笑話中幽默因子的訊息整合歷程研究

AN OPPOSITION-COHERENCE THEORY OF HUMOR

近年來有關幽默引發歷程的理論，如Wyer與Collins（1992）之「理解－推敲理論」以及陳學志（1991；1995）之「反向－合意理論」均一致的指出，一個笑話結構中，「固著於優勢基模的強度」、「逆溯推論的難易度」以及「前後基模的語義反向程度」等三個因素，是引發幽默反應的重要成分。然而過去的研究均只探討單一因素的影響，而未考慮到這些因子相互整合影響的機制。本研究使用Anderson（1981；1982；1990）的「訊息整合理論」為架構，以三個實驗來探討上述三個因子的訊息整合函數。結果發現，這三個幽默因子間並無明顯的交互作用存在，亦即三個幽默因子是以「加成性函數」結合在一起。此一結果再次支持了「反向－合意理論」所提出之系列式四階段的幽默理解認知歷程模式。此外，本研究也發現，在這三個幽默因子中，「前後基模的語義反向程度」是決定幽默強度最主要的條件，其次才是「逆溯推論的難易度」以及「固著於優勢基模的強度」。本研究除了支持幽默理解的「反向－合意理論」外，更重要的意涵在於：由於這三個因子彼此是獨立，且效果是可加成的，故在幽默創造的訓練時，便可依重要性逐一訓練各成分技巧。是故，本研究不但有助於釐清幽默的本質，也對將來幽默創造之訓練提供可行的方向。

Previous research in humor has identified three key components affecting the degree of humor: fixity of dominant schema, difficulty in making backward inference, and degree of opposition of two opposing schemata. However, previous research has exclusively examined effects of one of the three components on humorous response, without paying attention to how the three components join to affect humor. Three experiments were conducted to assess contributions of these three components to the degree of humor by using the information integration theory proposed by Anderson (1981; 1982; 1990). Results show that the three components operated in an additive and serial manner, supporting an opposition-coherence theory of joke comprehension. Among the three components, the degree of opposition of two opposing schemata generated by a text seems the most important one in determining the degree of humor. Implications of the present results for humor-creation training are discussed.