Laughter in young children. | Zendy

Mary K. Rothbart | Zendy

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Laughter in young children.

Author(s) -

Mary K. Rothbart

Publication year - 1973

Publication title -

psychological bulletin

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 10.737

H-Index - 313

eISSN - 1939-1455

pISSN - 0033-2909

DOI - 10.1037/h0034846

Subject(s) - laughter , psychology , developmental psychology , social psychology

Research studies of laughter in children are reviewed, and a model describing eliciting conditions for laughter and related behavior is described. Following Spencer (1860), Berlyne (I960), and others, it is proposed that laughter occurs after conditions of heightened tension or arousal when at the same time there is a judgment that the situation is safe or inconsequential. The special case of laughter to discrepant or incongruous stimulation is described in detail, and it is suggested that laughter serves the function of signaling to a caretaker that a given stimulus is within the child's tolerable limits of arousal.

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