Posted on 01/24/2003 4:46:00 PM PST by blam
Sarcasm doesn't tickle children's funny bone
January 24 2003 at 09:53AM
Calgary - When parents use sarcasm to playfully tease their young children, do the kids see the humour?
Not likely, according to a Canadian researcher who has completed a study showing that children need to be 10 or older before grasping the idea that sarcasm can be funny or even insulting.
The results have implications for everything from the content of children's television programmes to the interpretation of abusive behaviour, Penny Pexman, a psychologist from the University of Calgary, said on Thursday.
"Our study suggests that the five-year-olds are beginning to understand the simplest form of sarcasm and are getting better at it, but by the age of eight they really don't find it funny, so there's still a dissociation there," said Pexman, who has been studying sarcasm for the past six years.
'They can appreciate that the person means the opposite of what they're saying' "They can appreciate that the person means the opposite of what they're saying, but they don't find it funny."
She and a colleague tested 64 children, presenting them with various scenarios played out with puppets using "counter-factual communication".
One featured a bumbling gardener who pulls all the flowers out of a garden and leaves only the "yucky" weeds, prompting an angry homeowner to remark: "You're a great gardener."
Half the younger children didn't take it literally.
"Even though the intonation is there and the gardener totally messed up, they really do think it's a positive remark," Pexman said.
In addition, children under the age of 10 almost always interpreted a sarcastic remark as serious, even when it was intended to be funny, she said.
The findings should help researchers understand reactions to teasing and bullying, especially since the young subjects often identified with the character who was the target of the sarcastic jibe, Pexman explained.
It is still not completely clear what determines how children comprehend sarcasm, but Pexman said factors could include the language used at home, their social milieu and the types of television shows they watch.
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