Miranda Moe

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Matthew Lowder

Abstract

Previous research has investigated the real-time processing and offline interpretation of metonyms. This work has generally shown that readers experience longer processing times for metonyms versus control nouns because of the extra time needed to access the figurative sense of a metonym. Recent research has also demonstrated different processing patterns on nonliteral language for individuals with autism spectrum disorder compared to typically developing participants. The current study was designed to explore whether previous findings on the processing of metonymy are modulated by individual differences in autistic personality traits. Through an eye-tracking during reading experiment, participants read sentences in which factors of sentence structure (ambiguous vs unambiguous) and subject noun type (metonym vs inanimate controls) were manipulated. Participants also completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Results replicated previous findings in showing that readers have a bias to access the figurative sense of a metonym when it appears as the subject of a sentence; however, this effect was only found for participants who scored lower on the AQ. Instead, participants who scored higher on the AQ showed equivalent processing patterns for sentences, regardless of whether the subject was a metonym or an inanimate control. These results show that individual differences in personality traits have the potential to explain variability in sentence processing.

Download

Included in

Psychology Commons

Share

COinS