According to Suls' (1972) incongruity model for the appreciation of jokes, humor with which recipients are familiar should not be perceived as funny because the ending is predictable. Suls (1975) later proposed that familiar humor is appreciated because of the sense of competence derived from adequately remembering the joke. This study examined Suls' theories by having subjects rate jokes on two occasions and supply their punch lines on the second occasion. Statistical significance was determined through the use of the t test for correlated means. Jokes for which punch lines were recalled were perceived as significantly less funny than on the first occasion. The results did not support predictions made from Suls' competence theory but did support those derived from Suls' incongruity model.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc504401 |
| Date | 08 1900 |
| Creators | Chambers, John Thomas |
| Contributors | Kennelly, Kevin J., Wilborn, Bobbie L. |
| Publisher | North Texas State University |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | iv, 22 leaves, Text |
| Rights | Public, Chambers, John Thomas, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. |
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