Abstract:

Following up on a presentation at ICERI 2016, I wish to apply the results of my exploration of the psychology of humor to various disciplines. The presentation will begin with a brief overview of the three main theories of humor. Briefly, these are the theories of anxiety reduction, superiority, and incongruity. These three theories will be discussed along with examples from comedic material, including one situation comedy and two stand-up comedy routines. We will focus on exactly why we find these examples funny, and how the strategies used by the writers can be used by professors and teachers.

The next part of the presentation will describe some of the parameters that educators should use when attempting to use humor in their teaching. I will then demonstrate how these theories can be used to teach a research class in Psychology. The audience will then be engaged in reflection, and asked to apply the learning to their own fields. The presentation will conclude with some examples of humor that anyone can implement into their courses.

Keywords:

Teaching, psychology, humor.