georgebuzzell
commented
2 years ago @F-said First of all, please don't hesitate to tag me on ideas on here, to make sure I take a look (sorry for not doing so sooner). Even better, tag me on gh and send a DM on slack as well to make sure I get the memo. :)
Regarding the idea: I think there is a lot of potential here! In particular, I like how you focus in on how (at least some forms of) humor involve a violation of expectancies. Note that, broadly speaking, cognitive control is literally THE neurocognitive system that deals with violations of expectancies. In particular, if we think about a minimal definition of cognitive control, we can say that it involves at least two basic components: detecting the need for control on the one hand, and engagement of top-down control over brain and behavior to actually enact the needed control. Critically, the common examples of signals/events that communicate a need for control are: errors, threats, conflict, and VIOLATIONS OF EXPECTANCIES. Thus, there is at least a surface-level connection between cognitive control and (at least some forms of) humor, insofar as some forms of humor involve a violation of expectancies.
Additionally, I would like to note that your critical thought given to the experiment design is great! Pending some clarity around the specific question and hypothesis, I think that your basic experimental design may very well be a viable direction to go.
I think there is definitely something interesting here, and am happy to see how this idea develops. Here is what I think is needed to take this idea forward:
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More clarity in the question of interest. Please note that my text that follows is not meant to mock the question (I could see it being read that way unintentionally, but please note that I am being hyperbolic to illustrate why clarity is needed. :) Right now, you list the question as, "What are the neurophysiological effects of humor in relation to cognitive control?". That is a fine starting point, but we need to make this more precise. In particular, this question is basically the same as saying, "Of the near-infant possible neural measures we could take, which of them might in some way relate to a near-infinite possible instances of humor, and of those infinite-to-infinite possible associations, how might one or more of them relate, in some way, to a near-infinite possible set of cognitive control behaviors and neural dynamics?". Again, please understand I am not writing this to "mock" the question; far from it! I think there is something interesting here for sure. Instead, I am just trying to illustrate why a more precise question is needed. Reading further to the rest of your post, you have clearly thought about this in more detail and clarity. So, I would challenge you to try to fold that thinking back into your basic question, in order to make it more specific. Exactly what specific question are you interested in trying to answer?
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More detail and explanation of the hypothesis would be helpful. You write, "Experiencing humor (whether self-generated or external) acts as a de-inhibitor and allows for greater cognitive control in the context of task-switching and error correction." This sounds very interesting. Can you please clarify what you mean though by "a de-inhibitor". Also, why do you think this would yield improvements in cognitive control "in the context of task-switching and error correction". That is, exactly what do you think humor is doing (i.e. clarity on the de-inhibitor piece), and why do you think this would improve task switching, as well as error corrections? Pending your clarity around "de-inhibitor" i wonder if humor might actually improve some forms of cognitive control, e.g. task switching, but also impair other forms, e.g. error correction.
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Pending your thoughts and follow up on (2) and (3) above, you might want to think about whether neural measures are actually needed to answer your essential question. That is, from my initial read, it seems like this might be something that is well-suited for a behavioral study to start with, and then, pending the results, you can refine the question further and probe specific neural hypotheses.
Great idea, @F-said! I look forward to hearing your follow up!
Question: What are the neurophysiological effects of humor in relation to cognitive control? Summary:
Humor, in its evolutionary, computational, and low-brow forms has been explored since the 18th century by philosophers such as Schopenhauer. His “incongruity theory” summarized humor as the sudden “subversion” of expectations. We see this in the most infant of humans that find it hilarious for their parents to unexpectedly disappear and reappear, and even in chimps that playfully tease their zoo compatriots. While there have been various studies on the effect of humor on adversity-resolution, stress-relief, and creativity, we propose a study that investigates the neurophysiological underpinnings of error-correction with and without humor.
Lit Review:
Hypothesis: Experiencing humor (whether self-generated or external) acts as a de-inhibitor and allows for greater cognitive control in the context of task-switching and error correction. Design: Two groups: control and experimental.
Control group runs through regular error correction task in 1st round, and then undergo attention-task (click this button, etc) Then control group runs through 2nd round of regular error correction tasks.
The experimental group goes through the same rounds, but the intermediate attention task contains some humourous component that expresses Schopenhauer's incongruity theory. For example, we ask the participant to do some simple attention task, like clicking a button, but create some outcome that subverts expectations. (fine line between teasing and generating humor).
Funding: Not sure how to go about securing funding. Need to google. Authors: Farukh, George, and anyone else interested in this investigation. Milestones: While I'm not sure how long of a schedule a project like this would require, I think an abstract schedule would look something like this: