Reading Exercise: Exploring the significance of humor in psychological studies

Theories focused on the evolution of laughter highlight its importance as an adaptation for social communication. For instance, consider the recorded laughter in television comedy shows. In the 1950s, US sound engineer Charley Douglass disliked dealing with unpredictable live audience laughter, so he began recording his own 'laugh tracks'. These tracks aimed to help viewers at home feel part of a social setting, such as a crowded theater. Douglass recorded various types of laughter, including mixtures from men, women, and children, which researchers now find intriguing: a simple 'haha' conveys significant socially relevant information.

In a 2016 study, laughter samples from pairs of English-speaking students at the University of California, Santa Cruz were recorded. A team comprising more than 30 psychological scientists, anthropologists, and biologists played these recordings to listeners from 24 diverse societies, ranging from indigenous tribes in New Guinea to urban populations in India and Europe. Participants were asked to determine whether the laughing individuals were friends or strangers. On average, results were remarkably consistent globally, with people correctly identifying relationships about 60% of the time.

Researchers also discovered that different types of laughter act as codes within complex human social hierarchies. A team led by Christopher Oveis from the University of California, San Diego found that high-status individuals exhibit distinct laughs compared to low-status individuals. Strangers' judgments of an individual's social status were influenced by the dominant or submissive nature of their laughter. In their study, 48 male college students were randomly divided into groups of four, each group comprising two low-status members, recent additions to a fraternity, and two high-status members, older students who took turns teasing others with mildly insulting nicknames. Analysis revealed as expected: high-status individuals produced more dominant laughter and less submissive laughter relative to low-status individuals. Conversely, low-status individuals were more likely to alter their laughter depending on their position of power; new recruits exhibited more dominant laughter when they held the 'powerful' role as teasers. Dominant laughter was characterized by higher pitch, louder volume, and greater tonal variability compared to submissive laughter.

A random group of volunteers then listened to an equal number of dominant and submissive laughs from both high- and low-status individuals, and were asked to estimate the social status conveyed by the laughter. Consistent with expectations, individuals emitting dominant laughs were perceived as significantly higher in status compared to those emitting submissive laughs. 'This was particularly evident among low-status individuals, who were judged to be significantly higher in status when expressing dominant rather than submissive laughter,' Oveis and colleagues observe. 'Thus, by strategically displaying more dominant laughter when appropriate, low-status individuals may enhance their perceived status.' However, high-status individuals were consistently perceived as high-status regardless of whether they naturally expressed dominant laughter or attempted to simulate submissive laughter.

Another study, conducted by David Cheng and Lu Wang of Australian National University, was based on the hypothesis that humour might provide a respite from tedious situations in the workplace. This ‘mental break’ might facilitate the replenishment of mental resources. To test this theory, the researchers recruited 74 business students, ostensibly for an experiment on perception. First, the students performed a tedious task in which they had to cross out every instance of the letter ‘e’ over two pages of text. The students then were randomly assigned to watch a video clip eliciting either humour, contentment, or neutral feelings. Some watched a clip of the BBC comedy Mr. Bean, others a relaxing scene with dolphins swimming in the ocean, and others a factual video about the management profession.

The students then completed a task requiring persistence in which they were asked to guess the potential performance of employees based on provided profiles, and were told that making 10 correct assessments in a row would lead to a win. However, the software was programmed such that is was nearly impossible to achieve 10 consecutive correct answers. Participants were allowed to quit the task at any point. Students who had watched the Mr. Bean video ended up spending significantly more time working on the task, making twice as many predictions as the other two groups.

Cheng and Wang replicated these findings in a subsequent study, where participants were tasked with solving long multiplication problems by hand. Once again, participants who watched the humorous video spent significantly more time engaged in this arduous task and achieved more correct answers than students in either control group.

'While humor is known to alleviate stress and foster social bonds, traditional views on task performance suggest individuals should avoid distractions like humor that could detract from achieving task objectives,' Cheng and Wang conclude. 'We propose that humor not only brings enjoyment but also serves as a source of energy.'

Questions 27-31

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write the correct letter in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.

27   When referring to laughter in the first paragraphs, the writer emphasises

A   its impact on language.

B   its function in human culture.

C   its value to scientific research.

D   its universality in animal societies.

28   What does the writer suggest about Charley Douglass?

A   He understood the importance of enjoying humour in a group setting.

B   He believed that TV viewers at home needed to be told when to laugh.

C   He wanted his shows to appeal to audiences across the social spectrum.

D   He preferred shows where audiences were present in the recording studio.

29   What makes the Santa Cruz study particularly significant?

A   the various different types of laughter that were studied

B   the similar results produced by a wide range of cultures

C   the number of different academic disciplines involved

D   the many kinds of people whose laughter was recorded

30   Which of the following happened in the San Diego study?

A   Some participants became very upset.

B   Participants exchanged roles.

C   Participants who had not met before became friends.

D   Some participants were unable to laugh.

31   In the fifth paragraph, what did the results of the San Diego study suggest?

A   It is clear whether a dominant laugh is produced by a high- or low-status person.

B   Low-status individuals in a position of power will still produce submissive laughs.

C   The submissive laughs of low- and high-status individuals are surprisingly similar.

D   High-status individuals can always be identified by their way of laughing.

Questions 32-36

Complete the summary using the list of words, A-H, below.

Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 32-36 on your answer sheet.

The advantages of humor

In one study at Australian National University, randomly chosen groups of participants were shown one of three videos, each designed to generate a different kind of 32………………….. . When all participants were then given a deliberately frustrating task to do, it was found that those who had watched the 33…………………….. video persisted with the task for longer and tried harder to accomplish the task than either of the other two groups.

A second study in which participants were asked to perform a particularly 34……………………… task produced similar results. According to researchers David Cheng and Lu Wang, these findings suggest that humour not only reduces 35…………………… and helps build social connections but it may also have a 36……………………. Effect on the body and mind.

A laughter               B relaxing                C boring

D anxiety                 E     stimulating           F emotion

G enjoyment           H amusing

Questions 37-40

Do the following statements correspond with the information provided in Reading Passage 3?

In boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE           if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer

FALSE          if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer

NOT GIVEN    if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

37   Participants in the Santa Cruz study were more accurate at identifying the laughs of friends than those of strangers.

38   The researchers in the San Diego study were correct in their predictions regarding the behaviour of the high-status individuals.

39   The participants in the Australian National University study were given a fixed amount of time to complete the task focusing on employee profiles.

40   Cheng and Wang’s conclusions were in line with established notions regarding task performance.

Answers:

27. C (Đoạn 1, “Like other human emotions and expressions, laughter and humour psychological scientists with rich resources for studying human psychology, ranging from the development of language to the neuroscience of social perception.” → giá trị của nó đối với việc nghiên cứu khoa học).

28. A (Đoạn 2, “Back in 1950, US sound engineer Charley Douglass hated dealing with the unpredictable laughter of live audiences, so started recording his own ‘laugh tracks’” → Douglass hiểu được tầm quan trọng của việc thích thú sự hài hước trong một nhóm người.)

29. B (Đoạn 3, “then played these recording to listeners from 24 diverse societies, from indigenous tribes in New Guinea to city-dwellers in India and Europe.” → Những nền văn hoá khác nhau cho kết quả khá tương đồng.)

30. B (Đoạn 4, “who had just joined their college fraternity group, and two high-status members, older student took a turn at being teased by the others, involving the use of mildly insulting nicknames.” → Những người tham gia thay phiên đổi vị trí cho nhau.)

31. D (Đoạn 5, “Thus, by strategically displaying more dominant laughter when the context allows, low-status individuals may achieve higher status in the eyes of others.’ However, high-status individuals were rated as high-status whether they produced their natural dominant laugh or tried to do a submissive one.” → Xác định địa vị xã hội qua cách cười.)

32. F – emotion (Đoạn 6, “The students then were randomly assigned to watch a video clip eliciting either humour, contentment, or neutral feelings. → Feelings = emotion)

34. C – boring (Đoạn 8, “Again, participants who watched the humorous video spent significantly more time working on this tedious task and completed more questions correctly than did the students in either of the other groups.” → Tedious = Boring.)

35. D – anxiety

36. E – stimulating

(The final paragraph explains how laughter helps relieve stress (=anxiety) and stimulates physical and mental energy)

37. NOT GIVEN (Không có thông tin về việc những học sinh tham gia thí nghiệm có nhận ra giọng cười của bạn mình rõ hơn người lạ hay không, chỉ có thông tin 60% người đoán chính xác.)

38. YES (Đoạn 4, “Analysis revealed that, as expected, high-status individuals produced more dominant laughs and fewer submissive laughs relative to the low-status individuals.” → dự đoán chính xác về địa vị xã hội nhờ vào giọng cười.)

39. NO (Đoạn 7, “Participants were allowed to quit the task at any point.” → Không có thời gian cố định.)