A summary of research on humor that has practical implications for those who work with children. (Author/MP)

Investigates the development sequence of children's comprehension of riddles. In Study I riddles and jokes were collected and classified from children of grades 1 through 10. In Study II, students of grades 1, 3, 6, 10, and college were given selected riddles from three categories determined in Study I to test the predicted comprehension sequence.…

Presents ideas to counteract teacher burnout and sagging teacher morale based on the attitudes of characters in the television show M*A*S*H. (CM)

Recounts a study designed to determine the age at which sex differences first begin to appear and relates various aspects of children's behavior to the level of humor responsiveness. (MH)

The effect of test content and context on the anxiety-intelligence relationship was investigated in a group-administration of an intelligence measure presumably free of anxiety-provoking cues, comprehension of cartoons and several conventional intelligence and achievement measures. Subjects were 177 boys and girls in grades 4 to 6. (MS)

Recalls childhood reading experiences and offers an analysis of the "wit and genius" of "Pilot Officer Prune's Progress." (TB)

"Presidentialese" is a curious dialect of higher education jargon. A humorous description of the language of higher education, as it pertains to college presidents and their ability to circumvent the truth, is presented. (MLW)

Two experiments concerning the effects of humor on learning in higher education are presented. The first experiment involved 161 Israeli college students; the second involved 132 Israeli college students. Groups taught with the aid of humor performed significantly better on examinations than did those taught without humor. (TJH)

Examines 102 issues (published in 1985 and 1986) of the "Eulenspiegel," the only magazine in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) devoted to humor and satire. Focuses on the "Eulenspiegel's" treatment of the United States to determine the nature of that satire, its purposes, and its effectiveness. (MM)

Finds that Humor Orientation (HO) was positively correlated with communication traits of communicator adaptability, concern for eliciting positive impressions, affective orientation, and situational sense of humor. Finds that high HOs were perceived to be funnier than low HOs both by participant-observers and by independent coders who listened to…

Discusses issues of preservation of and access to library materials from a historical perspective, based on a story by Washington Irving. Topics addressed include the founding of the Astor Library, early access and service problems, preservation issues and remedies, and new definitions of access. (14 references) (LRW)

Recounts naturalistic investigation examining five male elementary school principals' use of humor in their daily interactions with teachers. Humor seemed to enhance principals' messages to teachers and was used primarily to create and improve school climate, to communicate principals' understanding of teaching demands, to break down the rigidity…

Argues for the value of humor in writing center instruction. Shows how writing center tutors can use humor effectively in tutoring settings. Relates personal experiences as a writing tutor in which humor proved useful and effective. (HB)