ERIC Number: ED193725
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1979-Nov
Reference Count: 0
Retention of Lecture Items Reinforced with Humorous and Non-Humorous Exemplary Material.
Gruner, Charles R.; Freshley, Dwight L.
College students in nine intact beginning speech classes served as subjects for a study testing the effects of humor on student recall of lecture information. The 156 subjects were exposed to one of three versions of an audiotaped lecture. One version amplified eight points in the subject matter with humorous material; and a third version (the control) contained no amplification of the eight points. Immediately after exposure, subjects evaluated the lecture on semantic differential scales and took a multiple choice exam over the contents of the lecture. Two weeks later the subjects were reexamined over the lecture as part of their midterm examination. One-way analysis of variance revealed that even though the humorous version of the lecture was perceived as more humorous than the nonhumorous versions, no difference in recall among the three conditions was found for either immediate or delayed recall. (RL)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association (70th, New York, NY, November 13-16, 1979).