Limits on literal processing during idiom interpretation

Abstract

Two experiments investigated the extent to which literal processing occurs in comprehending figurative idiomatic expressions. Subjects read stories on a cathode-ray tube (CRT). Target phrases, some of which were idioms, contained nouns which were potential anaphors of previously mentioned referents. A method developed by Dell, McKoon and Ratcliff (1983) was used to determine whether subjects carried out semantic processing resulting in activation of the referents of those anaphors. In Experiment 1 the targets consisted of either an idiom or a literal phrase, each including the same potential anaphor, or a control phrase. Results suggest that the preceding referent was activated by the anaphor in the literal phrase, but not by the potential anaphor in the idiomatic phrase. Experiment 2 showed that these results were not due to differences in the materials used. These results are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that when an idiomatic phrase is interpreted figuratively full literal semantic processing of that phase is not necessarily carried out.