Sensory and Physico-Psychological Metaphor Comprehension in Children with ASD: A Preliminary Study on the Outcomes of a Treatment
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Participants
2.2. The Research Design
2.3. Measures
2.3.1. Jnr MCT
- A score of 0 is assigned when the child declares he/she just does not know (elusion of the conflict), or refuses the possibility of using words metaphorically (refusal of the conflict), or interprets the metaphor literally (literal interpretation).
- A score of 1 is assigned when one semantic feature common to both terms of the metaphor is identified. This represents a relevant common ground, based on functional or perceptual characteristics, which partially solves the conflict.
- A score of 2 is assigned when the explanation considers both differences and resemblances between the two terms of the metaphor. This represents an elaborated common ground, which solves the conflict in a more accomplished way.
2.3.2. MCT
- As in the Jnr MCT, a score of 0 is assigned when the child declares he/she just does not know (elusion of the conflict), or refuses the possibility of using words metaphorically (refusal of the conflict), or interprets the metaphor literally (literal interpretation).
- A score of 1 is assigned when the child provides a common ground between tenor and vehicle based on physical features.
- A score of 2 is assigned when the child provides a more elaborated common ground between tenor and vehicle, where the psychological features are explicitly indicated.
- A score of 3 is assigned when the psychological features that justify the common ground between tenor and vehicle are further refined.
2.4. Treatment
3. Results
4. Discussion
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Age | Full Scale IQ | VIQ | PIQ | Peabody | TROG 2 | Metaphors APL | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean | SD | Range | Mean | SD | Range | Mean | SD | Range | Mean | SD | Range | Mean | SD | Range | Mean | SD | Range | Mean | SD | Range | |
Exp. G. | 121.75 | 2.2173 | 119–124 | 99.25 | 3.8622 | 95–103 | 90.75 | 2.0615 | 89–93 | 108.25 | 4.5734 | 103–113 | 103.00 | 5.3541 | 98–10 9 | 101.00 | 5.2281 | 97–108 | –1.8425 | 0.1286 | –1.65–1.92 |
Contr. G. | 123.00 | 1.8257 | 121–125 | 98.25 | 2.8722 | 95–102 | 90.00 | 2.8284 | 86–92 | 102.00 | 7.8740 | 95–113 | 101.50 | 2.8867 | 98–105 | 102.25 | 4.5000 | 97–108 | –1.9025 | 0.2082 | –1.65–2.16 |
Example of modelling |
Adult: “When you listen at someone saying ‘a daisy is an umbrella’, you certainly know that a daisy cannot be an umbrella. A daisy is a flower and an umbrella is an object. To understand the meaning of this sentence, I will use my first strategy. I will put “Is like” between “daisy” (X) and “umbrella” (Y) and the sentence becomes “A daisy is like an umbrella”. |
Strategy 1: “Is like strategy” |
|
Now, I will use my second strategy. I’ll be thinking of the characteristics of the daisy and write them down here in my thinking map. Then, I’ll write that daisies are flowers, that they have a stem, a corolla, they are white….etc. |
Now, it’s umbrella’s turn. I’ll be writing its characteristics down in my map. An umbrella has a dome, a handle, a tube, ribs, and it protects us from the rain. Right.
Now, I’ll see which characteristics are appropriate for both daisies and umbrellas. For instance, “Are they both flowers? No. Then I’ll reject ‘flowers’. “Daisies have a stem”. Umbrellas don’t have stems, they have tubes. Still, we can say that stems look like tubes. And also, the open dome of an umbrella looks like the corolla of a daisy….Then, I got it: a daisy has a shape that looks like an open umbrella.” |
Strategy 2: Comparative strategy |
|
Metalinguistic reflection |
Then, we may state that the guy who said “A daisy is an umbrella” actually meant that these objects share the same shape.” |
Example of joint activity |
|
Metalinguistic reflection |
The adult recapitulates and proposes the following solution: “When one says ‘my classmate is like a butter and jam sandwich’ it actually means this classmate is a close friend.” |
Example of autonomous activity |
Children are given a written sentence: “In summer, meadows are blankets”. Then, they individually use strategy 1 and 2, and at the end, the adult asks each of them: “What does it mean, then, that ‘In summer, meadows are blankets’?”. |
Metalinguistic reflection |
The adult makes the children notice that various answers are acceptable, as, for instance: ”Meadows can be used like blankets because they cover the earth with a soft surface, and you can play on it in various ways.” |
(a) Object Renaming | (b) Person Renaming |
---|---|
In a circle time, the adult shows a tennis ball and says: | In a circle time, the adult proposes the renaming game in the following terms: |
|
|
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
“X is like heuristics” and comparative strategy | Two activities modeled by the adult with sensory metaphors | Two joint activities with sensory metaphors | One joint activity with a sensory metaphor and one modeled activity with a physico-psychological metaphor | Two joint activities with two physico-psychological metaphors | Two joint activities with two physico-psychological metaphors | Two autonomous activities, one with a sensory metaphor, and the other with a physico-psychological metaphor |
Object renaming | Four objects | Four objects | Four objects | |||
Person renaming | Animals | Fruit | Objects |
Jnr MCT Pre-test | Jnr MCT Post-Test | MCT Pre-test | MCT Post-Test | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Raw Score | t Score | Raw Score | t Score | Raw Score | t Score | Raw Score | t Score | |
Exp Child L | 27 | 60 | 43 | 89 | 3 | 29 | 12 | 49 |
Exp Child A | 20 | 47 | 35 | 74 | 2 | 27 | 8 | 40 |
Exp Child G | 20 | 47 | 44 | 91 | 3 | 29 | 8 | 40 |
Exp Child F | 14 | 36 | 37 | 78 | 2 | 27 | 7 | 38 |
Con Child 1 | 16 | 40 | 17 | 41 | 1 | 25 | 2 | 27 |
Con Child 2 | 21 | 49 | 22 | 51 | 2 | 27 | 2 | 27 |
Con Child 3 | 24 | 54 | 24 | 54 | 3 | 29 | 3 | 29 |
Con Child 4 | 20 | 47 | 20 | 47 | 2 | 27 | 3 | 29 |
Jnr. MCT | MCT | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pre-Test | Post-Test | Pre-Test | Post-Test | |||||||||||||
Mean | t | p | DS | Mean | t | P | DS | Mean | t | p | DS | Mean | t | p | DS | |
Exp. G | 47.50 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 9.8149 | 83.00 | 6.9413 | 0.0004 | 8.2865 | 28.00 | 1 | 0.3559 | 1.1547 | 41.75 | 5.4369 | 0.0016 | 4.9244 |
Contr. G | 47.50 | 5.8022 | 48.25 | 5.6199 | 27.00 | 1.6329 | 28.00 | 1.1547 |
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Melogno, S.; Pinto, M.A.; Di Filippo, G. Sensory and Physico-Psychological Metaphor Comprehension in Children with ASD: A Preliminary Study on the Outcomes of a Treatment. Brain Sci. 2017, 7, 85. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7070085
Melogno S, Pinto MA, Di Filippo G. Sensory and Physico-Psychological Metaphor Comprehension in Children with ASD: A Preliminary Study on the Outcomes of a Treatment. Brain Sciences. 2017; 7(7):85. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7070085
Chicago/Turabian StyleMelogno, Sergio, Maria Antonietta Pinto, and Gloria Di Filippo. 2017. "Sensory and Physico-Psychological Metaphor Comprehension in Children with ASD: A Preliminary Study on the Outcomes of a Treatment" Brain Sciences 7, no. 7: 85. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7070085
APA StyleMelogno, S., Pinto, M. A., & Di Filippo, G. (2017). Sensory and Physico-Psychological Metaphor Comprehension in Children with ASD: A Preliminary Study on the Outcomes of a Treatment. Brain Sciences, 7(7), 85. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7070085