This study examined the role of conceptual tempo in 4th graders' comprehension and appreciation of verbal jokes containing various types of linguistic ambiguity. (JMB)

Boys, ages 6, 8, and 10, were classified with regard to conceptual tempo and were presented with cartoon stimuli varying in cognitive complexity and level of affectivity. The results indicate that reflective subjects generally displayed the highest comprehension scores while impulsive subjects displayed the greatest spontaneous mirth. (JMB)

Appreciation of cartoon humor was examined among college students categorized on the basis of Bem's Sex Role Inventory. Males preferred sexual humor to absurd humor, while females favored absurd humor. An antifemale bias in humor appreciation was found in masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated males and in masculine and androgynous females.…

High- and low-creative male and female college students were asked to devise humorous captions to cartoons containing sexual, aggressive, or neutral themes. Results indicate that males generated funnier captions than females to sexual and aggressive stimuli but not to neutral stimuli. Moreover, creativity was positively related to humor…

Focuses on the relationship between conceptual tempo and control of humorous affect in young children. Records the responses of reflective, fast-accurate, impulsive, and slow-accurate fourth-grade children to a videotape of an adult telling a series of jokes, half of which are followed by audience laughter. (CM)