Metaphor Comprehension: What Makes a Metaphor Difficult to Understand?

Abstract

Abstract Comprehension difficulty was rated for metaphors of the form NOUN1 IS A NOUN2; in addition, participants completed frames of the form NOUN1 IS ________ with their literal interpretation of the metaphor. Metaphor comprehension was simulated with a computational model based on latent semantic analysis (LSA). The model matched participants' interpretations for both easy and difficult metaphors. When interpreting easy metaphors, both the participants and the model generated highly consistent responses. When interpreting difficult metaphors, both the participants and the model generated disparate responses.