Humor as a negatively accelerated function of the degree of incongruity

The method of limits with weights was employed to determine whether a positive or inverted-U relation described the function between the degree of incongruity and indicators of humor. The degree of incongruity was defined as the difference between the mean of six previous Comparisons and a seventh heavier Comparison ranging from 250 to 7040 grams. Facial expressions and humor and surprise ratings to the seventh Comparison increased in a negatively accelerated fashion with the degree of incongruity. Downward trends in humor indicators with increased incongruity did not occur, and thus the inverted-U relation was not supported. Studies finding an inverted-U relation were interpreted as being the result of the incongruous stimulus coming from another dimension rather than from within the same dimension as the internal standard.