The Effects of Laughter on Attention

The Effects of Laughter on Attention

Laughter is a cardinal part of human behavior: it is rooted within personality, functions within social dynamics, and is mediated through a species physiological form. Numerous studies have depicted the benefits of laughter (Martin, 2002; Kimata, 2007), but none have thoroughly analyzed its role within cognition. Cognition is required to incite laughter in the instances where humor appreciation must be delineated. Accordingly, in instances where a cognitive task occurs concurrently with humorous stimuli, there is potentially a competition for attentional resources, thereby reducing cognitive abilities during humor processing. The primary goal of the current proposal is to utilize brain electroencephalographic (EEG) event related potentials (ERPs) in order to measure cognitive processing during concomitant humorous exposure or non humorous exposure. Here, we hypothesize that the P300 ERP measure will have a smaller amplitude and longer latency in participants in the humorous stimuli condition compared to participants in the non-humorous condition. The outcomes of this study will provide insight into the physiological aspects of human laughter and the processing capabilities of humans during humorous experiences.