Paula
Pérez Sobrino

I am a cognitive linguist specialized in the study of figurative language and creativity at the intersection of images, words, and sounds. My primary research focus is on the theoretical development of multimodal metaphor theory as well as on the empirical testing of the reception of figurative language, with a secondary emphasis on individual and cross-cultural variation. This research line, which originated in a Marie Curie project at the University of Birmingham, UK (2015-2017, grant agreement ID: 658079) explored for the first time the combination of metaphor and metonymy in advertising and measured their impact on the interpretation, speed of comprehension and general effectiveness of advertisements. In the four years since obtaining my PhD in 2015, I have designed and carried over 10 experiments that tap into different aspects of the figurative language reception and understanding, and have recruited and tested more than 800 participants from different language groups (including UK, Spain, Italy, Germany, China, Hong Kong and Korea). I have also gained significant experience through international research stays as well as research appointments at different universities in Spain, United Kingdom, The Netherlands and China. My research findings have been critical to move the current state of the art forward thanks to (1) the novel theoretical framework formulated for the exploration of multimodal metaphor and other operations of figurative language in advertising and that triangulates de cognitive, discursive and social dimension of advertising, and (2) a methodology heavily based on a replicable, reproducible and transparent experimental design. I have published in various journals as well as edited volumes, and I am first author in 2 research monographs. In my role as member of three editorial boards (2 of which are in JCR indexed journals) and as appointed expert at the Joint Research Centre (European Commission 2018-2019) I have gained valuable experience and skills related to the dissemination of scientific results to different audiences, both within academia and outside of it.