Humor as a developmental phenomenon: the contributions of Paul McGhee

This chapter traces the history of Paul McGhee’s theoretical views, research methods, and body of writing focused on children’s humor development. It describes the state of such research before he became involved, the decision-making process that led him to focus on this area of knowledge, his initial research paradigms and later research methodology, his extensive writings on humor development, and the theoretical ideas about children’s humor development that he proposed, drawing on Piagetian theory. It also briefly discusses his later work in broader fields of humor development. The chapter briefly describes the ways that the body of knowledge he provided and his emphasis on the importance of early humor development have been influential for many subsequent humor development researchers, including that of the author. It also recognizes the playfulness that Paul McGhee has brought to both his scholarly and advocacy work, which provides a model for future researchers in the field of children’s humor development.