Abstract
Riddles were collected from 156 boys and girls from Years 1 to 6 (six- to twelve-year-olds) of a large, middle-class school. The riddles were scored on nine measures of structural complexity based on the presence of incongruity or linguistic devices in the question and answer of the riddle. The number of riddles increased from Year 1 to Year 5 and then declined slightly in Year 6. Grade differences were found for five of the nine complexity measures, and girls tended to tell riddles with greater total complexity than boys. Production data are compared with the preference data from other studies, and grade changes in riddle structure and content are discussed in terms of a search for novelty which finally leads to the more flexible structure of the joke.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berlyne, D.E. (1960). Conflict, Arousal and Curiosity. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Bowes, J. (1979). Children’s Language Play: Developmental Change in Riddles and Riddle-telling. Unpublished doctoral thesis, Macquarie University.
Chapman, A.J., Smith, J.R. & Foot, H.C. (1980). Humour, laughter and social interaction. In P.E. McGhee & A.J. Chapman (eds.), Children’s Humour. Chichester: John Wiley.
Foot, H.C. & Chapman, A.J. (1976). The social responsiveness of young children in humorous situations. In A.J. Chapman & H.C. Foot (eds.), Humour and Laughter: Theory, Research and Applications. London: Wiley.
Freud, S. (1916). Wit and its Relation to the Unconscious. New York: Moffat Ward.
Ginsburg, H. & Koslowski, B. (1976). Cognitive development. Annual Review of Psychology, 27, 29–61.
Godkewitsch, M. (1976). Thematic and collative properties of written jokes and their contribution to funniness. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 8, 88–97.
Holliday, J. (1978). Children’s riddles: Appreciation and recall. Psychological Reports, 43, 442.
Johnson, R. (1975). The semantic structure of the joke and riddle: theoretical positioning. Semiotica, 14, 142–174.
McGhee, P.E. (1974). Development of children’s ability to create the joking relationship. Child Development, 45, 552–556.
McGhee, P.E. (1979). Humor: Its Origin and Development. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman.
Prentice, N.M. & Fathman, R.E. (1975). Joking riddles: A developmental index of children’s humor. Developmental Psychology, 11, 210–216.
Rothbart, M.K. & Pien, D. (1977). Elephants and marshmallows: A theoretical synthesis of incongruity-resolution and arousal theories of humour. In A.J. Chapman & H.E. Foot (eds.), It’s a Funny Thing, Humour. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Shultz, T.R. (1974). Development of the appreciation of riddles. Child Development, 45, 100–105.
Shultz, T.R. & Pilon, R. (1973). Development of the ability to detect linguistic ambiguity. Child Development, 44, 728–733.
Sutton-Smith, B. (1976). A developmental structural account of riddles. In B. Kirschenblatt-Gimblett (ed.), Speech Play: Research and Resources for Studying Linguistic Creativity. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Whitt, J.K. & Prentice, N.M. (1977). Cognitive processes in the development of children’s enjoyment and comprehension of joking riddles. Developmental Psychology, 13, 129–136.
Wolfenstein, M. (1954). Children’s Humor. Glencoe, Illinois: Free Press.
Yalisove, D. (1978). The effect of riddle structure on children’s comprehension of riddles. Developmental Psychology, 14, 173–180.
Zigler, E., Levine, J. & Gould, L. (1967). Cognitive challenge as a factor in children’s humor appreciation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 6, 332–336.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bowes, J. Developmental changes in the structural complexity of children’s riddles. Current Psychological Research 1, 129–137 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02684485
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02684485