Metaphors bias perceptions of scientific discovery

Whether ideas are "like a light bulb" or come forth as "nurtured seeds," how we describe discovery shapes people's perceptions of both inventions and inventors. Notably, Kristen Elmore (Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research at Cornell University) and Myra Luna-Lucero (Teachers College, Columbia University) have shown that discovery metaphors influence our perceptions of the quality of an idea and of the ability of the idea's creator. The research appears in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.