{"pk":24785,"title":"Individual Differences in Self-Referential versus Learning-Oriented Metaphors on Learning Outcomes","subtitle":null,"abstract":"Do metaphors for learning influence how well we remember new information? We tested whether reading a learning-oriented metaphor (i.e., emphasizing learning processes and outcomes) versus a self-referential metaphor (i.e., emphasizing motivational or emotional aspects of learning) can affect how well new information is learned. Participants were randomly assigned to read either a paragraph likening learning to a long hiking tour (self-referential condition), a paragraph likening learning to expanding a library in one's mind (learning-oriented condition), or no paragraph (no metaphor condition). Then participants learned a new mnemonic technique, the Method of Loci, and had to apply it to a sentence-learning task. The effect of metaphor on sentence memory depended on participants' education level. People with college degrees learned better in the self-referential condition than the learning-oriented condition, whereas people without college degrees showed the opposite pattern. These findings identify novel individual differences in how metaphors for learning influence learning outcomes.","language":"eng","license":{"name":"","short_name":"","text":null,"url":""},"keywords":[{"word":"Analogy; Language and thought; Learning; Memory"}],"section":"Abstracts","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7c77706r","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Alexia","middle_name":"","last_name":"Toskos Dils","name_suffix":"","institution":"Purchase College, SUNY","department":""}],"date_submitted":null,"date_accepted":null,"date_published":"2024-01-01T18:00:00Z","render_galley":{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/24785/galley/21271/download/"},"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/24785/galley/14383/download/"},{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/24785/galley/18240/download/"},{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/24785/galley/21271/download/"}]}