Can Complex Humor Be Taught?
Our own Rocio Nuñez, Associate Clinical Director in San Fernando Valley, was recently published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis! She (along with four other ABA professionals) decided to tackle a very interesting topic: teaching young children how to understand double-meaning jokes. For example, “Why was six afraid of seven? Because seven ate nine!” This joke requires the listener to be able to understand that “ate” can also be heard as “eight”. Children below a certain age (or developmental age) tend to have trouble comprehending jokes that rely on this type of humor. Rocio and her team set out to determine if appreciation and understanding of these types of jokes could be taught to young children.
Four children between the age of five and seven participated in this study and were set a series of 76 double-meaning jokes, over the course of 15 to 22 sessions. Children were also provided with visual aids, where appropriate, to help comprehend the double meaning of the joke. By the end of the study, all participants “demonstrated humor comprehension for double-meaning jokes… and generally showed humor appreciation measures in line with their comprehension.”
While there is absolutely more to learn in this area, this study suggests that complex humor can be taught, even to young children.
Congratulations, Rocio, on this amazing achievement! We can’t wait to see what you do next.
Tuesday, April 20, 2021