The role of cognitive factors in children’s metaphor and humor comprehension

An examination was made of the relative importance of divergent thinking (fluency), intersection of classes, & class inclusion skills, along with characteristic degrees of playfulness or seriousness, for the comprehension of metaphor & humor in 7-, 10-, & 13-year-olds (N = 25, 22, & 26, respectively). A multiple-choice approach to measuring comprehension of a series of cartoons, jokes, & metaphors was adopted. Ss were given tests measuring class inclusion, intersection of classes, & divergent thinking. Ss were then given a booklet of age-appropriate humorous stimuli. Ss were asked to judge how funny a particular joke/cartoon was & to explain why they thought so. Teachers were asked to rate the overall seriousness or playfulness of each child. Overall results indicate that both divergent thinking & intersection of classes abilities are predictive of both metaphor & humor comprehension. Class inclusion skills & the presence of a characteristically serious or playful frame of mind were not significantly related to either metaphor or humor comprehension. 7 Tables, 44 References. Adapted from the source document