Neural network and cognitive mechanism of creative interpretations in metaphor comprehension

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26330245
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Intelligent informatics
• Research Institution: Future University-Hakodate (2016-2017); Tokyo Institute of Technology (2014-2015)
• Principal Investigator: Terai Asuka 公立はこだて未来大学, システム情報科学部, 准教授 (70422540)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 楠見 孝 京都大学, 教育学研究科, 教授 (70195444) ; 地村 弘二 慶應義塾大学, 理工学部(矢上), 准教授 (80431766)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 創造的思考 / 比喩理解 / 眼球運動測定 / fMRI

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In combining two concepts as conceptual blending, novel features, which are atypical characteristic of the original concepts, emerge as creative features. Similarly, interpretations of metaphor “topic (A) is vehicle (B)” involve creative features that are not typical characteristics of the words (A and B). In this research, psychological experiments with eye-tracking and a fMRI experiment were conducted to make clear a cognitive mechanism and neural network of the creative interpretations. As a results, it was suggested that the mechanism consists of semantic searching and evaluation for features.

Free Research Field

認知科学