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Humor is No Laughing
Matter
What's so funny??
This issue of Early Report takes a serious look at a seemingly
frivolous topic: Humor and Children. Although most of us would
rather laugh than cry, humor is rarely thought of as a legitimate
subject for scientific study. Paul McGhee, a humor researcher for
many years, quotes Rodney Dangerfield when he says "humor
research never got any respect." Being committed to a better
understanding of humor, he feels there has always been an
awareness that humor is somehow viewed as different from other
research topics. People tend to think humor researchers must be
constantly telling jokes, anecdotes, witticisms, or otherwise
being funny. Obviously, some do and some do not.
Humor research has been gaining respect. McGhee reports a
tremendous surge of scholarly research reports and conferences
about humor in the past 15 years.
This newsletter gives a selective view of the information
available on humor and young children. As an introduction, I
offer the following observations. (For a more detailed
discussion, see Humor Development in Children by Alice Honig in
Young Children, May 1988.)
Humor is difficult to define. There is disagreement over what
level of intellectual functioning humor requires. If an infant
laughs at a silly face made by its father, does that infant find
the face funny? If a three year old laughs gleefully at some
nonsense word she has created, is that humor? Many researchers
agree that humor requires fairly sophisticated thinking
processes, but many also agree that there is a playful component
to humor that is present throughout life.
Another component of humor that is agreed upon is that it
involves incongruities. Incongruity refers to juxtaposing two
elements that do not normally go together. In simple forms of
humor, for example, a preschooler would laugh at the idea of a
cow in a bathtub because he wouldn't expect to see such a thing.
He would be surprised, which is another element of humor.
There is also speculation that humor can serve to reduce
anxiety in frightening or embarrassing situations. In fact, Freud
was the first to theorize that laughter serves as a safety valve
to relieve excess energy.
Changes in humor are probably related to changes in cognitive
and language abilities. As children age, they go through distinct
changes in their ability to understand the world.
"Stages" of humor development are likened to
"stages" of cognitive growth. For example, when an
infant becomes capable of symbolic thought, she can make a joke
out of pretending a block is a piece of food; and not until a
child has achieved Piaget's level of concrete operations will he
be able to understand that words can have two meanings and how
this relates to more complex jokes (e.g., How do you get down off
an elephant? You don't, you get down off a duck!).
Similarly, mastery of the rules of language are necessary to
understand certain joke forms. For example, children must
correctly pronounce the sound "th" in order to laugh at
"I tought I taw a putty tat," and toddlers must be
familiar with conventional sentence structure before they find
"cake the eat" funnier than "eat the cake."
What children think is funny is unique to their age or
developmental stage. While this seems obvious, understanding the
stages can help adults facilitate children's humor development.
It can help us recognize humor in children of all ages and guide
us in providing humorous situations appropriate to a child's age.
It is important to appreciate children's particular brand of
humor and join in their laughter.
By Kathy Kolb, Editor
Humor and Early
Childhood Education
Laughter is a common sound in early childhood classrooms and
places where young children congregate. Research suggests that
humorous episodes enjoyed or created by children are not simply a
source of entertainment but are also a means of cognitive
stimulation. The origins and development of humor depend on the
development of general thought processes.
The role that humor plays in the process of development is
receiving increased research attention, and is of special
interest to early childhood educators. The following four areas
will illustrate humor's importance.
1) Humor as a motivating factor:
Humor influences children's choices. When young children can
choose between humorous and nonhumorous materials, they often
choose what is funny. For example, researchers found that humor
is a factor in children's selection of TV programs. Producers of
educational shows such as Sesame Street and the Electric Company
use humor to facilitate learning. Researchers suggest that the
interspersion of humor in TV programs increased children's
attention span and intellectual curiosity.
Humor also was found to influence children's storybook
preferences. One explanation offered is the element of surprise.
In both humorous television programs and literature, children
are presented with novel "misexpected" situations
(events that violate expectancies), which is thought to generate
greater curiosity. The appealing nature of humor might also be
explained in light of the fact that young children have a lower
threshold for humor and tend to be play-oriented--that is, they
are more often in a playful frame of mind than older children and
adults. Humor, as a form of play, provides children opportunities
for playful manipulation of the real world.
When sharing humor with children, adults try to test
children's understanding of humor. But asking children to be
objective about humorous episodes may alter their enjoyment of
it. Children easily respond to, "What's so funny?," but
young children can't explain why something is funny. Interpreting
humor is difficult because of children's limited language
abilities and analytical skills. Asking a child to analyze humor
may decrease his interest by creating a less "playful"
atmosphere.
2) Humor and spontaneous play:
The capacity for play (humor is considered a form of play)
develops naturally; it is not "taught." Adults can
encourage humor by creating a nonthreatening environment that
supports play. If they create an atmosphere conducive to
experimentation and discovery, children will encounter
"funny" situations.
During the course of "playing" (e.g., make-believe
play), children create situations they know are not
"real." A similar situations occurs when children
create humorous "incongruities." Objects, images, or
words are deliberately distorted, e.g., creating nonsense words.
Once children have mastered the underlying concepts and rules,
they are then able to understand the impossibility or absurdity
of the comic incongruity.
Children create commit situations during dramatic play,
painting session, or puppet shows. Misexpected, incongruous
situations are encountered during ongoing classroom activities,
such as storytelling or cooking sessions. Adults can provide
further opportunities for children to encounter incongruous
situations by structuring activities that deliberately introduce
unexpected events. For example, young children who are given
cornstarch in place of flour to mix with water are intrigued by a
whole new consistency. In another experiment, given various sizes
of wires with which to blow bubbles, children are quite surprised
and delighted with the results. 3) Role of humor in the learning
process: This material was adapted from Klein, Amelia J. (1987).
Children's Humor: A Cognitive-Developmental Perspective. In L.
Katz (Ed.), Current Topics in Early Childhood Education, Vol. VII.
1. Humor is a form of play and is a natural medium through
which young children can expand their understanding of the world.
2. Humor is highly pleasurable and is associated with
cognitive mastery.
3. Humor provides children with problems to solve. In a joke,
riddle, funny story, or cartoon, children must resolve
incongruity in order to establish the joke.
4. Humor promotes divergent thinking, a characteristic of
creativity; in order to establish a joking relationship, the
child must discover or create unique associations among ideas.
5. Humor provides the child with an opportunity to learn
rules. Humor has a basic structure that children discover when
"playing jokes" on others (humor based on the element
of surprise) or telling riddles (a punch line logically related
to the body of the joke).
These guidelines are easily applied to classroom activities.
Teachers may provide a variety of humorous storybooks,
including traditional story structures as well as poetry. In
order to introduce young children to more structured forms of
humor, teachers might present simple books of jokes, riddles, and
cartoons. Although younger children will not master these formats
until age 7 or 8, they become interested in jokes and riddles
because older brothers, sisters, or friends are interested in
them. Exposing children to more advanced forms of humor allows
them to learn about the structure and rules for humor (e.g., a
joke has a body and a punch line and both are logically related
within the context of a joke). 4) Types of humor appropriate for
young children:
Children show preferences for humor that reflects their
developmental levels. For example, an interest in riddles appears
between ages 6 and 8. It is then that operational thought
processes are acquired allowing children to reverse ideas
mentally. Pre-operational children (i.e., preschoolers) would not
enjoy or understand riddles. Similarly, jokes containing double
meanings (puns) or implied meanings (based on illogical behavior)
would not be understood by young children.
Research has shown that young children enjoy concrete humor,
thus much of the humor in children's TV programs is physical.
However, sophisticated humor also appear on children's programs,
perhaps to appeal to a wider audience, including adults. These
forms may be too complex to be understood by young viewers.
Children's literature also contains a wide range of humor.
Books that emphasize complex forms of linguistic ambiguity or
illogical behavior are more appropriate for children who care at
the concrete-operational level of development (6- to 8-year
olds). For example, "Amelia Bedelia" by Peggy Parish is
a story about a girl who takes things literally when she reads a
recipe book and is told to "dress a turkey." Young
children may laugh at the sight of a turkey wearing a dress but
are not likely to understand the character's inability to
consider several interpretations of the term "dress."
In "The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes" by Phyllis
Krasilovsky, a gentleman creates problems by refusing to wash his
dishes. The man substitutes other available kitchen utensils,
such as flowerpots and ashtrays, until he eventually exhausts his
household supplies. He solves his dilemma by taking all his
"dirty dishes" outside on a rainy day and resolves
never to postpone his daily chores again. Preschoolers may laugh
at this story but usually do not appreciate the man's eccentric
behavior or take his actions seriously.
Books depicting physical incongruities are more appealing to
preschoolers. In the story "Where Can An Elephant
Hide?" by David McPhail, an elephant tries to avoid being
detected by two approaching hunters by imitating the behavior of
various jungle animals-a tiger, monkey, and baboon-then by
covering itself with parrot feathers. This story, not
surprisingly, was a favorite choice of young children in a
national survey conducted by the International Reading
Association.
Adults who select or create humorous materials for children
can play an important role by selecting humor that is
developmentally appropriate. By assessing the developmental level
of children and the cognitive context of humorous materials,
adults can develop guidelines for the selection of books,
television programs, etc. Adults can judge the appropriateness of
humor stimuli by children's responses; children, like adults,
appreciate what they understand. Although laughter is the same
for all ages, the underlying thought processes are qualitatively
different.
Humor and children's development: A book review
The remainder of this newsletter brings to your attention a
noteworthy book: "Humor and Children's Development: A Guide
to Practical Applications." The 1989 book is edited by Paul
McGhee, Ph.D., a longtime champion of the scientific study of
humor in children, and published by The Haworth Press. Chapters
address age differences in children's humor, using humor to
promote learning and creativity, humor as a coping strategy, the
use of humor in medical settings and in therapy with children,
and humor in the media. Following are summaries of three of the
chapters.
Pediatric dentist's use of humor*
Thoughts of visiting the dentist can put fear in the hearts of
men and women, and can be especially stressful for children.
Several psychologists have suggested that dentists use a
behavioral modification technique known as systematic
desensitization with their young anxious patients. The idea
behind systematic desensitization is to pair the anxiety
provoking stimulus with a response that is incompatible with
feeling anxious (usually muscle relaxation) so that the patient
can learn to relax and experience less fear.
Researchers have attempted to use various types of responses
which are incompatible with anxiety in the desensitization
technique. Such studies have shown that humor can be substituted
for muscle relaxation. According to Nevo and Shapira,
incongruities are produced through exaggeration, absurdities, and
puns which transform anxiety producing stimuli into humorous
stimuli. The authors suggest that this technique be adapted for
use with anxious children in the dental office.
In a study on pediatric dentists' use of humor, Nevo and
Shapira asked ten pediatric dentists to describe a typical
dentist appointment in their office. The dentists were asked to
recall exact conversations with their patients and were queried
about their use of humor in the appointment situation. Although
these dentists were not aware that they used humor
systematically, observations of three of these dentists showed
that humor was used frequently with their patients.
Nevo and Shapira explain that children arriving at the dentist
office are put into a "humor set" through the supply of
games, toys, and books in the waiting room and by the humorous
remarks made by the dentist before the appointment begins.
Dentists provide cues to the patient that the situation is
nonthreatening and may even be fun. Dentists reported that they
use the "Tell, Show and Do" technique: first the child
is told what will happen, then the dentist shows the child the
equipment that will be used, and, finally, the procedure is
performed. This technique gradually "desensitizes" the
child to the anxiety provoking stimuli.
The authors found that dentists use a special humorous
language for procedures used in the dental office. For example, a
dentist, when asking a child to open his mouth might say
"Let's see if you still have teeth (or a tongue)" or
"We have to use light because your mouth doesn't have
windows." When showing a child the equipment, the dentist
may explain that she will be using a "vacuum cleaner"
to clean out the child's mouth (referring to a suction device) or
a "bulldozer" (meaning a drill). Some dentist use
rhymes and fantasy with 3 to 6 year-olds knowing that the child
of this age is willing to make believe the chair is an airplane.
They find it helpful to use riddles and exaggerations to relax
older children.
Dentists talked about humor as having several functions: to
divert attention, to reduce anxiety of the child and/or parent,
to create and maintain rapport, to transmit information in an
enjoyable way, and to increase interest and involvement of the
child and dentist.
Nevo and Shapira conclude their discussion of using humor as
an intervention technique with the suggestion that humor may also
lead to a decrease in the high rate of professional burnout in
the dental profession because humor promotes more comfortable
relationships between the dentist and the patient.
This chapter, while interesting, raises a few questions.
Although the authors discuss the use of humor-based systematic
desensitization with young fearful dental patients, they fail to
mention if any formal study has been done to evaluate this
procedure. The study that was reported by Nevo and Shapira was
done with a very small sample (ten dentists were interviewed and
only three were observed). Although it is difficult to draw firm
conclusions from such a small sample, it gives impetus for
further research.
By Terri Smith
Center for Early Education and Development *This article review
Chapter 8, The Use of Humor by Pediatric Dentists by Ofra Nevo
and Joseph Shapira.
Children's Literature
and Humor
"Humor in Children's Literature, by Janice M. Alberghene,
(Chapter 11) traces humor through children's literature and
examines assumptions which have shaped the research to date.
Analysis of studies done by professionals in the field of
children's literature reveals that although the researchers'
interests are diverse, they agree that humor is difficult to
define. The best research views the child as an active reader and
values the use of humor in literature for children.
There are very few controversies to consider in looking at the
history of humor in children's literature, since the history
itself is so brief. Prior to the middle of the eighteenth
century, literature for children, as we know it today, was
virtually nonexistent. Though Mother Goose rhymes and humorous
folk tales existed prior to this time, they originated in the
oral tradition and did not distinguish books for children from
books for adults. Books for children existed for the purpose of
instruction, most often in piety and morality.
In 1744, John Newbery produced "A Pretty Little Pocket
Book, one of the first children's books meant to be read purely
for pleasure, and thus ushered in a new era of children's
reading. In the nineteenth century children's books became more
overtly entertaining and humorous books were written specifically
for children. While many of these books were well received,
others such as Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
were pronounced unsuitable. The key to acceptable humor at the
time appeared to lie in not offending genteel sensibilities.
In the twentieth century the history of humor has not been
very well documented, partly because of the volume of children's
books that have been published. Research generally focused on a
single author or handful of books, or on the nature of children's
responses to humor, without in-depth consideration of the
specific books which elicit these responses. This research has
not led to consensus, but rather has raised a number of issues.
A careful analysis of the research reveals the presence of
largely unexamined assumptions about the nature of children and
humor. For example, James Smith says "our adult thinking
about humor in children's literature is generally very sloppy and
vague." Some hold the view that life is serious business,
therefore humor is either inappropriate, sinful, or a waste of
time. This idea led to a basic mistrust of humor that is
reflected in many perspectives.
It is also apparent from numerous critics of children's
literature that humor is extraordinarily difficult to define.
Attempts at definition generally take the form of hierarchical
categories, and serve as a yardstick against which to measure the
child's developing sense of humor. While variations exist, a
typical scale places slapstick and forms of physical humor at the
bottom, followed by nonsense, word play, wit, satire, and high
comedy of human folly. These categories can measure, not only the
child's developing sense of humor, but also levels of cognitive,
emotional, and/or moral development.
Approaches to the study of the child's developing sense of
humor vary. One view considers a child's literary competence and
ability to appreciate various forms of humor, and advises
offering many levels and types of humor to facilitate
development. Another perspective points to the importance of how
funny stories are told and recommends exposure to stories with a
structure that leads children through the steps of a joke or
humorous episode. Individuals believing subtle humor to be
inappropriate for young children recommend humorous books which
are both simple and obvious. Still others feel that children
should be exposed to forms of subtle humor which vary in
complexity as the child matures. They maintain that young
children enjoy word play--the ways words sound, puns, and even
repartee and allusion.
Opinions regarding specific uses of humor vary widely, ranging
from emotional and psychological benefits to educational
advantages. Humor and laughter help children deal with feelings
of anger, curiosity, and inferiority--"books that help
children laugh are the books that help them survive." The
author suggests that humor in children's literature may be a pale
substitute for the jokes children tell each other, and points out
the need for definitive studies in this field of research.
By LaVonne Carlson
Head Teacher
Shirley G. Moore Laboratory Nursery School
Humor and Children's
Social Development
In Chapter 5, The Contribution of Humor to Children's Social
Development, Paul McGhee writes about the link between the
appropriate use of humor in social situations and general social
competence. While research evidence about young children is
scarce, there is evidence to support this relationship in college
students and older adults. This causes one to wonder which came
first, the humor or the competence. Regardless, it makes good
sense to promote appreciation of humor and its appropriate use
just in case it is a cause of, rather than an effect of, social
competence.
Under the premise that humor does play an important role in
the development of social skills, McGhee outlines four general
functions of humor in social interaction. Briefly, they are:
facilitation of social interaction; popularity and friendship;
socially acceptable expression of aggression and; softening an
assertive/dominating style of interaction. Facilitation of social
interaction:
One benefit of humor is that it makes social interaction
easier and more enjoyable. Research with all age groups shows
that people who initiate humor more often show greater social
participation or are judged by peers to be more sociable. The
conscious use of humor more often shows greater social
participation or are judged by peers to be more sociable. The
conscious use of humor in this way is undoubtedly reserved for
adolescents and adults, but it may be important to cultivate
humor during childhood in order that it can be well-used later.
Popularity and friendship:
It makes intuitive sense that people who can make others laugh
are popular and can easily make friends. Research with all age
groups has found a positive relationship between those rated high
on a "humor scale" and those most often picked as
someone they would like to spend time with.
It is speculated that the use of humor is social situations
may reflect an underlying ability to "read" social
cues. This would allow a person to understand a situation and
make good guesses about what strategies to use at what times.
Appropriate use of humor would be among the strategies to be
chosen.
Another benefit of humor and laughter is a strong sense of
"sharing the social situation." The reader has likely
experienced this in many settings--among family, friends, or a
group of children. Not only does this set the stage for
friendships, but it may contribute to the deepening of
relationships as a light-hearted way of sharing intimate
feelings, fears or anxieties.
Socially acceptable expression of aggression:
Humor is inherently ambiguous, thus can be used to say exactly
what we mean--or the opposite. In this way, McGhee suggests,
humor can be used to express hostility: if a hostile remark
backfires, we can take it back by saying it was "just a
joke." Converging evidence suggests that around age 6 or 7,
when significant cognitive and social-cognitive skills emerge,
children can begin to use humor in this way. This is also when
children become capable of understanding double meanings in
jokes.
McGhee also notes that children with high fantasy skills have
been found to express their aggression through fantasy rather
than overt behavior. He suggests a relationship between fantasy
and humor, and that children might be "trained" to use
fantasy and humor to express their aggression. He does caution,
however, that no systematic studies of such an approach exist.
Softening an assertive/dominating style of interaction:
Studies have shown that both teachers and peers of children
and adolescents are more likely to view frequent initiators of
humor as leaders. Whether due to humor-users' increased
"likability" or suave use of aggression and
assertiveness, humor allows people to control social situations.
McGhee suggests that children who prefer to dominate social
situations learn that humor is an acceptable way of retaining
control without triggering negative reactions.
In sum, mastery of humor in social situations is related to
social competence. On the negative side, however, it is noted
that humor is also related, especially in elementary years, to
disruptive behaviors--a "class clown" who can interfere
with a teacher's goals. Of course, this can be seen positively by
peers, and good users of humor tend to develop into leaders by
adolescence.
By Kathy Kolb
Center for Early Education and Development
And on the lighter
side...
Since children are our favorite topic and since they are so
funny, we couldn't let the opportunity go by to address the topic
of humor without taking a humorous approach. Here, then, is a
sample of children's jokes and stories about children's unique
perspectives on life.
Q: Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?
A: No guts!!
Teacher, observing Louis' red, runny nose: "My Louis, it
looks to me like you have a cold." Louis, bragging: "I
have two colds and my nose is melting!"
At a narrow spot on a nearby lake is a ferry that can carry 8
or 10 cars. Sara had been with her family one weekend and told us
she'd been on it. When asked "What is a ferry?" she
answered after a moment's thought, "It was like a bridge and
it came over and got us."
Q: What do you get when you cross an elephant with peanut
butter?
A: Elephants that stick to the roof of your mouth!
What time is it when an elephant sits on your fence? Time to
get a new fence!
In the supermarket, the cart a young man was pushing contained
a screaming, yelling, bellowing baby. The young man kept
repeating softly, "Don't scream, Tommy; don't yell, Tommy:
keep calm, Tommy." A woman standing next to him said,
"You are to be commended for trying to soothe little
Tommy." "Lady," the young man replied wearily,
"I'm Tommy."
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Lettuce.
Lettuce who?
Lettuce out, it's cold in here.
Eight year-old Mary: "Know why Miss Tomato turned
red?" "Cause she saw Mr. Green Pea!"
Comment overheard at the sandbox, after much emphasis on
sharing: "I want you to share. NOW GIVE IT TO ME!!!"
Did you hear the joke about the bed?
I didn't make it up yet!!!
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Fall 1990, Volume 18, Number 1