You are cordially invited to the Seminar organized by the Psychology Department.
Date & Time: December 13, 2024; Friday at 12:30
Place: A-130
The presentation language will be English.
Presenter: Assoc. Prof. Duygu Sarısoy, Ph.D., METU University
Title:
When joy takes flight: Exploring the cognitive mechanisms and factors in metaphor processing
Abstract:
Metaphors, such as sevinçten uçmak (floating with joy) or çenesi düşmek (chatterbox), are frequently used in daily language. Although humans can process such symbolic use of language in mere milliseconds, the exact mechanisms behind this processing remain a subject of ongoing debate. In this presentation, I aim to contribute to this discussion by sharing our findings from a recent project on how children and adults process metaphorical language and the factors that influence these processes. I will summarize a series of studies demonstrating how factors such as (i) metaphorical domain and conventionality, (ii) working memory and inhibitory control, (iii) theory of mind, (iv) creativity, and (v) the linguistic context influence the mechanism by which we interpret metaphors. Time permitting, I will also present our study revealing that theory of mind training enhances metaphorical interpretation in young children.
Bio:
Duygu Sarısoy is an Associate Professor of Psycholinguistics at the Department of Foreign Language Education at Middle East Technical University. She is also the director of the METU Language and Cognitive Development Lab (https://langcog.metu.edu.tr/).
Dr. Sarısoy received her M.Sc. degree from the METU Cognitive Science Program and her Ph.D. degree from the METU English Language Teaching Program. Between 2007 and 2015, she held research fellow positions at the Department of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences at the University of Reading, the Collaborative Research Centre at the University of Stuttgart, the Department of Psychology at Koç University, and the Department of Psychology at Harvard University.
Her research focuses on the development of language processing mechanisms, the interaction between language and cognition in children, semantic and syntactic processing across typical, atypical, and underrepresented populations.