Development of the Appreciation of Riddles

Abstract

SHULTZ, THOMAS R. Development of the Appreciation of Riddles. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1974, 45, 100-105. A study of the development of children's appreciation of riddles was conducted within the framework of the incongruity and resolution theory of humor. Children of 6, 8, 10, and 12 years of age were presented with a series of original, resolution-removed, and incongruity-removed riddles of various resolution types. Measures of the child's appreciation and comprehension of each riddle were obtained. As in previous research with jokes, the results indicated that children of 8 years and older appreciated the resolvable nature of incongruities, while 6-year-olds did not. This was considered as evidence for a developmental theory of humor which postulates an early stage characterized by the appreciation of pure incongruity and a later stage characterized by a differential preference for resolvable incongruity. The results also revealed certain differences between the appreciation of jokes and riddles which were interpreted in terms of the problem-solving nature of riddles.