Logical Operations and Metaphor Interpretation: A Piagetian Model

COMETA, MICHAEL S., and ESON, Momus E. Logical Operations and Metaphor Interpretation: A Piagetian Model. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1978, 49, 649-659. Children's developmental ability to interpret metaphors was analyzed in terms of the gradual operationalization of intersectional classification, as outlined in Piagetian theory. A group of 60 children, matched on IQ, from grades K, 1, 3, 4, and 8, were assessed via a battery of Piagetian tasks to determine stages of cognitive development and were then asked to interpret a number of metaphors ranging in frequency of occurrence in adult speech from to rare. Data analysis via the ordering-theoretic method (0.01 tolerance level) indicated that the development of intersectional classification serves as a necessary, logical precondition to the ability to paraphrase and explain metaphors in a manner acceptable to adults. The commonness of a metaphor in daily adult speech had a significant (p < .01) impact upon children's interpretative abilities, less common items being the most difficult to comprehend at all stages. Results were viewed as supporting the utility of a Piagetian stage model of semantic development, wherein language acquisition is seen to reflect the growth of underlying logical operations.