Textual and Visual Metaphors We (Don’t) Think With (Poster 45)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Friday 9:50 a.m.
  In Poster Session: Learning Environments for Literacy and Language Learning

Abstract

We investigated interactions between language and sense-making in public policy. Survey participants were presented with a report and a bar chart about crime. They were randomly assigned to one of four conditions, each combining textual and visual metaphors describing crime as a beast or a virus. Participants were then asked to choose a solution to crime ithat could be either reform- or repression-based. We found statistically significant differences between conditions when both visual and textual metaphors were used together. Data also pointed to a correspondence between a reform-oriented solution and exposure to virus metaphors; and between a repressive solution and beast metaphors. We contribute to scholarship by nuancing effects of language on sense-making with data presentation in social media contexts.

Authors

• Renato Russo, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Paulo Blikstein, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Gustavo Oliveira, Universidade de Sao Paulo