Providing Explanations Shifts Preschoolers’ Metaphor Preferences

Abstract

To learn from metaphors, children must not only understand metaphors, but also appreciate their informativeness. Metaphors based on abstract commonalities (e.g., functional metaphors like “Eyes are windows”) typically have greater potential to generate novel inferences, and thus generally allow for more learning, than metaphors based on more superficial commonalities (e.g., perceptual metaphors like “Eyes are buttons”). However, previous research shows that preschoolers prefer perceptual metaphors over functional metaphors. Consequently, we ask whether providing additional context can shift preschoolers’ and adults’ metaphor preferences. In Experiment 1, pedagogical context increases preferences for functional metaphors in adults, but not preschoolers. In Experiment 2, providing explanations for similarities between the concepts in metaphors increases preschoolers’ preferences for functional metaphors. In Experiment 3, preschoolers differentiate between functional and perceptual metaphors when explicitly asked to communicate functional or perceptual information. These findings suggest that providing explanations for metaphors helps preschoolers appreciate their informativeness.