Story
These quotes are listed alphabetically by author and then date published. They are included here because, in my opinion, they can spark important reflection. Click on a quote image for further discussion.
Alex Gillespie Enrico Gnaulati Temple Grandin Stanley I. Greenspan Paul E. McGhee Barry M. Prizant
Stuart G. Shanker Steve Silberman
PAUL E. MCGHEE - Continued...
”The reduced perceptual centeredness characteristic of the transition to concrete operational thinking has a tremendous influence on a child's thinking, in that it allows the child to consider relationships between events rather than simply focusing on the end states or outcomes of events.”
McGhee, Paul E. (1979) Humor. W. H. Freeman and Company: San Francisco, California. p. 78.
”The young child's egocentrism makes it impossible to take another person's point of view, and this has a major effect on reactions to humor. In short, younger children seem to be more cruel in their humor because they laugh directly at another person's limp, unusually shaped nose, distorted speech, and so forth. It simply does not occur to them that they might be hurting the feelings of people in such conditions.”
McGhee, Paul E. (1979) Humor. W. H. Freeman and Company: San Francisco, California. p. 78.
”But humor is not restricted to the world of fantasy. Chilfdren begin to experience humor in connection with unusual or incongruous events in the real world as early as age two or three. For example, they may laugh at a person with a very large or unusually shaped nose, at "making a face," at unusual vocal sounds, or at inappropriate or otherwise incongruous actions. Fantasy may contribute to the funniness of these events, but it is not necessary for the events to be perceived as humorous, as is the case for occurrences known to be impossible.”
McGhee, Paul E. (1979) Humor. W. H. Freeman and Company: San Francisco, California. pp. 82-83.
”Because of the strong perceptual orientation in a child's thinking, this early humor based on real incongruities always depends on the appearance or sound of objects and events. When children say that something looks funny or silly, they are acknowledging that it is very different from what one usually sees.”
McGhee, Paul E. (1979) Humor. W. H. Freeman and Company: San Francisco, California. p. 83.
”As in earlier forms of humor in real incongruities, the humor of irony results from the fact that something that really should not occur (although its occurrence is possible) has happened. The humor of irony is usually further fueled by related embarrassments or awkward situations accompanying the unexpected reversal of events.”
McGhee, Paul E. (1979) Humor. W. H. Freeman and Company: San Francisco, California. p. 83.
”In everyday human affairs, humor often serves as a social"lubricant." It is used to ease social tensions, to indicate friendly intent, and to strengthen social bonds. For an animal with highly developed social relationships, these are most important accomplishments.”
McGhee, Paul E. (1979) Humor. W. H. Freeman and Company: San Francisco, California. p. 103.
