Two studies investigated the processing of metaphor, specifically (1) the extent to which metaphor is processed similarly to literal language and (2) the effects of the presence or absence of a specific context on processing. In the first study, 82 college students listened to one of four taped lectures, each containing 22 metaphors. The tapes differed only in the eight target sentences and recognition stimuli used. In the tapes, the target stimuli were followed either by the identical expression or by a parallel expression. Thus the stimuli were presented in four conditions: metaphor/metaphor, metaphor/paraphrase, paraphrase/paraphrase, and paraphrase/metaphor. At regular intervals after the target stimulus, the tapes were interrupted and the subjects were asked to identify the stimulus as identical, roughly synonymous, or neither identical nor synonymous to the target metaphor. The most correct identifications occurred in the metaphor/metaphor condition. In the second study, 48 college students listened to tapes containing the same metaphors and paraphrases. In one condition, the metaphors and paraphrases were presented together but out of context; in the other condition, the tape provided context for the metaphor for the metaphor/paraphrase pair. When asked to rate the adequacy of the paraphrase for the metaphor, the subjects gave the highest ratings to paraphrases in the "in-context" condition. (FL)