Exam 1: The first exam will be administered in class on April 18. I will select questions or variations of questions from a set of that I distribute prior to the exam. Possible Exam 1 questions (final version).
Exam 2: The second exam will be a take-home exam.
Final Paper/Presentation: This assignment has two parts: a paper (worth 175 points) and a poster session (worth 25 points).
Paper: a) You are to complete a paper that analyzes four humorous items not previously discussed in class or the readings. The four items must take at least three different forms such as jokes, cartoons, true stories, articles, advertisements, commercials, video clips, etc. The primary focus of your analysis of these items is what makes them humorous. Using research and theory from the course, describe why you think the "sender" and/or "receiver" of each humorous item would find it amusing. You must include a copy of each humorous item with the paper. b) The paper should also include answers to two of the common humor questions we discuss this term. Near the end of the term, I will assign you four of the common questions. You will be able to choose two from that group and answer them for this paper.
The paper portion should be approximately 5-10 typed, double-spaced pages.
Poster session: The second part of this assignment is a poster session. During our final class meeting on Tuesday, June 5, you will post at least two of your humorous items and the accompanying analysis on a bulletin board. You will also post your answers to the two common humor questions. For approximately 45 minutes, you will stand next to your "poster" ready to knowledgeably respond to any comments or questions you might receive. You do not need to prepare any oral presentation to accompany your poster. You will be evaluated on how well you meet the requirements listed here and how well you respond to any questions and comments that I observe.
Although I am not weighing the poster session heavily in the grading, I believe it will provide valuable experience in being prepared, thinking on your feet (literally), and communicating psychological concepts in a spontaneous manner.
Pair Presentation: During one of the class periods, you and one other member of the class will lead the class in an approximately 35-minute discussion of a common humor question. Some portion of that time (no more than 1/3) may be spent presenting research to the question. The remaining portion of the time should be spent leading us in discussion of the question from a scientific perspective. The primary goal of your presentation is that the other class members have a better scientific understanding of your question.
At least two weeks prior to your presentation, you and your partner should consult with me about appropriate readings related to your question so that you can select a small sample to be assigned to the class in preparation for your presentation.
You are to choose from the list of some common humor questions below. No two pairs can choose the same question. I will assign them on a first-come, first-served basis, so let me know as soon as your pair has selected a question.
Common Humor Questions:
1. Why is brevity often important in humor?
2. Why are jokes often less funny after the first time you have heard them?
3. Why are some humorous things funny repeatedly?
4. Are there "humor-killers," things that can be done to a joke to
stop it from being funny?
5. Can any neutral statement be made funny by making it absurd?
6. If humor often involves an unexpected or surprise element, why isn't every
unexpected or surprising event humorous?
7. Why are there so many sexual jokes?
8. Why are there so many jokes about bodily parts or processes?
9. Why are there so many put-down jokes?
10. Why do we find slapstick amusing?
11. What about a joke determines the intensity of the response to the joke?
12. What about the teller or receiver of a joke determines the intensity of
the response to the joke?
13. How does the ability to "get the joke" depend upon prior knowledge?
14. Are some jokes cross-cultural or cross-lingual? Why are the vast majority
not? What about humorous situations?
15. Why do different people find different things amusing?
16. What do we mean by a "sense of humor"?
17. Can a sense of humor be developed? Can you teach someone to be humorous?
18. Do you need to be in a certain frame of mind to appreciate humor? to laugh?
19. Why do we laugh?
20. When do we laugh?
21. Is laughter or humor good medicine?
22. Why do we sometimes laugh at tragedy?
23. Why do children think a silly face is funny?
24. Why is humor so prevalent?
25. What role(s) does humor play in society?
26. Do other species "laugh" or show amusement or humor appreciation?
27. How can the current theories of humor be reconciled with the recent neuropsychological
discoveries about the processing of humor in the brain?
28. Are humor appreciation and laughter merely a byproduct of other human processes,
or do they play an important role in human behavior?
29. If you're sending someone styrofoam, what do you pack it in?
(Rutter, Jason, 1998. "Laughingly Referred To: An Interdisciplinary Bibliography of Published Work in the Field of Humour Studies and Research", Salford Papers in Sociology No21, University of Salford. This database can be also be searched using keywords.)