Stimulus Characteristics Affect Humor Processing in Individuals with Asperger Syndrome

Samson, Andrea Christiane; Hegenloh, Michael

doi:10.1007/s10803-009-0885-2

Scientific article

English

Stimulus Characteristics Affect Humor Processing in Individuals with Asperger Syndrome

Contributors

Samson, Andrea Christiane; Hegenloh, Michael

Published in

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, vol. 40, no. 4, p. 438-447

Publication date

2010

Abstract

The present paper aims to investigate whether individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS) show global humor processing deficits or whether humor comprehension and appreciation depends on stimulus characteristics. Non-verbal visual puns, semantic and Theory of Mind cartoons were rated on comprehension, funniness and the punchlines were explained. AS individuals did not differ to the control group in humor appreciation of visual puns. However, they had difficulty understanding and appreciating Theory of Mind cartoons and provided mentalistic explanations less frequently than controls suggesting that humor processing is strongly related to the cognitive requirements that the stimuli pose on the perceiver. Furthermore, AS individuals referred in all conditions more frequently to non-joke relevant details. Therefore, humor processing is also influenced by their detail-oriented processing style.

Keywords

Asperger syndrome
Humor Theory of mind
Cartoons
Empathizing
Local–global processing

UNIGE affiliation entities

Centres et instituts / Centre interfacultaire en sciences affectives

UNIGE research groups

Affective sciences

Citation (ISO format)

SAMSON, Andrea Christiane, HEGENLOH, Michael. Stimulus Characteristics Affect Humor Processing in Individuals with Asperger Syndrome. In: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2010, vol. 40, n° 4, p. 438–447. doi: 10.1007/s10803-009-0885-2

Article (Published version)

Identifiers

PID : unige:98063
DOI : 10.1007/s10803-009-0885-2

Journal ISSN

0162-3257

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Creation

15/09/2017 15:54:00

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15/09/2017 15:54:00

Update

15/03/2023 02:11:47

Status update

15/03/2023 02:11:47

Last indexation

31/10/2024 08:15:24

Stimulus Characteristics Affect Humor Processing in Individuals with Asperger Syndrome

Contributors

Published in

Publication date

Abstract

Keywords

UNIGE affiliation entities

UNIGE research groups

Citation (ISO format)

Main files (1)

Identifiers

Journal ISSN

Technical informations

Creation

First validation

Update

Status update

Last indexation