The objective of the study was to identify the different behavioral characteristics that help a child to develop his or her sense of humor. Furthermore, the study also pretended to prove that sense of humor is also important for children since it helps them to have a positive acceptance in society.
2. How did the investigator(s) measure the topic of interest?
Thirteen children were evaluated during free play activity. Each child was observed for 40 minutes that were divided into 10 minutes observation during a period of four to six months. The observer followed the observed child across the play room far enough to prevent any interaction with the child and close enough to listen to the observed child interacting with other children in the playroom. The observer evaluated the behavior of the child into different categories: behavioral initiation of humor, laughter, physical and verbal aggression, attention-seeking from peers, and from adults, and imitation of peers. Every time the child engage in one of this categories, the observer rates the behavior in a scale of 1 through 7 based on the amount of social play, talkativeness, and energy level. The sense of humor score was calculated by adding the total of occurrences for the three humor dimensions. In the end, the observer added the total of the three categories and average it to obtain the total average, as the three aspects of the child’s sense of humor are interconnected. …show more content…
Who were the children or participants in the study?
The participants were 38- to 75-month-old children from a university child development center. Sixty white, middle class, preschool children among them were 33 boys and 27