ABSTRACT
Education has historically been approached as a serious, almost solemn undertaking. However, trends have shifted more recently to embrace a more relaxed, informal learning environment. In the early 20th century trade journals and books began publishing anecdotal evidence on the benefits of classroom humor. It was not until the 1970s that serious psychological studies on humor’s effect on learning gained prominence in academic publications. The airing of Sesame Street in the late 1960s was one factor that intensified academics’, educators’, and parents’ interest in the effects of humor on learning and sparked investigations into the possible educational uses of humor in television programming.
