The Comprehension of Humorous Materials by Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism and Aspergers Syndrome

David M. Emerich, Nancy A. Creaghead, Sandra M. Grether, Donna Murray and Carol Grasha, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Volume 33, No.3, June 2003.

This study investigated the ability of adolescents with Asperger's Syndrome or high-functioning autism and an age-matched group of typical adolescents to comprehend humorous materials. The analysis of humour focused on picking funny endings for cartoons and jokes. As expected, the adolescents with autism had significantly poorer comprehension of cartoons and jokes. Both groups had more difficulty with the joke than the cartoon task, but when compared with the typical group, the adolescents with autism performed significantly poorer. Examination of the error patterns revealed that subjects with autism had difficulty handling surprise and coherence within humorous narratives.

Why are complex forms of humour challenging for individuals with autism? Most research has emphasized that individuals with autism have an impairment of coherence, including difficulties in integrating content across narratives and discourse (Ozonoff & Miller, 1996). This explains some of the responses of individuals with autism when asked to pick humorous endings to jokes. Non sequitur endings or incorrect endings that are unrelated to the content of the joke were preferred by adults with high-functioning autism (Ozonoff & Miller, 1996). In particular, individuals with autism seem to enjoy slapstick comedy (Ricks & Wing, 1975) and often incorrectly choose humorous non sequitur endings (Ozonoff & Miller, 1996). However, Ozonoff and Miller (1996) also discovered that subjects with autism picked straightforward endings that did not make a joke humorous. This implies that adults with high-functioning autism may not achieve a feeling of surprise if and when they understand the punch line. If they do achieve a feeling of surprise, it may not be converted to one of humour. Previous research on adults with high-functioning autism has indicated that some impairment exists in their use and comprehension of humour. The goal of this study was to investigate the ability of adolescents with Asperger's Syndrome or high-functioning autism and age-matched typical adolescents to comprehend humorous materials. This research focused on the ability to pick humorous endings to jokes and cartoons.