Five- through 9-year olds and adults heard ironic and literal criticisms and literal compliments. Found that comprehension of irony emerged between 5 and 6 years; and ratings of humor in irony increased with age but ratings of meanness in irony did not. (BC)

A study of the development of elementary school children's appreciation of riddles was conducted within the framework of the incongruity and resolution theory of humor. (ST)

Children approximately three to seven years old were presented with pairs of cartoons and asked to choose the funnier of each pair. Cartoons differed in terms of which of two persons was accidentally victimized by his or her own action or action of the other person (e.g., having paint spilled from a ladder onto one's head). (Author/MP)

Level of cognitive development was not significantly related to humor appreciation for either novelty or incongruity humor in 30 boys at each of three age levels: 5, 7, and 9. (WY)