A study of humor and the right hemisphere.
65 male and 65 female subjects rated 32 jokes for funniness and solved 14 visually displayed mental-rotation problems. Subjects with faster mental-rotation times tended to rate the jokes as funnier, which is consistent with previous evidence implicating the right hemisphere in the processing of humor. The hypothesis that right-hemisphere processing speed or problem-solving ability are the common factors in mental rotation and humor processing is discussed. Furthermore, sex differences suggest that gender-differentiating preferences for type of humor and mental-rotation abilities may involve basic cognitive functions.
Johnson
A M
AM
Department of Psychology, University of Missouri, Rolla 65401-0249.
D000328:Adult; D003210:Concept Formation; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011340:Problem Solving; D012737:Sex Factors; D014925:Wit and Humor as Topic