Discusses a study designed to demonstrate a relationship between sex-role attitudes and reactions to specific types of sexual humor. (MH)

This research attempted to reconcile previous results in the area of humor and aggression. It was hypothesized that humor serves two functions, arousal and attentional shift, with regard to its influence on the relation of prior anger arousal and aggression. (Editor/RK)

States that helping young adult readers to reach maturity, and learn to speak, think, and act for themselves, has been Paul Zindel's major concern throughout his literary career. Discusses his "Pigman" trilogy, published between 1968 and 1991, and how these books resonate with young people. Lists classic elements in "Pigman";…

Advocates incorporating humor in the classroom (as a means of assessing students' learning and understanding) by deliberately establishing a classroom environment conducive to original expression and risk-taking, and by the juxtaposition of curriculum material. (SR)

Compares characteristics of young adult literature and television situation comedies. Highlights include writing for television versus writing novels; the use of humor, irony, and serious topics; character growth; plot construction; and responsibility for solving characters' problems. (LRW)

A French television program using puppets for political satire is discussed and its instructional applications are examined. (MSE)

Reviews issues relevant to the use of humor in children's therapy. Discusses applications in the following contexts: (1) psychodynamic psychotherapy; (2) behavioral treatments of phobias; (3) family therapy; and (4) purposeful use of games and stories. (FMW)

Evaluates reactions of students exposed to a video presentation with or without a laugh track. Finds those in the laugh track group exhibited significantly more mirth behavior, but did not evaluate the stimulus as significantly funnier. (MS)

This study observed naturalistic humor in six young children with autism and six matched children with Down's syndrome, as they interacted with their mothers. Autistic children produced and appreciated humor to a limited extent, but they produced less humor overall and less humor involving nonverbal incongruity compared to matched controls.…

Presents a humorous approach to the question of how to recycle catalog cards necessitated by the results of library automation and online catalogs. A sidebar summarizes an article that appeared in the "New Yorker" magazine regarding the discard of card catalogs. (LRW)

Examines college students' responses to the program "Cops" to better understand how viewers construct meaning and pleasure from the televisual texts of reality-based programming. Finds that humor guides the viewers' interpretations of the text and is a major source of pleasure, but the audience's search for the comic both deviates from…

Examines the language games found in the 18th century Chinese novel "Xingshi Yinyuan Zhuan." Examination focuses on distinctly Chinese literary conventions and devices that have no equivalent in English, such as "xiehouyu" and "qiaopihua," as well as puns, character splitting, enigmatic expressions, and reification of…

Argues that the study of humor should be worked into English curricula starting in middle school, taking students inside jokes to expose the subtle way humor can convey information, images, and assertions. Discusses understanding humor, reading humor, and writing humor. (SR)

Explores humor from a functional perspective. Finds three primary functions: positive affect, expressiveness, and negative affect. Finds positive relationships between positive affect humor and interpersonal competence. Supports the validity of the Uses of Humor Index. (SR)

Suggests that, rather than ignoring the enormous interest of children for joke and riddle books, educators can take advantage of humor's natural attraction by using it to involve children in reading and to provide worthwhile learning experiences. Discusses humor as an instructional tool, classroom use of joke and riddle books, and teacher…