LITERATURE REVIEW

Lit review 1 For this study the researcher reviews several works done on memory and humour. (Ford et al, 2004) argues using Two studies, demonstrated that coping sense of humor cushioned women against the effects of stereotype threat on math performance. They used a correlational design, Study 1 demonstrated that women low in coping sense of humor assessed their performance on standardized math tests lower than did men and lower than did women high in coping sense of humor. Using an experimental design, Study 2 showed that coping sense of humor was positively related to womens performance on a math test taken under conditions of stereotype threat but not under conditions of no stereotype threat. The mediation analysis made advocated the argument that under stereotype threat condition, state anxiety mediated the relations between coping sense of humour and performance. They reiterate the view that women with a higher coping sense of humor outperformed the with a lower coping sense of humour because they felt less anxiety while taking the test.

Lit review 2 Humor has also been studied in the context of persuasion via advertising campaigns. When used in persuasive advertisements, humor has been shown to increase perceived source credibility in consumers by creating positive emotions, such as joy and mirth (Skalski et

al.,2009). Moreover, Lyttle (2001) published a report on the effectiveness of humor in persuasion, and reported that humor (in the form of irony) enhanced persuasive message effects by serving as a distraction to receivers from developing counterarguments to senders messages. Lyttlefound that the distraction of humor inhibited central processing (a characteristic of the elaboration likelihood model) for message receivers, and resulted in an increase of positive emotions, trust, and overall likeability for the source. These studies highlight the transactional nature of humor and persuasive capabilities for humor to influence affective cognitive states

Lit review 3 Previous studies on humor in education have focused on the use of humor embedded in the presentation of content material. Some research, however, suggests that humor is an effective tool for increasing divergent thinking and information acquisition if the humor is given prior to the presentation of content material. This study used an experimental design to test if humor given prior to content presentation was more effective in helping students understand and remember information and enjoy the presentation than a control group treatment. Statistical tests did not support either hypothesis

Lit review 4

We investigated the effects of humor on vocabulary instruction in a study with 84 seventh grade students from an ethnically mixed, middle-class, Northeastern, suburban school district. The experimental group received a series of lessons for vocabulary words for which we provided humorous contexts. The control group received a series of vocabulary lessons for the same words in typical, non-humorous contexts, based on guidelines from a standard reading textbook. Following each lesson, we administered identical assessment tests to each group. An examination of pre- and post-test scores revealed that students in the experimental group significantly outperformed their control group counterparts on tests for which we provided humorous vocabulary lessons. The study is examined in light of engagement theory within a motivational theoretical perspective.

Lit review 5 There are 3 main theories used to explain the functions of humor: (1) the relief theory, (2) the incongruity theory, and (3) the superiority theory. While these theories focus on the specic role that humor plays for people in situations

such as dealing with misfortune, making sense of rule violations, and bonding with others, we propose that underlying each of these theories are the physiological benets of laughter. We draw on ndings from empirical studies on laughter to demonstrate that these physiological benets occur regardless of the theory that is used to explain the humor function. Findings from these studies have important implications for nurse practitioners working in hospice settings, long-term care facilities, nursing homes, and hospitals. KEY WORDS: humor, laughter, physiological benets Holist Nurs Pract 2009;23(6):349354

Lit review 6 Humor is a vital component of human well-being. Neuroimaging studies conducted with adults indicate that humor activates specific brain regions including the temporo-occipito-parietal junction (TOPJ), involved in incongruity resolution, and mesolimbic regions, involved in reward processing. However, no study to date has used neuroimaging to examine humor in typically

developing children. Here we illuminate the neural network involved in the detection and appreciation of humor in childhood. Fifteen typically developing children ages 612 were invited to watch and respond to video clips while neural activity was imaged with a 3T GE Discovery MR750 scanner. Prior to presentation during functional imaging, the clips were evaluated by age-matched controls and were representative of three categories: Funny, Positive (enjoyable but not funny), and Neutral (not intended to evoke any emotional response). We found TOPJ and mesolimbic activation in childrens response to humor, suggesting these regions may form a humor-essential neural network already present in childhood. Furthermore, in a novel comparison of Funny stimuli to Positive stimuli, we found that bilateral TOPJ activation may be specific to humor processing and not part of a general constellation of neural activity in response to reward. Finally, we observed greater activation in the inferior frontal gyrus and NAcc in younger participants, indicating humor activation intensity changes during development. By providing a crucial link in studying the neurodevelopment of humor processing across the lifespan, our findings contribute valuable information about the evolution of how children understand their world.

Lit review 7 ABSTRACT - This study investigates the effect of humor in advertising on three dependent measures of advertising effectiveness: perceived humor, attitude toward the brand, and ad recall. Also examined are the effects of multiple exposures and the effects of social setting (size of the audience). Humor is found to influence consumers' brand attitude and their brand information recall. Perceived humor appears to be affected by social setting, but unaffected by another mediating factor: frequency of exposure.
[ to cite ]:

Yong Zhang and George M. Zinkhan (1991) ,"Humor in Television Advertising: the Effects of Repetition and Social Setting", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 18, eds. Rebecca H. Holman and Michael R. Solomon, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 813818.

Lit review 8

Humour occupies a special place in human social interactions. The brain regions and the potential psychological processes underlying humour appreciation were investigated by testing patients who had focal damage in various areas of the brain. A specific brain region, the right frontal lobe, most disrupted the ability to appreciate humour. The individuals with damage in this brain region also reacted less, with diminished physical or emotional responses (laughter, smiling). Performance on the humour appreciation tests used were correlated in a distinct pattern with tests assessing cognitive processes. The ability to hold information in mind (working memory) was related to both verbal (jokes) and non-verbal (cartoon) tests of humour appreciation. In addition, the demands of the specific type of humour test were related in a logical manner to cognitive processes, verbal humour being associated with verbal abstraction ability and mental shifting and cartoon humour being related to the abilities to focus attention to details and to visually search the environment. The ability of the right frontal lobe may be unique in integrating cognitive and affective information, an integration relevant for other complex human abilities, such as episodic memory and self-awareness

Lit review 9 This study examined the moderating effects of product involvement on the effects of humour on memory and attitude towards the advertisement by using multi-year survey

(1992 to 1997) of responses to commercials shown during the Super Bowl. Positive and significant relationships between humorous advertisements on memory and attitude were found through multiple regression analysis. Furthermore, results show that humorous advertisements are more effective in low-involvement products in terms of memory and attitude towards the advertisement.

Coping Sense of Humor Reduces Effects of Stereotype Threat on Women's Math Performance Thomas E. Ford, Mark A. Ferguson, Jenna L. Brooks and Kate M. Hagadone

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2004 30: 643