Research on the Use of Metaphor

Metaphor has been shown to be at least as effective and efficient as literal language (more so in some cases), and can be effective for all age groups.

• Children as young as 4 use metaphor
  
• Some says metaphor use appears prior to Piaget's Concrete Operations phase, others say it develops during this phase.
  
• Analyses are complicated by the inability to determine if a learner is using a metaphor or has instead made an unintentional substitution
  
• West, Farmer, and Wolff believe that figurative and literal language develop concurrently through play and experimentation, and that both are dynamically related such that improvement in one informs and improves the other.
  
• Knowledge of similarities between the topic and the vehicle is critical to interpretation of metaphor and simile (5 th and 6 th graders).
  
• Despite the apparent required increase in elaboration and processing, metaphors DO NOT take any longer to interpret than literal statements (Pollio, Fabrizi, Sills, & Smith, 1984)
  
• Metaphor can be very effective on long-term recall (Hayes & Henk, 1986)