The role of context in verbal humor processing in autism

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Purser, H.R.M. ORCID: 0000-0003-3307-8421, Van Herwegen, J., Ranzato, E. and Thomas, M.S.C., 2021. The role of context in verbal humor processing in autism. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 209: 105166. ISSN 0022-0965

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105166

Abstract

Difficulties in processing humor have been associated with individuals with autism. The current study investigated whether humor comprehension and appreciation could be augmented in children with autism by providing contextual support suggesting that humor was to be expected. A verbally presented riddle task was used in which participants were assessed for their subjective ratings and comprehension of the materials. They were also filmed to record any smiling or laughing. Both riddles and control stimuli were presented with supporting verbal context and also without it. The results showed that (a) the greater subjective appreciation of riddles than of control stimuli was dependent on the provision of context for the participants with autism and that (b) context statistically equated these ratings of riddles between participants with autism and matched typically developing controls. However, context had no effect on comprehension or affective response. The results of the current study demonstrate that children with autism are, even in the most conservative interpretation, able to use verbal context to recognize verbal humor. This lays the foundation of possible interventions based on training sensitivity to context.

Item Type:

Journal article

Publication Title:

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

Creators:

Purser, H.R.M., Van Herwegen, J., Ranzato, E. and Thomas, M.S.C.

Publisher:

Elsevier BV

Date:

September 2021

Volume:

209