CHILDRENS LINGUISTIC HUMOR AND READING RESEARCH - A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN

Certain types of children's linguistic humor facilitate the developmen t of specific metalinguistic skills which are necessary for reading. T he Mastery Concept, the Incongruity and Resolution Theory, and the Cog nitive-Congruity Principle explain why humor appreciation is a valuabl e tool in the investigation of child development. In reading research, the use of linguistic humor appreciation has unique and significant a dvantages in that it (1) has ecological validity, (2) requires no spec ial training which would alter the ability being tested, (3) is inhere ntly interesting and pleasant, and thus motivates subjects' cooperatio n, and (4) offers a more suitable control than is available for other types of test materials. Linguistic humor appreciation has not been us ed extensively or very successfully in the past because of validity pr oblems inherent in the logically-flawed funniness rating scales and th e facial mirth response scales which have been typically employed. Thr ee valid methods are presented: (1) explication, (2) third party retel l, and (3) a two-alternative, forced-choice task. These methods vary i n degree of naturalness and in ease of administration. It is argued th at the two-alternative, forced choice task is the most effective.