Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Appreciation of Metaphoric and Connotative Word Meaning by Brain-Damaged Patients

  • Chapter
Right Hemisphere Contributions to Lexical Semantics

Abstract

Language is often discussed in terms of separate parts, including the phonological, syntactic, and lexical components of the grammar. These components differ with respect to their connections to other domains of cognition. Unlike the other components, the lexicon, which contains a speaker’s knowledge of individual words, represents a bridge between world knowledge and the language system. Words in the lexicon are linked to associated meanings that include a wealth of information about the world and that pertain to virtually all realms of a person’s experience. In what follows, the term lexical semantics will be used to refer to the lexicon plus the range of associations that are often excluded from the lexicon proper (e.g., Emmorey and Fromkin, in press).

The preparation of this chapter was supported by NIH grants NS11408 and 06209 and by the Research Service of the Veterans Administration.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Brown RW (1958) Words and things. Free Press Glencoe, IL

    Google Scholar 

  • Brownell HH, Potter HH, Michelow D, Gardner G (1984) Sensitivity to lexical denotation and connotation in brain-damaged patients: a double dissociation? Brain Lang 22: 253–265

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brownell HH, Potter HH, Bihrle AM, Gardner H (1986) Inference deficits in right brain-damaged patients. Brain Lang 21: 310–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brownell HH, Simpson TL, Bihrle AM, Potter HH, Gardner H (submitted) Appreciation of metaphoric alternative word meanings by left and right brain-damaged patients

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgess C, Simpson GB (1988) Cerebral hemispheric mechanisms in the retrieval of ambig-uous word meanings. Brain Lang 33: 86–103

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Caramazza A, Hersh HM, Torgerson WS (1976) Subjective structures and operations in semantic memory. J Verb Learn Verb Behav 15: 103–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiarello C (in press) Lateralization of lexical processes in the normal brain: a review of visual half-field research. In: Whitaker HA (ed) Contemporary reviews in neuropsychology. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiarello C, Senehi J, Nuding S (1987) Semantic priming with abstract and concrete words: differential asymmetry may be postlexical. Brain Lang 31: 43–60

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clark HH (1970) Word associations and linguistic theory. In: Lyons J (ed) New horizons in linguistics. Penguin, Baltimore, pp 271–286

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark HH, Clark EV (1977) Psychology and language. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Emmorey KD, Fromkin VA (in press) The mental lexicon. In: Newmeyer F (ed) Linguistics: the Cambridge survey, vol 4. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Etcoff NL (1984) Perceptual and conceptual organization of facial emotions: hemispheric differences. Brain Cogn 3: 385–412

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Etcoff NL (1985) The neuropsychology of emotional expression. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Cognitive Science Occasional Paper no 31

    Google Scholar 

  • Foldi NS (1987) Appreciation of pragmatic interpretations of indirect commands: comparison of right and left brain-damaged patients. Brain Lang 31: 88–108

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gardner H, Denes G (1973) Connotative judgements by aphasic patients on a pictorial adaptation of the semantic differential. Cortex 9: 183–196

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Glucksberg S, Gildea P, Bookin HB (1982) On understanding nonliteral speech: can people ignore metaphors? J Verb Lern Verb Behav 21: 85–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartigan J (1981) P1 M cluster analysis of variables. In: Dixon WJ (chief ed) BMDP statistical software. University of California Press, Berkeley CA, pp 448–455

    Google Scholar 

  • Heilman KM, Bowers D, Valenstein E (1985) Emotional disorders associated with neurological diseases. In: Heilman KM, Valenstein E (eds) Clinical neuropsychology. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 377–402

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirst W, LeDoux J, Stein S (1984) Constraints on the processing of indirect speech acts: evidence from aphasiology. Brain Lang 23: 26–33

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keil FC (1979) Semantic and conceptual development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Kempler D, Van Lancker D, Hadler B (1984) Familiar phrase recognition in brain-damaged and demented adults. Academy of Aphasia, Santa Monica, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesser R (1978) Psycholinguistic investigations of aphasia. Elsevier, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyons J (1968) Introduction to theoretical linguistics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • McCloskey M, Glucksberg S (1979) Decision processes in verifying membership statements: implications for models of semantic memory. Cogn Psychol 11: 1–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller GA (1979) Images and models, similes and metaphors. In: Ortony A (ed) Metaphor and thought. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 202–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers PS, Linebaugh CW (1981) Comprehension of idiomatic expressions by right-hemisphere-damaged adults. In: Brookshire RH (ed) Clinical aphasiology: conference proceedings. BRK, Minneapolis, pp 254–261

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortony A (ed) (1979) Metaphor and thought. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortony A, Reynolds RE, Arter JR (1978) Metaphor: theoretical and empirical research. Psychol Bull 85: 919–943

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osgood CE (1960) The cross-cultural generality of visual-verbal synesthetic tendencies. Behav Sci 5: 146–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osgood CE, Suci GJ, Tannenbaum PH (1957) The measurement of meaning. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer FR (1976) Semantics. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Rips LJ, Shoben EJ, Smith EE (1973) Semantic distance and the verification of semantic relations. J Verb Lern Verb Behav 12: 1–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosch E, Simpson C, Miller RS (1976) Structural bases of typicality effects. J Exp Psychol [Hum Percept] 2: 491–502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simpson GB (1984) Lexical ambiguity and its role in models of word recognition. Psychol Bull 96: 316–340

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith EE, Shoben EJ, Rips LJ (1974) Structure and process in semantic memory: a model for semantic decisions. Psychol Rev 81: 214–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stachowiak FJ, Huber W, Poeck K, Kerschensteiner M (1977) Text comprehension in aphasia. Brain Lang 4: 177–195

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stroop JR (1935) Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. J Exp Psychol 18: 643–662

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tucker DM (1981) Lateral brain function, emotion, and conceptualization. Psychol Bull 89: 19–46

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Winner E, Gardner H (1977) The comprehension of metaphor in brain-damaged patients. Brain 100: 719–727

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zurif EB, Caramazza A, Myerson R, Galvin J (1974) Semantic feature representations for normal and aphasic language. Brain Lang 1: 167–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Hiram H. Brownell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology, Syracuse University, 430 Huntington Hall, 150 Marshall Street, 13244-2340, Syracuse, NY, USA

    Christine Chiarello Ph. D.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1988 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Brownell, H.H. (1988). Appreciation of Metaphoric and Connotative Word Meaning by Brain-Damaged Patients. In: Chiarello, C. (eds) Right Hemisphere Contributions to Lexical Semantics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73674-2_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73674-2_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-73676-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-73674-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation