Are you too old to get a joke?

12 July 2007

It is no laughing matter: a new study suggests older adults have a harder time getting jokes as they age.

The research indicates that because older adults may have greater difficulty with cognitive flexibility, abstract reasoning and short-term memory, they also have greater difficulty with tests of humour comprehension.

Researchers at Washington University tested about 40 healthy adults over age 65 and 40 undergraduate students with exercises in which they had to complete jokes and stories. Participants also had to choose the correct punch line for verbal jokes and select the funny ending to series of cartoon panels.

Findings were published earlier this month in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.

The research conducted by graduate student Wingyun Mak and psychology professor Brian Carpenter showed that the younger adults did 6 per cent better on the verbal jokes and 14 per cent better on the comic portion than did older participants, Mak said.

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