengyu should be closely integrated into its intended, idiomatic (figurative) meaning. Chengyus that incorporate the sememe zhong comprise an idiomatic analogy and, in fact, zhong as a lexical item is represented in the content of this analogy as a cognitively real element. This paper adopts the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework as the basis for semantic analyses of such chengyus.

DESIGNING FOR AUTISM: AN ASPECTSS™ POST-OCCUPANCY EVALUATION OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magda Mostafa
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Built Environments ◽  
Outdoor Learning ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
Post Occupancy Evaluation ◽  
8Th Grade ◽  
Evaluation Of Learning

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the application of the Autism ASPECTSS™ Design Index in the Post-Occupancy Evaluation of existing learning environments for children along the autism spectrum. First published in 2014 this index outlines 7 design criteria that have been hypothesized to support environments conducive of learning for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Using the index as a framework, this paper outlines a case study of a Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) of an existing pre-K-8th grade public charter purpose-built school for children on the autism spectrum. The tools used for the evaluation were: the ASPECTSS scoring of the school through a survey of teachers and administrators; on-site behavioral in-class observation; and focus groups of parents, teachers, staff and administrators. The results informed a design retro-fit proposal that strived to assess any ASPECTSS compliance issues and implement the index across the learning spaces, therapy spaces, support services and outdoor learning environments of the school. This paper will outline the application of the index and the resultant design from this process. The results will strive to present a scalable and replicable methodology and prototype for improving existing built environments for learners with ASD.

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