Paul McGhee - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Paul McGhee

Research paper thumbnail of The playful brain: Development of young children's humour

As parents and educators of young children, one of our greatest delights is the sharing of their ... more As parents and educators of young children, one of our greatest delights is the sharing of their infectious laughter. This laughter makes a powerful contribution to the early bonding of parents with their infants and also reveals another aspect of the most striking feature of their early years - their love of play. In this article, we will explore when this early laughter first becomes associated with the mental experience of humour and how underlying progress in intellectual development generates new stages of development of their sense of humour.

Research paper thumbnail of A Developmental Test of the Disposition Theory of Humor

Child Development, 1981

McGHEE, PAUL E., and LLOYD, SALLY A. A Developmental Test of the Disposition Theory of Humor. CHI... more McGHEE, PAUL E., and LLOYD, SALLY A. A Developmental Test of the Disposition Theory of Humor. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1981, 52, 925-931. The present study examined the effect of degree of similarity between subjects and victims of an accidental mishap depicted in cartoons on appreciation of humor occurring in connection with the mishap. Boys and girls approximately 3-7 years old were presented with pairs of drawings differing only in the identification of the victim of the mishap and were asked to choose the funnier of the 2. The pairs included the following comparisons: boyversus girl-victim, sonversus father-victim, sonversus mothervictim, daughterversus father-victim, and daughterversus mother-victim. Findings for boys were consistent with predictions, indicating that boys' humor is enhanced by the victimization of a person toward whom the child presumably feels less similar or is less favorably disposed. Findings for girls were consistent with this pattern as long as a parent-victim was compared with a child-victim, but no significant preference occurred when boy-victims were compared with girl-victims. The lack of significant differences among females for such comparisons is consistent with findings for adult samples and is interpreted in terms of differential rate of sex-role development among boys and girls.

Research paper thumbnail of Cognitive Development and Children's Comprehension of Humor

Child Development, 1971

Dr. George G. Thompson, for his guidance in planning and writing up this investigation and for hi... more Dr. George G. Thompson, for his guidance in planning and writing up this investigation and for his efforts to foster a scholarly attitude and a creative thinking capacity in his students. He has strengthened my belief in the value of knowledge for its own sake.

Research paper thumbnail of Behavioral Characteristics Associated with the Development of Humor in Young Children

The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 1982

ABSTRACT Frequency of laughter and behavioral and verbal attempts to initiate humor were observed... more ABSTRACT Frequency of laughter and behavioral and verbal attempts to initiate humor were observed in 60 38–75 mo old children during spontaneous free play sessions. Additional behavior categories (e.g., physical and verbal aggression, attention-seeking, imitation) were chosen for observation on the basis of previous evidence regarding behavioral antecedents of humor development. Stepwise multiple regression of the latter behaviors upon sense of humor scores indicated that the amount of time spent in social play accounted for the greatest amount of variance in the Ss' laughter and humor initiation. Limited support was obtained for the view that humor provides a means of rechanneling aggressive behavior tendencies into more socially acceptable forms of behavior. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Research paper thumbnail of Humor Helps Produce an Emotionally Intelligent Workplace

The last decade has seen a tremendous growth of interest in what is generally referred to as emot... more The last decade has seen a tremendous growth of interest in what is generally referred to as emotional intelligence (EI). Corporations now spend a great deal of money in efforts to boost their managers’ EI in the belief that this will sharply improve job performance and quality of service. A growing number of educators are also convinced that improving children’s EI will improve performance in school.

Research paper thumbnail of Some Reflections

Research paper thumbnail of Chimpanzee and gorilla humor: progressive emergence from origins in the wild to captivity to sign language learning

HUMOR

This article examines available (mainly anecdotal) evidence related to the experience of humor am... more This article examines available (mainly anecdotal) evidence related to the experience of humor among chimpanzees and gorillas in the wild, in captivity and following systematic sign language training. Humor is defined as one form of symbolic play. Positive evidence of object permanence, cross-modal perception, deferred imitation and deception among chimpanzees and gorillas is used to document their cognitive capacity for humor. Playful teasing is proposed as the primordial form of humor among apes in the wild. This same form of humor is commonly found among signing apes, both in overt behavior and in signed communications. A second form of humor emerges in the context of captivity, consisting of throwing feces at human onlookers—who often respond to this with laughter. This early form of humor shows up in signing apes in the form of calling others “dirty,” a sign associated with feces. The diversity of forms of signing humor shown by apes is linked to McGhee, Paul E.Humor: Its origi...

Research paper thumbnail of Development of the humor response: A review of the literature

Research paper thumbnail of The contribution of humor to children''s social development

Journal of Children in Contemporary Society, 1988

Research paper thumbnail of Television as a Source of Learning Sex Role Stereotypes

This stuWexamined the effects of heavy versus light television viewing on the degree to which chi... more This stuWexamined the effects of heavy versus light television viewing on the degree to which childnen posSess sex role stereotypes. Reference was made to content.anaiyses of children's television programs, prime time dramatic programs, and comme 'cials, to show that traditional sex role stereotypes-are present in most aspect's of television programming. It waS. thus assumed that children who watched more televidion would acquire greater knowledge of sex role stereotypes, A TV program checklist was, used with children in grades K, 2, 4 and 6 and their Rarents, to determine the amount of, time the child'ren spent watcking television.'Those who watche,&10_, hours. or less T4r Week were 'categorized as low TV watchers anA'thase: who watched '25 ,hours or'more were categorized as high TV'watchers. A total-of 80 children (5 boys and 5:girls in each categorr'from each ,. . * * responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions * * supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original.

Research paper thumbnail of Development of Children's Ability to Create the Joking Relationship

Child Development, 1974

... make up a funny answer of the same type which he (she) had just heard in the previous set of ... more ... make up a funny answer of the same type which he (she) had just heard in the previous set of riddles. ... the absur-dity riddles, the statement was considered satisfactory if any reference was made to hav-ing an elephant engaged in some activity that was impossible in light of the ...

Research paper thumbnail of Laughing Matter: A Symposium: Sex Differences in Children's Humor

Journal of Communication, 1976

Research paper thumbnail of Chapter 12: The Role of Humor in Enhancing Children's Development and Adjustment

Journal of Children in Contemporary Society, 1989

Research paper thumbnail of On the Cognitive Origins of Incongruity Humor: Fantasy Assimilation versus Reality Assimilation

The Psychology of Humor, 1972

Research paper thumbnail of A Model of the Origins and Early Development of Incongruity-Based Humour

It's a Funny Thing, Humour, 1977

Research paper thumbnail of Children's Humour: A Review of Current Research Trends

It's a Funny Thing, Humour, 1977

Research paper thumbnail of The Role of Arousal and Hemispheric Lateralization in Humor

Handbook of Humor Research, 1983

Research paper thumbnail of The Role of Laughter and Humor in Growing Up Female

Research paper thumbnail of Humor across the Life Span: Sources of Developmental Change and Individual Differences

Research paper thumbnail of Humor Development: Toward a Life Span Approach

Handbook of Humor Research, 1983

Research paper thumbnail of The playful brain: Development of young children's humour

As parents and educators of young children, one of our greatest delights is the sharing of their ... more As parents and educators of young children, one of our greatest delights is the sharing of their infectious laughter. This laughter makes a powerful contribution to the early bonding of parents with their infants and also reveals another aspect of the most striking feature of their early years - their love of play. In this article, we will explore when this early laughter first becomes associated with the mental experience of humour and how underlying progress in intellectual development generates new stages of development of their sense of humour.

Research paper thumbnail of A Developmental Test of the Disposition Theory of Humor

Child Development, 1981

McGHEE, PAUL E., and LLOYD, SALLY A. A Developmental Test of the Disposition Theory of Humor. CHI... more McGHEE, PAUL E., and LLOYD, SALLY A. A Developmental Test of the Disposition Theory of Humor. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1981, 52, 925-931. The present study examined the effect of degree of similarity between subjects and victims of an accidental mishap depicted in cartoons on appreciation of humor occurring in connection with the mishap. Boys and girls approximately 3-7 years old were presented with pairs of drawings differing only in the identification of the victim of the mishap and were asked to choose the funnier of the 2. The pairs included the following comparisons: boyversus girl-victim, sonversus father-victim, sonversus mothervictim, daughterversus father-victim, and daughterversus mother-victim. Findings for boys were consistent with predictions, indicating that boys' humor is enhanced by the victimization of a person toward whom the child presumably feels less similar or is less favorably disposed. Findings for girls were consistent with this pattern as long as a parent-victim was compared with a child-victim, but no significant preference occurred when boy-victims were compared with girl-victims. The lack of significant differences among females for such comparisons is consistent with findings for adult samples and is interpreted in terms of differential rate of sex-role development among boys and girls.

Research paper thumbnail of Cognitive Development and Children's Comprehension of Humor

Child Development, 1971

Dr. George G. Thompson, for his guidance in planning and writing up this investigation and for hi... more Dr. George G. Thompson, for his guidance in planning and writing up this investigation and for his efforts to foster a scholarly attitude and a creative thinking capacity in his students. He has strengthened my belief in the value of knowledge for its own sake.

Research paper thumbnail of Behavioral Characteristics Associated with the Development of Humor in Young Children

The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 1982

ABSTRACT Frequency of laughter and behavioral and verbal attempts to initiate humor were observed... more ABSTRACT Frequency of laughter and behavioral and verbal attempts to initiate humor were observed in 60 38–75 mo old children during spontaneous free play sessions. Additional behavior categories (e.g., physical and verbal aggression, attention-seeking, imitation) were chosen for observation on the basis of previous evidence regarding behavioral antecedents of humor development. Stepwise multiple regression of the latter behaviors upon sense of humor scores indicated that the amount of time spent in social play accounted for the greatest amount of variance in the Ss' laughter and humor initiation. Limited support was obtained for the view that humor provides a means of rechanneling aggressive behavior tendencies into more socially acceptable forms of behavior. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Research paper thumbnail of Humor Helps Produce an Emotionally Intelligent Workplace

The last decade has seen a tremendous growth of interest in what is generally referred to as emot... more The last decade has seen a tremendous growth of interest in what is generally referred to as emotional intelligence (EI). Corporations now spend a great deal of money in efforts to boost their managers’ EI in the belief that this will sharply improve job performance and quality of service. A growing number of educators are also convinced that improving children’s EI will improve performance in school.

Research paper thumbnail of Some Reflections

Research paper thumbnail of Chimpanzee and gorilla humor: progressive emergence from origins in the wild to captivity to sign language learning

HUMOR

This article examines available (mainly anecdotal) evidence related to the experience of humor am... more This article examines available (mainly anecdotal) evidence related to the experience of humor among chimpanzees and gorillas in the wild, in captivity and following systematic sign language training. Humor is defined as one form of symbolic play. Positive evidence of object permanence, cross-modal perception, deferred imitation and deception among chimpanzees and gorillas is used to document their cognitive capacity for humor. Playful teasing is proposed as the primordial form of humor among apes in the wild. This same form of humor is commonly found among signing apes, both in overt behavior and in signed communications. A second form of humor emerges in the context of captivity, consisting of throwing feces at human onlookers—who often respond to this with laughter. This early form of humor shows up in signing apes in the form of calling others “dirty,” a sign associated with feces. The diversity of forms of signing humor shown by apes is linked to McGhee, Paul E.Humor: Its origi...

Research paper thumbnail of Development of the humor response: A review of the literature

Research paper thumbnail of The contribution of humor to children''s social development

Journal of Children in Contemporary Society, 1988

Research paper thumbnail of Television as a Source of Learning Sex Role Stereotypes

This stuWexamined the effects of heavy versus light television viewing on the degree to which chi... more This stuWexamined the effects of heavy versus light television viewing on the degree to which childnen posSess sex role stereotypes. Reference was made to content.anaiyses of children's television programs, prime time dramatic programs, and comme 'cials, to show that traditional sex role stereotypes-are present in most aspect's of television programming. It waS. thus assumed that children who watched more televidion would acquire greater knowledge of sex role stereotypes, A TV program checklist was, used with children in grades K, 2, 4 and 6 and their Rarents, to determine the amount of, time the child'ren spent watcking television.'Those who watche,&10_, hours. or less T4r Week were 'categorized as low TV watchers anA'thase: who watched '25 ,hours or'more were categorized as high TV'watchers. A total-of 80 children (5 boys and 5:girls in each categorr'from each ,. . * * responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions * * supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original.

Research paper thumbnail of Development of Children's Ability to Create the Joking Relationship

Child Development, 1974

... make up a funny answer of the same type which he (she) had just heard in the previous set of ... more ... make up a funny answer of the same type which he (she) had just heard in the previous set of riddles. ... the absur-dity riddles, the statement was considered satisfactory if any reference was made to hav-ing an elephant engaged in some activity that was impossible in light of the ...

Research paper thumbnail of Laughing Matter: A Symposium: Sex Differences in Children's Humor

Journal of Communication, 1976

Research paper thumbnail of Chapter 12: The Role of Humor in Enhancing Children's Development and Adjustment

Journal of Children in Contemporary Society, 1989

Research paper thumbnail of On the Cognitive Origins of Incongruity Humor: Fantasy Assimilation versus Reality Assimilation

The Psychology of Humor, 1972

Research paper thumbnail of A Model of the Origins and Early Development of Incongruity-Based Humour

It's a Funny Thing, Humour, 1977

Research paper thumbnail of Children's Humour: A Review of Current Research Trends

It's a Funny Thing, Humour, 1977

Research paper thumbnail of The Role of Arousal and Hemispheric Lateralization in Humor

Handbook of Humor Research, 1983

Research paper thumbnail of The Role of Laughter and Humor in Growing Up Female

Research paper thumbnail of Humor across the Life Span: Sources of Developmental Change and Individual Differences

Research paper thumbnail of Humor Development: Toward a Life Span Approach

Handbook of Humor Research, 1983