query

[Carolyn B. Mervis, Ph. D.]

Hi Mike,

Kathy Johnson and I published a paper on this topic, based on my diary study
of my son Ari's early lexical development.  The citation for the paper is:
Johnson, K. E., & Mervis, C. B. (1997).  First steps in the emergence of
verbal humor: A case study. Infant Behavior and Development, 20, 187-196.
We identified 25 instances of what we called "incongruous label"
jokes-similar to the giraffe-elephant example in your email.  Ari's first
joke of this type was produced at age 15 months; beginning at 18 months,
this type of joke became common for him.  He also generated 45 instances of
what we called "incongruous attribute" jokes.  The first joke of this type
also was produced at age 15 months and became especially common beginning at
age 22 months.  The two most common subtypes of this kind of joke involved
Ari indicating that an animal made an incongruous sound or that non-human
animals were capable of behaviors of which they were actually incapable.  We
also report 14 instances of word play, involving either production of
nonsense words or incongruities pertaining to violations of phonological or
morphological rules.  The first instance of this type of joke was at age 22
months.  If you would like me to send you a copy of the paper, please let me
know.

-Carolyn

Carolyn B. Mervis, Ph.D.
Distinguished University Scholar and Professor
Dept. of Psychological and Brain Sciences
317 Life Sciences Building
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY 40292

(502) 852-5946 (voice)
(502) 852-8904 (fax)

-----Original Message-----
From: info-childes at mail.talkbank.org
[mailto:info-childes at mail.talkbank.org]On Behalf Of Michael Tomasello
Sent: Monday, September 02, 2002 6:07 PM
To: info-childes at mail.talkbank.org
Subject: query

Can anyone direct me to studies or reports of young children - the
younger the better (2 years?) - playing with words or other linguistic
structures "knowingly" in either comprehsnion or production.  I am
thinking of very simple things like participating with an adult in
calling a giraffe an elephant (or some other such silliness) and then
laughing about it together.

Thanks in advance.

Mike Tomasello