| Abstract: | A classification of children's riddles was constructed, and 2 studies were conducted to test an implied developmental sequence of comprehension. In Exp I, riddles and jokes were collected and classified from 575 children of Grades 1–8 and Grade 10. As predicted, riddles based on conceptual tricks were most popular for the youngest Ss; riddles based on language ambiguity, for intermediate ages; and riddles based on absurdity, for the oldest groups. In Exp II, 208 Ss of Grades 1, 3, 6, 10, and college freshmen were presented with selected riddles from the 3 riddle categories to test for the predicted sequence of comprehension. Comprehension was measured by assessing the S's explanations of riddle answers and performance on a multiple-choice task. S's guesses to riddle questions and memory of the riddle answers were also recorded. Results show that explanations of the riddles were mostly justifications, in which the S demonstrated how the answer of the riddle was plausible. Ss were less likely to explain how the riddle was tricky. Guesses to the riddle questions were mostly realistic, particularly for the younger Ss. Memory of riddle answers was good for all grades, virtually perfect by Grade 6. Results show a general confirmation of the predictions for the classification. Conceptual-trick riddles were comprehended first, language ambiguity riddles at an intermediate age, and absurd riddles were comprehended only by the oldest Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
