The Anatomy of Humor and the Humors of Your Anatomy
Humor Research, Slightly Serious but mostly Seriously Light
Humor Research, Slightly Serious but mostly Seriously Light
Sirius Chapter 1 - Humor Research
*Sponsored by Sirius Radio, the number 2 and the letter P
That last chapter was fun, but seriously, I have attempted to combine the major KNOWN humor research into a unified theory of humor in four main areas of life.
The quote below nicely summarizes the research on humor on how it have harmonize and unify your life:
“Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keep friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment.”
~Greenville Kleisser
Ponder that for exactly one minute.
Good. So let’s break down humor into the four main areas of life and then put it all together. As I mentioned before, having a basic understanding of why we laugh and the research behind laughter, will hopefully give you a better appreciation of humor, and inspire you to be like a mushroom: A FunGi to be with.
The rest of this chapter is a seriously good introduction to humor and the current research supporting it. This is actually a modified version directly from my Masters Thesis, so I am taking the liberty to plagiarize myself. Basically upon rereading my thesis, all the foundations for using humor in the physics classroom are completely relevant for using humor in the human classroom (aka Life). And remember Life is sexually transmitted so protect yourself with good humor (and those rubber things are a good idea too).
I will conclude the chapter with a succinct summary, so if you are drowsy and currently operating heavy machinery, you may want to skip the end where I give the summary of this research (CODENAME: CLIFFNOTES). To be proper and in alignment with the “stuffy” research community, for a short while I will refer to myself in the third person… but just so you know, it’s still me, but I am speaking from ABOVE myself in my astral body (astral latin for delusional).
TRUE STORY: My thesis advisor at IUP presented my thesis at the Winter Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers in Baltimore, 2008. So this is seriously good research.
The author will first explore three prevalent theories of humor and why people laugh followed by the physiological and psychological benefits derived from humor and laughter. From this it will be seen where humor research had its roots and beginnings and why humor is particularly suitable for enhancing all facets of life from physical, emotional and psychological health to creativity, work, play and even problem solving. To summarize: the use of humor in all areas of life is supported by evidence that humor improves health, reduces anxiety and tension, enhances creativity and problem solving abilities and improves relationships, and even helps you to achieve enlightenment. So lighten up, will you?
The past three decades has seen a dramatic increase in the amount of research on humor and its physiological, psychological and sociological benefits. These benefits provide a foundation for using humor in the classroom of life (on earth) or any extraterrestrial environment. The author will begin by summarizing the historical use of humor and why we laugh followed by an analysis of the published studies of humor and its physiological and health benefits on the body and the psychological and sociological benefits of humor. The research using humor in education is multifaceted and draws upon the aforementioned benefits of humor to create a relaxed, playful, fun environment no matter what that environment may be.
In reviewing the history of humor and why we laugh, this author begins by looking at the etymology of “humor”. It is a word with several meanings but derives from the latin word umor, meaning liquid or fluid. In the Middle Ages, humor referred to an energy that was thought to relate to a bodily fluid and an emotional state. A sanguine humor was cheerful and associated with the blood. There was also the humors of phlegm, choleric and melancholy. In modern dictionaries, humor is defined as “the quality of being laughable and comical” or as “a state of mind, mood and spirit.” Before looking at the benefits of humor, it is helpful to explore why it is we laugh and some historical and recent antidotes related to humor.
There are generally three accepted theories of why we laugh: The “superiority” theory, the Freudian Theory and the Incongruity theory with the latter being perhaps the most accepted.
Plato was the first to advance the “superiority” theory and it is known that he was not a fan of laughter. He felt it was wrong to laugh at the misfortunes of others and commented that laughter involved a loss of control that made one to appear less than human.
So why is it that we laugh when someone slips on a banana and falls, gets a pie thrown in their face or looks silly or stupid in any given situation? Well according to this theory, we laugh because it makes us feel superior to other people. This theory also explains why we laugh at certain jokes that involve certain ethnic groups, occupations, gender, etc. If this were the only reason why we laughed, perhaps Plato would have been correct in his logic. It should be emphasized that this form of humor has NO place in the classroom.
**O.k. I can’t help myself, back to the first person for a minute. This reminded me of a good Freudian Slip Joke:
A patient says: “Doctor, last night I made a Freudian slip, I was having dinner with my mother-in-law and wanted to say: “Could you please pass the butter. ”
But instead I said: “You silly cow, you have completely ruined my life.”
**O.K. Back to Serious Research Mode
Freud’s theory on humor has similar origins to his theories for the psychology and of man, to wit that we all have sexual and aggressive thoughts and society does not allow us to express these ideas in public. As a result they become repressed into our unconsciousness and emerge in dreams, ‘Freudian slips’ and certain forms of psychotherapy.
So to Freud, humor and laughter was a socially acceptable way to release these otherwise unacceptable thoughts and ideas. Thoughts about death, sex, marriage, authority figures, certain bodily functions, or anything that is socially unacceptable to say with a serious tone of voice. To Freud, humor provides a kind of relief, a way to break out of the social norms and restrictions. That is, humor can give one a sense of greater freedom of expression with ideas that are normally not socially proper to express.
Interestingly, Ziv (1983) explored the use of humor in increasing creativity scores. His idea was that humor allowed students to “think outside the box” and play with new ideas that are in alignment with Freud’s ideas. This ability of humor to increase creativity will be explored more later in its pertinence to education.
The last and perhaps most accepted form of humor is the Incongruity theory first proposed by the famous German Philosopher, Immanuel Kant. The idea with this theory is that we laugh at jokes because they surprise us and often seem out of place. For example its funny that clowns have ridiculously large shoes, politicians have long noses and unusual events like animals talking take place.
But there is more to this popular theory of laughter. Raskin (1985) proposed the basic structure of incongruous humor which is also called ‘contrast resolution’. It consists of mainly two parts. An expected content followed by an unexpected twist. The expected content is familiar information that one can relate to. The unexpected content or punch-line, as it is often called, consists of a ridiculous and very unexpected outcome. The following joke illustrates this basic structure:
Two fish in a tank One turns to the other and says: “Do you know how to drive this thing?”
The first sentence is the expected content, in this case two fish swimming in a fish tank. This relates to our everyday world where fish swim in water. The unexpected twist or punch-line reveals the double entendre of the word tank. Once the reader understands this and visualizes two fish actually driving an army tank, this unexpected outcome that is outside of the reality and ordinary life causes one to laugh according to this theory.
The following quote also illustrates this nicely:
“True Humor is a sort of train wreck of the mind. You’re going along one track and there’s a sudden collapse of logic, the cars go off the track, and they pile up and build into laughter”
Laughlab (2002) carried out Magnetic Resonance Imaging of people listening to jokes. They found that there is a very specific part of the brain used to understanding joke is funny. Their research suggests that this area what biologists call the prefrontal cortex.
Also basic structure of humor is very similar problem solving which is why problem solving based courses seem to respond better to humor treatment than classes that involve memorization. ASIDEL It was this important point that really justified my Masters Thesis, which was the exploration of humor in the physics classroom and assessment.
The Author will now discuss the physiological and social-psychology benefits. It is these benefits that truly lay the foundation for all humor research and why humor is so important in enjoying, appreciating and understanding Life. First the physiological and health promoting effects will be looked at which includes significant research in the medical field on the benefits of humor to help prevent and reverse disease. Next the general psychological and social benefits will be presented which then logically leads to a more positive mindset, attitude and spirituality.
The idea that humor and laughter can reduce pain and even reverse disease was made popular in a peer reviewed research paper published in the New England Journal (later to become a best-selling book) by Norman Cousins entitled, Anatomy of an Illness (As Perceived by the Patient). He suffered from a serious collagen disease that resulted in severe inflammation of his spine and degeneration of his joints, tendons and ligaments. Given only a 1 in 500 chance of recovery, Cousins surrounded himself with jokes and humor and was known to watch the “Marx Brothers”, “Candid Camera” reruns and the Three Stooges. He even began a humor treatment program on himself and recounted (p 39) that “10 minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least 2 hours of pain free sleep. When he woke up with pain again, he would continue his “humor treatment” until the pain was gone and could again sleep some more. He continued this “humor treatment” until after a few weeks his pain was almost completely gone and his doctors found that his connective tissue was regenerating. Soon after he went back to work full-time and experienced a full recovery within a couple years (Cousins also took mega doses of vitamin C but attributes his recovery mainly to humor).
**Norman Cousins famously chronicled the effects of his self-prescribed "laughing cure" in his book Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient (W.W. Norton, 1979, 2001, 2005). Cousins, who suffered from inflammatory arthritis, claimed that 10 minutes of hearty guffawing while watching Marx Brothers movies brought him two hours of pain-freesleep—and that both inflammation and pain were significantly reduced. Research since then has shown that laughter reduces levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine, and dopamine; increases health-enhancing hormones (such as endorphins), neurotransmitters, and infection-fighting antibodies; and improves blood flow to the heart—all resulting in greater relaxation and resistance to disease, as well as improved mood and positive outlook.
Cousins’ (1979) book and research spurred attention and subsequent research in the medical community. Besides pain relief, other physiological benefits of humor that have been researched include (but not limited to) improved respiration and oxygen uptake (Fry 1994), benefits to circulation similar to aerobic exercise (Fry 1994), increase in immunity, decrease in stress hormones such as cortical and perhaps most important to this author’s research is the research on humor showing improvement in mental functioning. Though a decrease in stress hormones is also important and we will further explore this when we get to the psychological benefits.
The relationship between creativity and problem solving has already been briefly mentioned. The importance of the linkage between humor and right brain hemisphere activity such as spatial reasoning and recognition is grounds for justification for its use in problem solving based learning activities (more later in this paper).
However, there is actual direct physiological evidence that has found that laughter increases catecholamine levels in the body, which actually improves overall mental functioning (Fry, 1984). This neurotransmitter is needed for alertness and memory.
Also, O’Keefe and Teresi (1986) documented the work of
Dr. James McGaugh who says, "Arousal [through laughter] causes all these chemical cocktails-morepinephine, adrenaline, enkephalin, vasopressin, ACTH to spritz out.
We think these chemicals are memory fixatives...they signal the brain, this is important, keep this!" Also established was the role of the hippocampus in emotions and learning and suggesting that “positive emotions allow the brain to better manufacture cognitive maps”.
Paul MacLean (1978) further supports that our hormones, feelings, and emotions affect our learning.
According to the research of McNamara and Skelton (1993), there is specific neurochemical basis for learning and memory. Finally, Stanford researcher, Badura (1986) notes that there is a biochemical difference in the body when a person is confident and optimistic. The presenter's job is to assist students in deliberately releasing those chemicals through emotional release, physical movement and positive attitude. In other words, the teacher's job is not to teach, but to provide an environment that is conducive to learning.
Bottom Line: Laughter makes you healthier, more fit, and smarter from a purely physiological point of view. Now that’s powerful stuff!
Think about that for a minute. This aforementioned research is not about subjective experiences or humorous dogma, but ACTUAL physiological responses that can be measured, tested and proven. And we are talking about research being done at STANFORD, JOHNS HOPKINS and other reputable learning institutions!
This brings us now to the sociological and especially psychological benefits of humor. There is much overlap between the psychological benefits of humor and the brain chemistry benefits as the two are unavoidably connected.
This next section will deal less with brain chemistry and more with pure psychology and sociology.
Kline (1907) summarized the psychological benefit of humor:
To detach us from the world of good and evil, of loss and gain, and enable us to see it in proper perspective. It frees us from vanity on the one hand and from pessimism on the other by keeping us larger than what we do and greater than what can happen to us (p 438).
That is, humor helps to raise us above our current problems and circumstances and offers a new perspective that might not have been seen.
The best example is a story that was rumored to happen at a past United Nations summit during the Cubin Missile crisis. Even if the story is not true, it still illustrates the authors point. As the tension of the summit was mounting and the threat of war was very high, a Russian delegate with a smile says, “In capitalism, man exploits man; in Communism it is the other way around”. This joke had a magical effect of breaking through the tension and opening communication. That is, it helped all the delegates for just a moment detach from the problem and see it from another perspective.
The function of humor as a coping mechanism to stress is well supported by some of the most well respected and famous psychologists of our time. Freud himself said that humor is “the highest of [the] defensive processes (Freud, 1959, p 216).
To continue this point further, the author will use the classroom (specifically the physics classroom) as an example, but if you are not a teacher or student, this could be the workplace, courtroom, difficult people and relationships, the bedroom or any setting or situation in life that is stressful or makes you anxious.
Berk (2002 pg 41,42) outlines the psychological process of humor as one of problem stimulus, humor response, and emotional response. In the classroom, the problem response could be a test, quiz, difficult grading system, difficult project, etc. The Humor response is the detachment resulting from the use of humor and seeing the humor in a difficult situation. The emotional response is a distancing from the problem though the use of humor and results in the natural suppression of negative emotions that would normally arise.
Even psychologists use something called “paradoxical therapy’ on patients who are really “stuck” in their problems. The strategy is to exaggerate the problem (hyperbole) to such an extent that laughter results and the patient can see the humor in their problem. Some experts say that humor even works better than prozac
**Which reminds me of a humorous quote
“In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.”
As we have already seen the fear and anxiety attached to students perceptions of physics; in this light, humor could be a very effective coping mechanism to allay the fears and stresses of physics and other difficult courses (or difficult jobs or relationships).
The social benefits of humor in the classroom have established that humor overall seems to increase teacher ratings with students and also create a better student- teacher relationship (Bryant 1980). Also it was found that teachers who used humor were found to me more approachable by students (this can also apply to employer-employee relationship).
There are two primary reasons to explore the use of humor specifically in a physics classroom. The first has to do with the aforementioned perceived fear and anxiety students have of physics. In light of the evidence presented that humor helps to both physiologically fight stress hormones and psychology help to detach and cope with stress, this alone would warrant further exploration in using humor in a physics class. This is also the primary reason to include it in a testing situation (or ANY high stress situation). Even more interesting is returning to the incongruity theory, the isomorphism in the brain between understanding a joke and solving a problem. The author of this paper introduced this idea earlier in this literature review and now will proceed to further explain this similarity between understanding a joke and problem solving.
** As an aside, this can apply to ALL forms of problem solving, certainly in the classroom, but also in life. Humor can help you see a different perspective and find a solution to ANY problem, whether its in school, finances, relationships, the workplace, etc.
The actual mental process of humor involves the right hemisphere of the brain (Svebak, 1982) and is, surprisingly similar to the process of creativity, (Ziv, 1983) and problem solving (Johnson 1990). Especially of interest to the current study is the connections between understanding a joke and problem solving, because there is evidence to suggest (Berk 2002) that using humor in the classroom is especially significant in problem-based learning (PBL) courses and not as effective in course that involve pure memorization. So it turns out that using humor in education may be justifiable only in (PBL) based courses such as math, physics and engineering. The congruency between problem solving and humor can be seen in two stages (Berk 2002). The first is the “recognition of the incongruity in the humor which resembles identifying the problem.” The second stage is the “resolution or understanding the punch line which is akin to solving the problem.”
Electrophysiological research suggests the second stage mentioned above involves the right hemisphere of the brain. So because humor and problem solving require the same mental process, “one can prime the other” (Berk 2002). Berk concludes that there is sufficient evidence to warrant the use of humor in PBL based courses and courses requiring creative thinking and right brain activity.
That last chapter was fun, but seriously, I have attempted to combine the major KNOWN humor research into a unified theory of humor in four main areas of life.
The quote below nicely summarizes the research on humor on how it have harmonize and unify your life:
“Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keep friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment.”
~Greenville Kleisser
Ponder that for exactly one minute.
Good. So let’s break down humor into the four main areas of life and then put it all together. As I mentioned before, having a basic understanding of why we laugh and the research behind laughter, will hopefully give you a better appreciation of humor, and inspire you to be like a mushroom: A FunGi to be with.
The rest of this chapter is a seriously good introduction to humor and the current research supporting it. This is actually a modified version directly from my Masters Thesis, so I am taking the liberty to plagiarize myself. Basically upon rereading my thesis, all the foundations for using humor in the physics classroom are completely relevant for using humor in the human classroom (aka Life). And remember Life is sexually transmitted so protect yourself with good humor (and those rubber things are a good idea too).
I will conclude the chapter with a succinct summary, so if you are drowsy and currently operating heavy machinery, you may want to skip the end where I give the summary of this research (CODENAME: CLIFFNOTES). To be proper and in alignment with the “stuffy” research community, for a short while I will refer to myself in the third person… but just so you know, it’s still me, but I am speaking from ABOVE myself in my astral body (astral latin for delusional).
TRUE STORY: My thesis advisor at IUP presented my thesis at the Winter Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers in Baltimore, 2008. So this is seriously good research.
The author will first explore three prevalent theories of humor and why people laugh followed by the physiological and psychological benefits derived from humor and laughter. From this it will be seen where humor research had its roots and beginnings and why humor is particularly suitable for enhancing all facets of life from physical, emotional and psychological health to creativity, work, play and even problem solving. To summarize: the use of humor in all areas of life is supported by evidence that humor improves health, reduces anxiety and tension, enhances creativity and problem solving abilities and improves relationships, and even helps you to achieve enlightenment. So lighten up, will you?
The past three decades has seen a dramatic increase in the amount of research on humor and its physiological, psychological and sociological benefits. These benefits provide a foundation for using humor in the classroom of life (on earth) or any extraterrestrial environment. The author will begin by summarizing the historical use of humor and why we laugh followed by an analysis of the published studies of humor and its physiological and health benefits on the body and the psychological and sociological benefits of humor. The research using humor in education is multifaceted and draws upon the aforementioned benefits of humor to create a relaxed, playful, fun environment no matter what that environment may be.
In reviewing the history of humor and why we laugh, this author begins by looking at the etymology of “humor”. It is a word with several meanings but derives from the latin word umor, meaning liquid or fluid. In the Middle Ages, humor referred to an energy that was thought to relate to a bodily fluid and an emotional state. A sanguine humor was cheerful and associated with the blood. There was also the humors of phlegm, choleric and melancholy. In modern dictionaries, humor is defined as “the quality of being laughable and comical” or as “a state of mind, mood and spirit.” Before looking at the benefits of humor, it is helpful to explore why it is we laugh and some historical and recent antidotes related to humor.
There are generally three accepted theories of why we laugh: The “superiority” theory, the Freudian Theory and the Incongruity theory with the latter being perhaps the most accepted.
Plato was the first to advance the “superiority” theory and it is known that he was not a fan of laughter. He felt it was wrong to laugh at the misfortunes of others and commented that laughter involved a loss of control that made one to appear less than human.
So why is it that we laugh when someone slips on a banana and falls, gets a pie thrown in their face or looks silly or stupid in any given situation? Well according to this theory, we laugh because it makes us feel superior to other people. This theory also explains why we laugh at certain jokes that involve certain ethnic groups, occupations, gender, etc. If this were the only reason why we laughed, perhaps Plato would have been correct in his logic. It should be emphasized that this form of humor has NO place in the classroom.
**O.k. I can’t help myself, back to the first person for a minute. This reminded me of a good Freudian Slip Joke:
A patient says: “Doctor, last night I made a Freudian slip, I was having dinner with my mother-in-law and wanted to say: “Could you please pass the butter. ”
But instead I said: “You silly cow, you have completely ruined my life.”
**O.K. Back to Serious Research Mode
Freud’s theory on humor has similar origins to his theories for the psychology and of man, to wit that we all have sexual and aggressive thoughts and society does not allow us to express these ideas in public. As a result they become repressed into our unconsciousness and emerge in dreams, ‘Freudian slips’ and certain forms of psychotherapy.
So to Freud, humor and laughter was a socially acceptable way to release these otherwise unacceptable thoughts and ideas. Thoughts about death, sex, marriage, authority figures, certain bodily functions, or anything that is socially unacceptable to say with a serious tone of voice. To Freud, humor provides a kind of relief, a way to break out of the social norms and restrictions. That is, humor can give one a sense of greater freedom of expression with ideas that are normally not socially proper to express.
Interestingly, Ziv (1983) explored the use of humor in increasing creativity scores. His idea was that humor allowed students to “think outside the box” and play with new ideas that are in alignment with Freud’s ideas. This ability of humor to increase creativity will be explored more later in its pertinence to education.
The last and perhaps most accepted form of humor is the Incongruity theory first proposed by the famous German Philosopher, Immanuel Kant. The idea with this theory is that we laugh at jokes because they surprise us and often seem out of place. For example its funny that clowns have ridiculously large shoes, politicians have long noses and unusual events like animals talking take place.
But there is more to this popular theory of laughter. Raskin (1985) proposed the basic structure of incongruous humor which is also called ‘contrast resolution’. It consists of mainly two parts. An expected content followed by an unexpected twist. The expected content is familiar information that one can relate to. The unexpected content or punch-line, as it is often called, consists of a ridiculous and very unexpected outcome. The following joke illustrates this basic structure:
Two fish in a tank One turns to the other and says: “Do you know how to drive this thing?”
The first sentence is the expected content, in this case two fish swimming in a fish tank. This relates to our everyday world where fish swim in water. The unexpected twist or punch-line reveals the double entendre of the word tank. Once the reader understands this and visualizes two fish actually driving an army tank, this unexpected outcome that is outside of the reality and ordinary life causes one to laugh according to this theory.
The following quote also illustrates this nicely:
“True Humor is a sort of train wreck of the mind. You’re going along one track and there’s a sudden collapse of logic, the cars go off the track, and they pile up and build into laughter”
Laughlab (2002) carried out Magnetic Resonance Imaging of people listening to jokes. They found that there is a very specific part of the brain used to understanding joke is funny. Their research suggests that this area what biologists call the prefrontal cortex.
Also basic structure of humor is very similar problem solving which is why problem solving based courses seem to respond better to humor treatment than classes that involve memorization. ASIDEL It was this important point that really justified my Masters Thesis, which was the exploration of humor in the physics classroom and assessment.
The Author will now discuss the physiological and social-psychology benefits. It is these benefits that truly lay the foundation for all humor research and why humor is so important in enjoying, appreciating and understanding Life. First the physiological and health promoting effects will be looked at which includes significant research in the medical field on the benefits of humor to help prevent and reverse disease. Next the general psychological and social benefits will be presented which then logically leads to a more positive mindset, attitude and spirituality.
The idea that humor and laughter can reduce pain and even reverse disease was made popular in a peer reviewed research paper published in the New England Journal (later to become a best-selling book) by Norman Cousins entitled, Anatomy of an Illness (As Perceived by the Patient). He suffered from a serious collagen disease that resulted in severe inflammation of his spine and degeneration of his joints, tendons and ligaments. Given only a 1 in 500 chance of recovery, Cousins surrounded himself with jokes and humor and was known to watch the “Marx Brothers”, “Candid Camera” reruns and the Three Stooges. He even began a humor treatment program on himself and recounted (p 39) that “10 minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least 2 hours of pain free sleep. When he woke up with pain again, he would continue his “humor treatment” until the pain was gone and could again sleep some more. He continued this “humor treatment” until after a few weeks his pain was almost completely gone and his doctors found that his connective tissue was regenerating. Soon after he went back to work full-time and experienced a full recovery within a couple years (Cousins also took mega doses of vitamin C but attributes his recovery mainly to humor).
**Norman Cousins famously chronicled the effects of his self-prescribed "laughing cure" in his book Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient (W.W. Norton, 1979, 2001, 2005). Cousins, who suffered from inflammatory arthritis, claimed that 10 minutes of hearty guffawing while watching Marx Brothers movies brought him two hours of pain-freesleep—and that both inflammation and pain were significantly reduced. Research since then has shown that laughter reduces levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine, and dopamine; increases health-enhancing hormones (such as endorphins), neurotransmitters, and infection-fighting antibodies; and improves blood flow to the heart—all resulting in greater relaxation and resistance to disease, as well as improved mood and positive outlook.
Cousins’ (1979) book and research spurred attention and subsequent research in the medical community. Besides pain relief, other physiological benefits of humor that have been researched include (but not limited to) improved respiration and oxygen uptake (Fry 1994), benefits to circulation similar to aerobic exercise (Fry 1994), increase in immunity, decrease in stress hormones such as cortical and perhaps most important to this author’s research is the research on humor showing improvement in mental functioning. Though a decrease in stress hormones is also important and we will further explore this when we get to the psychological benefits.
The relationship between creativity and problem solving has already been briefly mentioned. The importance of the linkage between humor and right brain hemisphere activity such as spatial reasoning and recognition is grounds for justification for its use in problem solving based learning activities (more later in this paper).
However, there is actual direct physiological evidence that has found that laughter increases catecholamine levels in the body, which actually improves overall mental functioning (Fry, 1984). This neurotransmitter is needed for alertness and memory.
Also, O’Keefe and Teresi (1986) documented the work of
Dr. James McGaugh who says, "Arousal [through laughter] causes all these chemical cocktails-morepinephine, adrenaline, enkephalin, vasopressin, ACTH to spritz out.
We think these chemicals are memory fixatives...they signal the brain, this is important, keep this!" Also established was the role of the hippocampus in emotions and learning and suggesting that “positive emotions allow the brain to better manufacture cognitive maps”.
Paul MacLean (1978) further supports that our hormones, feelings, and emotions affect our learning.
According to the research of McNamara and Skelton (1993), there is specific neurochemical basis for learning and memory. Finally, Stanford researcher, Badura (1986) notes that there is a biochemical difference in the body when a person is confident and optimistic. The presenter's job is to assist students in deliberately releasing those chemicals through emotional release, physical movement and positive attitude. In other words, the teacher's job is not to teach, but to provide an environment that is conducive to learning.
Bottom Line: Laughter makes you healthier, more fit, and smarter from a purely physiological point of view. Now that’s powerful stuff!
Think about that for a minute. This aforementioned research is not about subjective experiences or humorous dogma, but ACTUAL physiological responses that can be measured, tested and proven. And we are talking about research being done at STANFORD, JOHNS HOPKINS and other reputable learning institutions!
This brings us now to the sociological and especially psychological benefits of humor. There is much overlap between the psychological benefits of humor and the brain chemistry benefits as the two are unavoidably connected.
This next section will deal less with brain chemistry and more with pure psychology and sociology.
Kline (1907) summarized the psychological benefit of humor:
To detach us from the world of good and evil, of loss and gain, and enable us to see it in proper perspective. It frees us from vanity on the one hand and from pessimism on the other by keeping us larger than what we do and greater than what can happen to us (p 438).
That is, humor helps to raise us above our current problems and circumstances and offers a new perspective that might not have been seen.
The best example is a story that was rumored to happen at a past United Nations summit during the Cubin Missile crisis. Even if the story is not true, it still illustrates the authors point. As the tension of the summit was mounting and the threat of war was very high, a Russian delegate with a smile says, “In capitalism, man exploits man; in Communism it is the other way around”. This joke had a magical effect of breaking through the tension and opening communication. That is, it helped all the delegates for just a moment detach from the problem and see it from another perspective.
The function of humor as a coping mechanism to stress is well supported by some of the most well respected and famous psychologists of our time. Freud himself said that humor is “the highest of [the] defensive processes (Freud, 1959, p 216).
To continue this point further, the author will use the classroom (specifically the physics classroom) as an example, but if you are not a teacher or student, this could be the workplace, courtroom, difficult people and relationships, the bedroom or any setting or situation in life that is stressful or makes you anxious.
Berk (2002 pg 41,42) outlines the psychological process of humor as one of problem stimulus, humor response, and emotional response. In the classroom, the problem response could be a test, quiz, difficult grading system, difficult project, etc. The Humor response is the detachment resulting from the use of humor and seeing the humor in a difficult situation. The emotional response is a distancing from the problem though the use of humor and results in the natural suppression of negative emotions that would normally arise.
Even psychologists use something called “paradoxical therapy’ on patients who are really “stuck” in their problems. The strategy is to exaggerate the problem (hyperbole) to such an extent that laughter results and the patient can see the humor in their problem. Some experts say that humor even works better than prozac
**Which reminds me of a humorous quote
“In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.”
As we have already seen the fear and anxiety attached to students perceptions of physics; in this light, humor could be a very effective coping mechanism to allay the fears and stresses of physics and other difficult courses (or difficult jobs or relationships).
The social benefits of humor in the classroom have established that humor overall seems to increase teacher ratings with students and also create a better student- teacher relationship (Bryant 1980). Also it was found that teachers who used humor were found to me more approachable by students (this can also apply to employer-employee relationship).
There are two primary reasons to explore the use of humor specifically in a physics classroom. The first has to do with the aforementioned perceived fear and anxiety students have of physics. In light of the evidence presented that humor helps to both physiologically fight stress hormones and psychology help to detach and cope with stress, this alone would warrant further exploration in using humor in a physics class. This is also the primary reason to include it in a testing situation (or ANY high stress situation). Even more interesting is returning to the incongruity theory, the isomorphism in the brain between understanding a joke and solving a problem. The author of this paper introduced this idea earlier in this literature review and now will proceed to further explain this similarity between understanding a joke and problem solving.
** As an aside, this can apply to ALL forms of problem solving, certainly in the classroom, but also in life. Humor can help you see a different perspective and find a solution to ANY problem, whether its in school, finances, relationships, the workplace, etc.
The actual mental process of humor involves the right hemisphere of the brain (Svebak, 1982) and is, surprisingly similar to the process of creativity, (Ziv, 1983) and problem solving (Johnson 1990). Especially of interest to the current study is the connections between understanding a joke and problem solving, because there is evidence to suggest (Berk 2002) that using humor in the classroom is especially significant in problem-based learning (PBL) courses and not as effective in course that involve pure memorization. So it turns out that using humor in education may be justifiable only in (PBL) based courses such as math, physics and engineering. The congruency between problem solving and humor can be seen in two stages (Berk 2002). The first is the “recognition of the incongruity in the humor which resembles identifying the problem.” The second stage is the “resolution or understanding the punch line which is akin to solving the problem.”
Electrophysiological research suggests the second stage mentioned above involves the right hemisphere of the brain. So because humor and problem solving require the same mental process, “one can prime the other” (Berk 2002). Berk concludes that there is sufficient evidence to warrant the use of humor in PBL based courses and courses requiring creative thinking and right brain activity.
Laughter really is the best medicine - Extra health research
Research conclusively shows that laughter is good for our health.
One of the most important parts of the body's defenses against disease and illness is the immune system. Experiments suggest that people who laugh more, and are able to look at the funnier side of life, have a healthier immune system than others.
-Berk L.S., Tan, S.A., Berk, D.B., & Eby, W.C. (1991). Immune system changes associated with laughing, Clinical Research, 39, 124 A.
A good laugh also increases our heart rate, helps us breathe more deeply, and stretches many different muscles in our face and upper body. In fact it's like a mini workout - a quick visit to the giggle gym. And the effects are far from trivial. One researcher estimated that a good laugh produces an increase in heart rate that is equivalent to 10 minutes on a rowing machine or 15 minutes on an exercise bike.
- Fry, W.F., & Rader, C. (1977). "The respiratory components of mirthful laughter." The Journal of Biological Psychology, 19, 39-50.
Other researchers have found that people who suffer from heart disease are 40% less likely to laugh or see the funny side of life. As Dr Michael Miller, director of the Centre for Preventative Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Centre in Baltimore, said: "We know that exercising, not smoking and eating foods low in saturated fat will reduce heart disease. Perhaps regular laughter should be added to the list."
So when it comes to our health the consequences of not laughing could be deadly serious.
The idea that humor and laughter can reduce pain and even reverse disease was made popular in a peer reviewed research paper published in the New England Journal (later to become a best-selling book) by Norman Cousins entitled, Anatomy of an Illness (As Perceived by the Patient). He suffered from a serious collagen disease that resulted in severe inflammation of his spine and degeneration of his joints, tendons and ligaments. Given only a 1 in 500 chance of recovery, Cousins surrounded himself with jokes and humor and was known to watch the “Marx Brothers”, “Candid Camera” reruns and the Three Stooges. He even began a humor treatment program on himself and recounted (p 39) that “10 minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least 2 hours of pain free sleep. When he woke up with pain again, he would continue his “humor treatment” until the pain was gone and could again sleep some more. He continued this “humor treatment” until after a few weeks his pain was almost completely gone and his doctors found that his connective tissue was regenerating. Soon after he went back to work full-time and experienced a full recovery within a couple years (Cousins also took mega doses of vitamin C but attributes his recovery mainly to humor).
Cousins’ (1979) book and research spurred attention and subsequent research in the medical community. Besides pain relief, other physiological benefits of humor that have been researched include (but not limited to) improved respiration and oxygen uptake (Fry 1994), benefits to circulation similar to aerobic exercise (Fry 1994), increase in immunity, decrease in stress hormones such as cortical and perhaps most important to this author’s research is the research on humor showing improvement in mental functioning. Though a decrease in stress hormones is also important and we will further explore this when we get to the psychological benefits.
-Cousins, N. (1976). Anatomy of an illness (as perceived by the patient). New England Journal of Medicine, 295, 1458-1463.
-Cousins, N. (1979). Anatomy of an illness as perceived by the patient. New York: W.W. Norton.
- Fry, W.F. Jr., (1994). The Biology of Humor. HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research, 7, 111-126.
His experiences have now been supported by years of medical research.
For example:
NEED More Research?
Research with Rheumatoid arthritis sufferers has show that laughter helps to relieve for the intensity of pain, and the degree to which the patients find such pain bothersome.
-Funes, M. (2000). Laughing Matters: Live Creatively with Laughter. Dublin: Newleaf.
And a survey of dentists revealed that patients who laughed more in their lives experienced less pain during dental surgery than less humorous patients.
-Trice, A.D. & Price-Greathouse, J. (1986). "Joking under the drill: A validity study of the coping humour scale." Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality, 1, 265-266.
But why should laughter reduce pain? One theory concerns the link between laughter and biochemistry. Endorphins are a special chemical produced by our bodies to help reduce the effects of pain and handle stress. Some researchers believe that laughter produces endorphins which in turn helps to remove pain.
One of the most important parts of the body's defenses against disease and illness is the immune system. Experiments suggest that people who laugh more, and are able to look at the funnier side of life, have a healthier immune system than others.
-Berk L.S., Tan, S.A., Berk, D.B., & Eby, W.C. (1991). Immune system changes associated with laughing, Clinical Research, 39, 124 A.
A good laugh also increases our heart rate, helps us breathe more deeply, and stretches many different muscles in our face and upper body. In fact it's like a mini workout - a quick visit to the giggle gym. And the effects are far from trivial. One researcher estimated that a good laugh produces an increase in heart rate that is equivalent to 10 minutes on a rowing machine or 15 minutes on an exercise bike.
- Fry, W.F., & Rader, C. (1977). "The respiratory components of mirthful laughter." The Journal of Biological Psychology, 19, 39-50.
Other researchers have found that people who suffer from heart disease are 40% less likely to laugh or see the funny side of life. As Dr Michael Miller, director of the Centre for Preventative Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Centre in Baltimore, said: "We know that exercising, not smoking and eating foods low in saturated fat will reduce heart disease. Perhaps regular laughter should be added to the list."
So when it comes to our health the consequences of not laughing could be deadly serious.
The idea that humor and laughter can reduce pain and even reverse disease was made popular in a peer reviewed research paper published in the New England Journal (later to become a best-selling book) by Norman Cousins entitled, Anatomy of an Illness (As Perceived by the Patient). He suffered from a serious collagen disease that resulted in severe inflammation of his spine and degeneration of his joints, tendons and ligaments. Given only a 1 in 500 chance of recovery, Cousins surrounded himself with jokes and humor and was known to watch the “Marx Brothers”, “Candid Camera” reruns and the Three Stooges. He even began a humor treatment program on himself and recounted (p 39) that “10 minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least 2 hours of pain free sleep. When he woke up with pain again, he would continue his “humor treatment” until the pain was gone and could again sleep some more. He continued this “humor treatment” until after a few weeks his pain was almost completely gone and his doctors found that his connective tissue was regenerating. Soon after he went back to work full-time and experienced a full recovery within a couple years (Cousins also took mega doses of vitamin C but attributes his recovery mainly to humor).
Cousins’ (1979) book and research spurred attention and subsequent research in the medical community. Besides pain relief, other physiological benefits of humor that have been researched include (but not limited to) improved respiration and oxygen uptake (Fry 1994), benefits to circulation similar to aerobic exercise (Fry 1994), increase in immunity, decrease in stress hormones such as cortical and perhaps most important to this author’s research is the research on humor showing improvement in mental functioning. Though a decrease in stress hormones is also important and we will further explore this when we get to the psychological benefits.
-Cousins, N. (1976). Anatomy of an illness (as perceived by the patient). New England Journal of Medicine, 295, 1458-1463.
-Cousins, N. (1979). Anatomy of an illness as perceived by the patient. New York: W.W. Norton.
- Fry, W.F. Jr., (1994). The Biology of Humor. HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research, 7, 111-126.
His experiences have now been supported by years of medical research.
For example:
NEED More Research?
Research with Rheumatoid arthritis sufferers has show that laughter helps to relieve for the intensity of pain, and the degree to which the patients find such pain bothersome.
-Funes, M. (2000). Laughing Matters: Live Creatively with Laughter. Dublin: Newleaf.
And a survey of dentists revealed that patients who laughed more in their lives experienced less pain during dental surgery than less humorous patients.
-Trice, A.D. & Price-Greathouse, J. (1986). "Joking under the drill: A validity study of the coping humour scale." Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality, 1, 265-266.
But why should laughter reduce pain? One theory concerns the link between laughter and biochemistry. Endorphins are a special chemical produced by our bodies to help reduce the effects of pain and handle stress. Some researchers believe that laughter produces endorphins which in turn helps to remove pain.
