Conceptual metaphors and executive functions: a review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-4301.2018.s.30400Keywords:
Conceptual metaphors, Executive functions, Aging.Abstract
This paper, which consists of an integrative literature review, aims at evaluating recent evidence about the relationship between performance in tasks involving executive functions and the understanding and production of conceptual metaphors. The descriptors “metaphors” and “executive functions”, as well as terms related to the latter, were searched in Pubmed, Scielo and Lilacs databases. After following inclusion and exclusion criteria, seven papers with recent debates about the theme were selected. From the experiments described in the reviewed studies, it is possible to conclude that there is a relationship between performance in terms of working memory and inhibitory control and the understanding and production of metaphors. Also, aspects such as age, vocabulary size and degree of familiarity with metaphors are aspects that have modulated the relations between executive functioning and the understanding and/or production of metaphors.
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