Laughter Flashcards
How often do we laugh per day?
Daily laughter records over three days by 80 adults (17 to 79)
On ave. 18 daily
Possible mechanism 2
- positive emotional stress accompanying laughter and humour
The social nature of laughter
Provine and fisher 1989 - self report
Laughter proceeded speech
The capacity to laugh May have proceeded the capacity to speak during brain evolution
Laughing rats
Pankeep - emit 50 kHz chirps
Laughed more during in play
Three possible mechanisms
Psychological changes
Positive emotion
Cognitive appraisal of stress
Possible mechanism one
Psychological changes
Musco skeletal
Cardiovascular
Endocrine
Immunological
Neural systems
Associated with laughter
Possible mechanism three
The stress moderating effects of humour which indirectly interact with stress levels reducing them
What is humour?
Tension relief
Superiority
Incongruity
Aristotle superiority theory
Laughing because you perceive the misfortunes of others and yourself as safe from them
Laughter is sufficient to provoke laughter
Provine (1992)
128 graduates
10 trials
18 seconds long laughter box
What makes babies laugh?
Sounds
Approaching tickling
The development of laughter in children
Traditionally approaches to humour
Not until 6 or 7 years
Now earliest signs of humour 18 months
Measuring aiding the analysis of developmental disorders
When we laugh at typical things
When we laugh at others; laughing when others laugh
Whether we try to make other laugh; clowning shows
Whether we tease
