In this article, I explore laughter as a form of multimodal play in which adolescents' engage across contexts and in various configurations. With a few recent exceptions, a focus on unscripted play is largely missing from ongoing research and discussion about the education of adolescents. Whereas the space to play has been vitally important to the…

Discusses perceptual processing associated with understanding cartoons; reviews literature focusing on cartoon creation, criticism, and communication; defines iconic imaging; and reviews crucial factors in understanding and creating cartoons, including leveling, sharpening, and assimilation, right and left brain imagery modes, developmental stages…

Studied 40 first through third graders to determine whether they would donate more to a worthy cause after being exposed to a humorous situation or to a serious one. The difference in giving was not significant. (RJC)

Reviews the literature concerning children's humor. Discusses major characteristics of early humor based on the child's level of developmental mastery, and proposes a conceptual model of humorous play. (RJC)

Measures humor appreciation (including mirth, subjective ratings, and response sets), comprehension, and production in children between the ages of 10 and 14. Relates humor to several areas of competence manifested at school. (HOD)

Differences in comprehension, production, and appreciation of humor were explored among a total of 47 second and fourth graders, of whom 26 fourth graders had learning disabilities or developmental handicaps. Although children without disabilities comprehended cartoons better, no production differences were observed. (Author/DB)

Explores the relations between temperament, communicative competence, and humor expression among four- and five-year-old nursery school children. Shows that ratings of communicative competence and various dimensions of temperament account for a significant proportion of the variance in the reported frequency of children's laughter and verbal and…

Two matched forms of a 50 item grammar test were developed. Twenty items designed to be humorous were included in one form. Inclusion of humorous items did not affect grammar scores on matched humorous/nonhumorous items, nor on commmon post-treatment items. Inclusion did not affect results of anxiety measures. (Author/DWH)

Reviews the use of humor in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Black Creole Jamaican literature and song. Concludes that irony is inherent in the creative expression of early Jamaicans and writers about Jamaica, arising from inconsistencies of attitudes of Blacks toward Whites and toward themselves. (FMW)

Considers four questions related to humorous activity: What events evoke laughtor and smiling in classrooms and do these events change as children grow older? Are there differences in frequency and type of events produced and appreciated? How do teachers and peers react to humorous events? and What are the other behavior patterns of children who…

This study of 58 first graders used audiocassette recordings of a familiar story to examine the effects of three integrated and contiguous instructional designs using incongruity humor on recognition and recall of information as measured by immediate learning and retention tests. Research methodology is discussed, and 68 references are listed.…