False memory for idiomatic expressions in younger and older adults: evidence for indirect activation of figurative meanings

Idiomatic expressions can be interpreted literally or figuratively. These two meanings are often processed in parallel or very rapidly, as evidenced by online measures of idiomatic processing. Because in many cases the figurative meaning cannot be derived from the component lexical elements and beca...

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Autores principales: Coane, Jennifer H., Sánchez-Gutiérrez, Claudia, Stillman, Chelsea M., Corriveau, Jennifer A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4104352/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25101030
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00764
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author Coane, Jennifer H.
Sánchez-Gutiérrez, Claudia
Stillman, Chelsea M.
Corriveau, Jennifer A.
author_facet Coane, Jennifer H.
Sánchez-Gutiérrez, Claudia
Stillman, Chelsea M.
Corriveau, Jennifer A.
author_sort Coane, Jennifer H.
collection PubMed
description Idiomatic expressions can be interpreted literally or figuratively. These two meanings are often processed in parallel or very rapidly, as evidenced by online measures of idiomatic processing. Because in many cases the figurative meaning cannot be derived from the component lexical elements and because of the speed with which this meaning is accessed, it is assumed such meanings are stored in semantic memory. In the present study, we examined how literal equivalents and intact idiomatic expressions are stored in memory and whether episodic memory traces interact or interfere with semantic-level representations and vice versa. To examine age-invariance, younger and older adults studied lists of idioms and literal equivalents. On a recognition test, some studied items were presented in the alternative form (e.g., if the idiom was studied, its literal equivalent was tested). False alarms to these critical items suggested that studying literal equivalents activates the idiom from which they are derived, presumably due to spreading activation in lexical/semantic networks, and results in high rates of errors. Importantly, however, the converse (false alarms to literal equivalents after studying the idiom) were significantly lower, suggesting an advantage in storage for idioms. The results are consistent with idiom processing models that suggest obligatory access to figurative meanings and that this access can also occur indirectly, through literal equivalents.
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spelling pubmed-41043522014-08-06 False memory for idiomatic expressions in younger and older adults: evidence for indirect activation of figurative meanings Coane, Jennifer H. Sánchez-Gutiérrez, Claudia Stillman, Chelsea M. Corriveau, Jennifer A. Front Psychol Psychology Idiomatic expressions can be interpreted literally or figuratively. These two meanings are often processed in parallel or very rapidly, as evidenced by online measures of idiomatic processing. Because in many cases the figurative meaning cannot be derived from the component lexical elements and because of the speed with which this meaning is accessed, it is assumed such meanings are stored in semantic memory. In the present study, we examined how literal equivalents and intact idiomatic expressions are stored in memory and whether episodic memory traces interact or interfere with semantic-level representations and vice versa. To examine age-invariance, younger and older adults studied lists of idioms and literal equivalents. On a recognition test, some studied items were presented in the alternative form (e.g., if the idiom was studied, its literal equivalent was tested). False alarms to these critical items suggested that studying literal equivalents activates the idiom from which they are derived, presumably due to spreading activation in lexical/semantic networks, and results in high rates of errors. Importantly, however, the converse (false alarms to literal equivalents after studying the idiom) were significantly lower, suggesting an advantage in storage for idioms. The results are consistent with idiom processing models that suggest obligatory access to figurative meanings and that this access can also occur indirectly, through literal equivalents. Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-07-21 /pmc/articles/PMC4104352/ /pubmed/25101030 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00764 Text en Copyright © 2014 Coane, Sánchez-Gutiérrez, Stillman and Corriveau. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Coane, Jennifer H.
Sánchez-Gutiérrez, Claudia
Stillman, Chelsea M.
Corriveau, Jennifer A.
False memory for idiomatic expressions in younger and older adults: evidence for indirect activation of figurative meanings
title False memory for idiomatic expressions in younger and older adults: evidence for indirect activation of figurative meanings
title_full False memory for idiomatic expressions in younger and older adults: evidence for indirect activation of figurative meanings
title_fullStr False memory for idiomatic expressions in younger and older adults: evidence for indirect activation of figurative meanings
title_full_unstemmed False memory for idiomatic expressions in younger and older adults: evidence for indirect activation of figurative meanings
title_short False memory for idiomatic expressions in younger and older adults: evidence for indirect activation of figurative meanings
title_sort false memory for idiomatic expressions in younger and older adults: evidence for indirect activation of figurative meanings
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4104352/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25101030
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00764
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