Article published in:

Metapragmatics of Humor: Current research trends
Edited by Leonor Ruiz-Gurillo
[IVITRA Research in Linguistics and Literature 14] 2016
► pp. 257–272

Understanding of humorous intentions

A developmental approach

Elena Hoicka | University of Sheffield

This paper demonstrates that children understand humor from an intentional perspective as young as 2 years. This is interesting from two vantage points. First, the research shows that children understand both humor and intentions separately before understanding humorous intentions, suggesting these two concepts are dissociable. However, the research presented suggests that understanding humorous intentions could be a gateway to understanding intentions in complex ways. Humor is the first type of non-literal communication that children understand from an intentional viewpoint, compared to pretending, lying, metaphor, and irony. Understanding humorous intentions may thus allow children to identify and practice understanding others’ mental states in increasingly complex ways.

Keywords: Humor, Joke, Intention, Social cognition, Development

Published online: 24 November 2016
https://doi.org/10.1075/ivitra.14.13hoi

References

Addyman, C., and I. Addyman

2013 “The science of baby laughter.” Comedy Studies 4 (2):143–153.

American Psychiatric, Association

2013 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association.

Bainum, C. K., K. R. Lounsbury, and H. R. Pollio

1984 “The development of laughing and smiling in nursery-school children.” Child Development 55 (5):1946–1957.

Baron-Cohen, S.

1997 “Hey! It was just a joke! Understanding propositions and propositional attitudes by normally developing children, and children with autism.” Israel Journal of Psychiatry 34:174–178.

Baron-Cohen, S., A. M. Leslie, and U. Frith

1985 “Does the Autistic child have a Theory of Mind.” Cognition 21 (1):37–46.

Carpenter, M., N. Akhtar, and M. Tomasello

1998 “Fourteen through 18-month-old infants differentially imitate intentional and accidental actions.” Infant Behavior & Development 21 (2):315–330.

de Jongste, H.

2013 “Negotiating humorous intent.” In Developments in Linguistic Humour Theory, 1, edited by Marta Dynel, 179–210. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Esseily, R., L. Rat-Fischer, E. Somogyi, K. O’Regan, and J. Fagard

2016. “Laughing babies can do it!” Cognition & Emotion, 30(4), 817–825.

Gergely, G., H. Bekkering, and I. Kiraly

2002 “Rational imitation in preverbal infants.” Nature 415 (6873):755–755.

Glenwright, M., and P. M. Pexman

2010 “Development of children’s ability to distinguish sarcasm and verbal irony.” Journal of Child Language 37 (2):429–451.

Hoicka, E.

2016. “Parents and Toddlers Distinguish Joke, Pretend and Literal Intentional Contexts through Communicative and Referential Cues.” Journal of Pragmatics 95, 137–155.

Hoicka, E., and N. Akhtar

2011 “Preschoolers joke with jokers, but correct foreigners.” Developmental Science 14 (4):848–858.

2012 “Early humour production.” British Journal of Developmental Psychology 30 (4):586–603.

Hoicka, E., and J. Butcher

2015. “Parents produce explicit cues which help toddlers distinguish joking and pretending.” Cognitive Science 40, 941–971.

Hoicka, E., and M. Gattis

2008 “Do the wrong thing: How toddlers tell a joke from a mistake.” Cognitive Development 23 (1):180–190.

2012 “Acoustic differences between humorous and sincere communicative intentions.” British Journal of Developmental Psychology 30 (4):531–549.

Hoicka, E., S. Jutsum, and M. Gattis

2008 “Humor, abstraction, and disbelief.” Cognitive Science 32 (6):985–1002.

Hoicka, E., and C. Martin

2016. “Two-Year-Olds Distinguish Pretending and Joking.” Child Development 87(3), 916–928.

Hoicka, E., and S. Wang

2011 “Fifteen-month-old infants match vocal cues to intentional actions.” Journal of Cognition and Development 12 (3):299–314.

Leekam, S. R.

1991 “Jokes and lies: Children’s understanding of intentional falsehood.” In Natural theories of mind: Evolution, development and simulation of everyday mindreading., edited by A. Whiten, 159–174. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell.

Loizou, E.

2005 “Infant humor: The theory of the absurd and the empowerment theory.” International Journal of Early Years Education 13 (1):43–53.

Macdonald, N. E., and I. W. Silverman

1978 “Smiling and laughter in infants as a function of level of arousal and cognitive evaluation.” Developmental Psychology 14 (3):235–241.

Meltzoff, A. N.

1995 “Understanding the intentions of others – Reenactment of intended acts by 18-month-old children.” Developmental Psychology 31 (5):838–850.

Mireault, G., S. C. Crockenberg, J. E. Sparrow, K. Cousineau, C. Pettinato, and K. Woodard

2015 “Laughing matters: Infant humor in the context of parental affect.” Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 136:30–41.

Mireault, G., S. C. Crockenberg, J. E. Sparrow, C. A. Pettinato, K. C. Woodard, and K. Malzac

2014 “Social looking, social referencing and humor perception in 6- and-12-month-old infants.” Infant Behavior and Development 37 (4):536–545.

Mireault, G., M. Poutre, M. Sargent-Hier, C. Dias, B. Perdue, and A. Myrick

2012 “Humour perception and creation between parents and 3- to 6-month-old infants.” Infant and Child Development 21 (4):338–347.

Nichols, S., and S. P. Stich

2003 Mindreading: An integrated account of pretence, self-awareness, and understanding other minds. Oxford: Clarendon Press/Oxford University Press.

Ozҫaliskan, E.

2005 “On learning to draw the distinction between physical and metaphorical motion: is metaphor an early emerging cognitive and linguistic capacity?” Journal of Child Language 32 (2):291–318.

Pearson, B. Z.

1990 “The comprehension of metaphor by preschool children.” Journal of Child Language 17 (1):185–203.

Perner, J., U. Frith, A. M. Leslie, and S. R. Leekam

1989 “Exploration of the Autistic child’s Theory of Mind – Knowledge, belief, and communication.” Child Development 60 (3):689–700.

Pexman, P. M., M. Glenwright, A. Krol, and T. James

2005 “An acquired taste: Children’s perceptions of humor and teasing in verbal irony.” Discourse Processes 40 (3):259–288.

Pien, D., and M. K. Rothbart

1976 “Incongruity and resolution in children’s humor – A reexamination.” Child Development 47 (4):966–971.

Rakoczy, H., M. Tomasello, and T. Striano

2004 “Young children know that trying is not pretending: A test of the “behaving-as-if” construal of children’s early concept of pretense.” Developmental Psychology 40 (3):388–399.

2006 “The role of experience and discourse in children’s developing understanding of pretend play actions.” British Journal of Developmental Psychology 24:305–335.

Recchia, H. E., N. Howe, H. S. Ross, and S. Alexander

2010 “Children’s understanding and production of verbal irony in family conversations.” British Journal of Developmental Psychology 28 (2):255–274.

Reddy, V.

2001 “Infant clowns: The interpersonal creation of humour in infancy.” Enfance 53 (3):247–256.

Reddy, V., E. Williams, and A. Vaughan

2002 “Sharing humour and laughter in autism and Down’s syndrome.” British Journal of Psychology 93:219–242.

Reid, V. M., S. Hoehl, M. Grigutsch, A. Groendahl, E. Parise, and T. Striano

2009 “The neural correlates of infant and adult goal prediction: Evidence for semantic processing systems.” Developmental Psychology 45 (3):620–629.

Samson, A. C., and M. Hegenloh

2010 “Stimulus characteristics affect humor processing in individuals with Asperger syndrome.” Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 40 (4):438–447.

Shultz, T. R.

1974 “Development of the appreciation of riddles.” Child Development 45 (1):100–105.

1976 “A cognitive-developmental analysis of humor.” In Humor and laughter: Theory, research and applications edited by A. J. Chapman and H. C. Foot, 11–36. London: John Wiley & Sons.

Siegal, M., and C. C. Peterson

1996 “Breaking the mold: A fresh look at children’s understanding of questions about lies and mistakes.” Developmental Psychology 32 (2):322–334.

1998 “Preschoolers’ understanding of lies and innocent and negligent mistakes.” Developmental Psychology 34 (2):332–341.

Sroufe, L. A., and J. P. Wunsch

1972 “Development of laughter in the first year of life.” Child Development 43 (4):1326–1344.

St. James, P. J., and H. Tager-Flusberg

1994 “An observational study of humor in Autism and Down syndrome” Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 24 (5):603–617.

Waters, E., L. Matas, and L. A. Sroufe

1975 “Infants’ reactions to an approaching stranger – Description, validation, and functional significance of wariness.” Child Development 46 (2):348–356.