Abstract
This study was carried out first to reveal the traits of metaphorical explanations(ME)used in lecturing psychological concepts(PC)and second to find the type of ME which might facilitate understanding and retention of PC. In the research, subjects (58 undergraduate students)were required to answer nine items referring to each of the eleven ME. Multiple regressions indicated that understanding of PC was expressed through aptness, impression, and familiarity with ME. Additional clusteranalysis extracted three clusters of ME from two dimensions of impression and aptness. In the experiment based on research results, subjects (166 new junior college students)were classified into 3 groups, being presented with ME in different ways (estimation(EM), production(PM), diagram of metaphor group(DM), the latter two being named “applied metaphor” group(AM))and a control group required to understand and memorize PC. X2 analysis indicated that AM showed a significantly high recall level of PC outline in apt and impressionistic metaphor, DM especially showed an exact recall. The above results were best explained by schema theory.
