Conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) holds that most conceptual metaphors are processed unconsciously. However, whether multiple words can be integrated into a holistic metaphoric sentence without consciousness remains controversial in cognitive science and psychology. This study aims to investigate the role of consciousness in processing Chinese nominal metaphoric sentences ‘A是B’ (A is[like] B) with a psychophysical experimental paradigm referred to as breaking continuous flash suppression (b-CFS). We manipulated sentence types (metaphoric, literal and anomalous) and word forms (upright, inverted) in a two-staged experiment (CFS and non-CFS). No difference was found in the breakthrough times among all three types of sentences in the CFS stage, while literal sentences were detected more slowly than either metaphoric or anomalous sentences in the non-CFS stage. The results suggest that the integration of multiple words may not succeed without the participation of consciousness, let alone metaphoric processing. These findings may redefine ‘unconscious’ in CMT as ‘preconscious’ and support the indirect access view regarding how the metaphoric meaning is processed in the brain.

中文翻译：

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意识在汉语名词隐喻加工中的作用：心理物理学方法

概念隐喻理论（CMT）认为，大多数概念隐喻都是在无意识的情况下进行加工的。然而，多个词是否可以在没有意识的情况下整合成一个整体的隐喻句子，在认知科学和心理学中仍然存在争议。本研究旨在探讨意识在处理汉语名词性隐喻句中的作用。A是B'（A 是[像]B）采用称为打破连续闪光抑制（b-CFS）的心理物理学实验范式。我们在两阶段实验（CFS 和非 CFS）中操纵句子类型（隐喻、字面和异常）和词形（直立、倒装）。在 CFS 阶段，所有三种类型句子的突破时间没有发现差异，而在非 CFS 阶段，字面句子的检测速度比隐喻或异常句子慢。结果表明，如果没有意识的参与，多个单词的整合可能不会成功，更不用说隐喻处理了。这些发现可能将 CMT 中的“无意识”重新定义为“前意识”，并支持关于大脑如何处理隐喻意义的间接访问观点。