Humor appears from the first months of life, a crucial period for its development in the years that follow and for the cognitive and social functioning of children.
- Researchers have identified 21 different types of humor used by children that change with age.
- Before the age of one, children appreciate physical, visual and auditory forms of humour.
- From the age of two, children begin to make fun of others and develop aggressive humor.
Humor is important for good health, especially because it helps maintain social ties, but also because laughter has real therapeutic effects. In a new study, published on November 18 in the journal Behavior Research Methods, researchers at the University of Bristol have succeeded in identifying the appearance of humor in babies and the way in which it develops during the first years of life. Important results because humor plays a major role in cognitive and social functioning, which influences well-being.
Once launched, children are very active
Scientists sought to determine what types of humor are present in early development and at what age these different types of humor emerge. For this, they conducted their research on 671 children aged 0 to 4 years. They asked parents to complete a survey with 20 questions about their child’s humor development. For the study, the researchers selected children from different countries, namely the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia.
The researchers found that some children showed signs of humor appreciation as early as 1 month. After two months, half of the participants reported responding to humor. Regarding the production of humor, the researchers found that half of the volunteers are concerned after 11 months. The team also shows that once they produced humor, they often produced it, with half of children joking in the last 3 hours.
21 types of humor that change with age
In addition, the researchers identified 21 different types of humor used by children that change with age.
Children under 1 enjoy physical, visual and auditory forms of humour. This includes hide-and-seek, tickling, funny faces, body humor, funny voices and noises, chasing and using objects.
Children over the age of one turn to several types of humor that involve getting a reaction from others. This includes teasing, showing hidden body parts, scaring others, and taboo topics like bringing up the toilet. They also found it fun to act like something else or imitate an animal.
After two years, humor reflects language development. They are more focused on the sounds of animals, new words learned and whose sound amuses them. Moreover, it is from this age that children begin to make fun of others and develop an aggressive sense of humor.
At age three, children begin to play with social rules, such as saying mean words to be funny. This is also where they show the beginnings of understanding puns and puns.
Better understand how humor develops
“Our results highlight that humor is a complex and developing process during the first four years of life.adds Dr. Elena Hoicka, lead author of the study. Given its universality and importance in many aspects of children’s and adults’ lives, it is important that we develop tools to determine how humor first develops so that we can better understand not only the emergence of humor itself, but also how humor can help young children function cognitively, socially and mentally.”
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