ABSTRACT
The set of approaches to metaphor is large in number and include among linguistic notions that metaphor is a consequence of the relaxation of selection restrictions, or involves the transfer of semantic features from one item to another. The theoretical models of metaphor provided by A. Ortony and R. Tourangeau and Sternberg sought to redress some of the comparison theory's shortcomings. Both Ortony and Tourangeau and Sternberg's theories contend that relating features across incongruent domains is an important aspect of interpreting metaphor. In an attempt to define clearly the parameters of the metaphors provided for interpretation, the present study controlled those linguistic and cognitive variables which theory or empirical research suggest are likely to affect metaphor's comprehensibility. The results of both experiments can now be collated. At each level of age and figurative type, the mean number of metaphoric responses was higher for same-domain items than for cross-domain items.
