---
_id: '64827'
author:
- first_name: Philip Fabian
full_name: Porwol, Philip Fabian
id: '56681'
last_name: Porwol
- first_name: Miriam
full_name: Körber, Miriam
last_name: Körber
- first_name: 'Friederike '
full_name: 'Kern, Friederike '
last_name: Kern
- first_name: Carsten
full_name: Schulte, Carsten
last_name: Schulte
- first_name: Ingrid
full_name: Scharlau, Ingrid
id: '451'
last_name: Scharlau
orcid: 0000-0003-2364-9489
citation:
ama: 'Porwol PF, Körber M, Kern F, Schulte C, Scharlau I. Framing what and how to
think: Lay people’s metaphors for algorithms. In: Cimiano P, Paaßen B, Vollmer
A-L, eds. Proceedings of the 3rd TRR 318 Conference: Contextualizing Explanations.
Bielefeld University Press; 2026. doi:10.64136/ubio9074'
apa: 'Porwol, P. F., Körber, M., Kern, F., Schulte, C., & Scharlau, I. (2026).
Framing what and how to think: Lay people’s metaphors for algorithms. In P. Cimiano,
B. Paaßen, & A.-L. Vollmer (Eds.), Proceedings of the 3rd TRR 318 Conference:
Contextualizing Explanations. Bielefeld University Press. https://doi.org/10.64136/ubio9074'
bibtex: '@inproceedings{Porwol_Körber_Kern_Schulte_Scharlau_2026, title={Framing
what and how to think: Lay people’s metaphors for algorithms}, DOI={10.64136/ubio9074},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 3rd TRR 318 Conference: Contextualizing Explanations},
publisher={Bielefeld University Press}, author={Porwol, Philip Fabian and Körber,
Miriam and Kern, Friederike and Schulte, Carsten and Scharlau, Ingrid}, editor={Cimiano,
Philip and Paaßen, Benjamin and Vollmer, Anna-Lisa}, year={2026} }'
chicago: 'Porwol, Philip Fabian, Miriam Körber, Friederike Kern, Carsten Schulte,
and Ingrid Scharlau. “Framing What and How to Think: Lay People’s Metaphors for
Algorithms.” In Proceedings of the 3rd TRR 318 Conference: Contextualizing
Explanations, edited by Philip Cimiano, Benjamin Paaßen, and Anna-Lisa Vollmer.
Bielefeld University Press, 2026. https://doi.org/10.64136/ubio9074.'
ieee: 'P. F. Porwol, M. Körber, F. Kern, C. Schulte, and I. Scharlau, “Framing what
and how to think: Lay people’s metaphors for algorithms,” in Proceedings of
the 3rd TRR 318 Conference: Contextualizing Explanations, Bielefeld, 2026,
doi: 10.64136/ubio9074.'
mla: 'Porwol, Philip Fabian, et al. “Framing What and How to Think: Lay People’s
Metaphors for Algorithms.” Proceedings of the 3rd TRR 318 Conference: Contextualizing
Explanations, edited by Philip Cimiano et al., Bielefeld University Press,
2026, doi:10.64136/ubio9074.'
short: 'P.F. Porwol, M. Körber, F. Kern, C. Schulte, I. Scharlau, in: P. Cimiano,
B. Paaßen, A.-L. Vollmer (Eds.), Proceedings of the 3rd TRR 318 Conference: Contextualizing
Explanations, Bielefeld University Press, 2026.'
conference:
location: Bielefeld
name: '3rd TRR 318 Conference: Contextualizing Explanations'
date_created: 2026-03-04T10:45:06Z
date_updated: 2026-03-04T10:45:19Z
department:
- _id: '424'
doi: 10.64136/ubio9074
editor:
- first_name: Philip
full_name: Cimiano, Philip
last_name: Cimiano
- first_name: Benjamin
full_name: Paaßen, Benjamin
last_name: Paaßen
- first_name: Anna-Lisa
full_name: Vollmer, Anna-Lisa
last_name: Vollmer
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
url: https://bielefelduniversitypress.de/publikationen/contextualizing-explanations
oa: '1'
project:
- _id: '127'
name: 'TRR 318; TP C04: Metaphern als Werkzeug des Erklärens'
publication: 'Proceedings of the 3rd TRR 318 Conference: Contextualizing Explanations'
publisher: Bielefeld University Press
status: public
title: 'Framing what and how to think: Lay people’s metaphors for algorithms'
type: conference_abstract
user_id: '451'
year: '2026'
...
---
_id: '61244'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Explanations play a crucial role in knowledge transfer and meaning-making
and are often described as a co-constructive process in which multiple agents
collaboratively shape understanding. However, the metaphors used to conceptualize
explaining may influence how this process is framed. This study investigates the
extent to which the co-constructive nature of explaining is represented in explaining
metaphors. Using a systematic analysis of agency, we examined how these metaphors
depict the explanation process and the roles of the agents involved. We found
that explaining metaphors lack collaboration between explainer and addressee,
constructiveness of the process, as well as bidirectionality and iterativeness.
In light of current research on metaphorical framing, the study thus highlights
the risk that such explaining metaphors may reinforce a non-co-constructive perspective
on explaining and a top-down approach in the development of AI systems as well
as other areas.
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Philip Fabian
full_name: Porwol, Philip Fabian
id: '56681'
last_name: Porwol
- first_name: Ingrid
full_name: Scharlau, Ingrid
id: '451'
last_name: Scharlau
orcid: 0000-0003-2364-9489
citation:
ama: Porwol PF, Scharlau I. Is explaining more like showing or more like building?
Agency in metaphors of explaining. Frontiers in Psychology. Published online
2025. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1628706
apa: Porwol, P. F., & Scharlau, I. (2025). Is explaining more like showing or
more like building? Agency in metaphors of explaining. Frontiers in Psychology.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1628706
bibtex: '@article{Porwol_Scharlau_2025, title={Is explaining more like showing or
more like building? Agency in metaphors of explaining}, DOI={https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1628706},
journal={Frontiers in Psychology}, author={Porwol, Philip Fabian and Scharlau,
Ingrid}, year={2025} }'
chicago: Porwol, Philip Fabian, and Ingrid Scharlau. “Is Explaining More like Showing
or More like Building? Agency in Metaphors of Explaining.” Frontiers in Psychology,
2025. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1628706.
ieee: 'P. F. Porwol and I. Scharlau, “Is explaining more like showing or more like
building? Agency in metaphors of explaining,” Frontiers in Psychology,
2025, doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1628706.'
mla: Porwol, Philip Fabian, and Ingrid Scharlau. “Is Explaining More like Showing
or More like Building? Agency in Metaphors of Explaining.” Frontiers in Psychology,
2025, doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1628706.
short: P.F. Porwol, I. Scharlau, Frontiers in Psychology (2025).
date_created: 2025-09-12T09:43:58Z
date_updated: 2025-10-27T08:46:28Z
department:
- _id: '424'
doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1628706
language:
- iso: eng
project:
- _id: '127'
name: 'TRR 318; TP C04: Metaphern als Werkzeug des Erklärens'
publication: Frontiers in Psychology
publication_status: published
quality_controlled: '1'
status: public
title: Is explaining more like showing or more like building? Agency in metaphors
of explaining
type: journal_article
user_id: '56681'
year: '2025'
...
---
_id: '62932'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: 'Many previous studies on the conceptual function of metaphors have focused
on their func-tion of highlighting aspects of target concepts. From the beginning of this research, it was
knownthat conceptual metaphors also hide aspects of the target concept; however,
this as-pect has been less studied. This study builds upon the idea that the hiding
aspect of a specific metaphor should be identified in relation to other metaphors
for the same concept. A method is presented to detail this relation based on the
theory of semantic frames and the FrameNet resource to identify the hidden aspects
and apply it to a corpus of 298 elicited metaphor texts on the target concept
of understanding. The analysis revealed that certain conceptual aspects are consistently
hidden by a majority of metaphors, pointing to patterns in conceptualization.
Using this approach, six aspects frequently hidden by metaphors were identified: Sociality,
Transfer, Ownership, Perception, Foundation and Duration.'
author:
- first_name: Philip Fabian
full_name: Porwol, Philip Fabian
id: '56681'
last_name: Porwol
- first_name: Ingrid
full_name: Scharlau, Ingrid
id: '451'
last_name: Scharlau
orcid: 0000-0003-2364-9489
citation:
ama: 'Porwol PF, Scharlau I. What do metaphors of understanding hide? STUDIA
NEOFILOLOGICZ: NEROZPRAWY JĘZYKOZNAWCZE (Modern Language Studies: Linguistic Essays).
2025;XXI:181-198.'
apa: 'Porwol, P. F., & Scharlau, I. (2025). What do metaphors of understanding
hide? STUDIA NEOFILOLOGICZ: NEROZPRAWY JĘZYKOZNAWCZE (Modern Language Studies:
Linguistic Essays), XXI, 181–198.'
bibtex: '@article{Porwol_Scharlau_2025, title={What do metaphors of understanding
hide?}, volume={XXI}, journal={STUDIA NEOFILOLOGICZ: NEROZPRAWY JĘZYKOZNAWCZE
(Modern Language Studies: Linguistic Essays)}, publisher={Uniwersytet Jana Długosza
w Częstochowie}, author={Porwol, Philip Fabian and Scharlau, Ingrid}, year={2025},
pages={181–198} }'
chicago: 'Porwol, Philip Fabian, and Ingrid Scharlau. “What Do Metaphors of Understanding
Hide?” STUDIA NEOFILOLOGICZ: NEROZPRAWY JĘZYKOZNAWCZE (Modern Language Studies:
Linguistic Essays) XXI (2025): 181–98.'
ieee: 'P. F. Porwol and I. Scharlau, “What do metaphors of understanding hide?,”
STUDIA NEOFILOLOGICZ: NEROZPRAWY JĘZYKOZNAWCZE (Modern Language Studies: Linguistic
Essays), vol. XXI, pp. 181–198, 2025.'
mla: 'Porwol, Philip Fabian, and Ingrid Scharlau. “What Do Metaphors of Understanding
Hide?” STUDIA NEOFILOLOGICZ: NEROZPRAWY JĘZYKOZNAWCZE (Modern Language Studies:
Linguistic Essays), vol. XXI, Uniwersytet Jana Długosza w Częstochowie, 2025,
pp. 181–98.'
short: 'P.F. Porwol, I. Scharlau, STUDIA NEOFILOLOGICZ: NEROZPRAWY JĘZYKOZNAWCZE
(Modern Language Studies: Linguistic Essays) XXI (2025) 181–198.'
date_created: 2025-12-05T16:41:58Z
date_updated: 2025-12-05T16:42:03Z
department:
- _id: '424'
language:
- iso: eng
page: 181-198
project:
- _id: '127'
name: 'TRR 318; TP C04: Metaphern als Werkzeug des Erklärens'
publication: 'STUDIA NEOFILOLOGICZ: NEROZPRAWY JĘZYKOZNAWCZE (Modern Language Studies:
Linguistic Essays)'
publication_status: published
publisher: Uniwersytet Jana Długosza w Częstochowie
status: public
title: What do metaphors of understanding hide?
type: journal_article
user_id: '451'
volume: XXI
year: '2025'
...