Abstract
Ironic statements such as “it’s so bright outside!” uttered on a dark, cloudy day, are processed more slowly than literal statements both in one’s first (L1) (see Olkoniemi & Kaakinen, 2021) and second language (L2) (Bromberek-Dyzman & Rataj, 2016). At the same time, the processing of irony seems to improve with better executive attention skills, and in particular, with greater working memory capacity, which arguably allows for concurrent consideration and integration of multiple sources of information (Kaakinen et al., 2014; Olkoniemi et al., 2016, 2019). In addition to working memory, inhibition and cognitive flexibility might further aid the suppression of the literal meaning, and the switch to a non-literal understanding respectively.
We hypothesised that differences in attention levels might account for differentiated irony processing between individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and matched, neurotypical peers. Specifically, we hypothesised that individuals with ADHD will interpret ironic utterances literally at first, but will consider nonliteral interpretations in later stages of processing. We also hypothesised that executive attention skills might interact with language proficiency and use when processing irony in the L2, and that this will be particularly problematic for individuals with ADHD as their already limited attention is further taxed by L2 processing demands (Bialystok et al., 2017; Mor et al., 2015).
In this study, we will systematically explore the relationship between irony processing and executive attention, by testing a neurodiverse set of participants in both their L1 (Norwegian) and L2 (English). We will design an eye-tracking reading experiment combined with a comprehension task, where participants will read stories containing literal or ironic phrases, and then answer inference questions aiming at the interpretation of the target phrases.
Please note this is work in progress. We welcome feedback and suggestions for improvement.
Biography
Marianna is a postdoctoral research fellow at UiO working on the AttCom project: “Better attention, better communication? How ADHD and multilingualism influence children’s pragmatic development”. She is interested in how people understand figurative language during on-line reading and in exploring the factors that are implicated in efficient processing.