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Psychological-Educational Studies
2025. Vol. 17, no. 2, 53–68
doi:10.17759/psyedu.2025170204
ISSN: 2587-6139 (online)

The study of humor in primary schoolchildren: the development and testing of diagnostic tools "Sometimes it happens"

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. The comic, and its formation in ontogenesis allows us to judge how successfully a child masters their own mental activity. However currently there is no methodologically substantiated and proven technique for studying humor in younger schoolchildren. Objective. To test and verify the author's diagnostic tool "Sometimes it happens", which allows studying the perception and understanding of the comic by younger schoolchildren in situations of violation of cultural norms. Hypothesis. We assume that the comic, as a cultural phenomenon, unfolds with a situation governed by a given norm and its generated at the moment when a younger student understands its violation. Methods and materials. Three hundred sixty primary school students (179 boys, 181 girls) aged 7-11 years (M = 8,94, SD = 0,90) were involved in the methodology development. The methodology includes indicators: "identifying rules and norms in interaction situations", "working out comical options for the deployment of events", "choosing comical adaptive or maladaptive options for the deployment of events". Results. The retest reliability of the developed methodology was determined by calculating the Spearman correlation coefficient: "identification of rules and norms in interaction situations" – r = 0,789; "compilation of comical scenarios" – r = 0,637; "selection of comical adaptive or maladaptive scenarios" – r = 0,702. The construct validity of the developed tools was assessed using L.F. Bayanova's methodology "Determining the Cultural Congruence of a Junior High School Student": The interrelationships between these methodologies were examined. The distribution of statistical data was verified, and the levels according to the methodology indicators are presented. Conclusions. The methodological justification of the "Sometimes it happens" methodology and its initial testing make it possible to conduct broader diagnostic studies of humor in younger schoolchildren in situations involving violation of cultural norms, in an automatic mode (Certificate of state registration of the computer program No. 2025611158 Russian Federation).

General Information

Keywords: the comic, humor, cultural norms, rules of conduct, educational activities, extracurricular activities, family relationships, primary school student, reliability, validity

Journal rubric: Developmental Psychology

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/psyedu.2025170204

Acknowledgements. The author thanks the reviewers for their valuable recommendations to improve the quality of the article.

Supplemental data. Supplemental data. Artemyeva T.V. (2025). The study of the comic in younger schoolchildren in a situation of violation of cultural norms: Data set. RusPsyData: Repository of psychological research and instruments. Moscow. https://doi.org/10.48612/MSUPE/ph24-9bkp-fkub

Received 12.11.2024

Accepted

Published

For citation: Artemyeva, T.V. (2025). The study of humor in primary schoolchildren: the development and testing of diagnostic tools "Sometimes it happens". Psychological-Educational Studies, 17(2), 53–68. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/psyedu.2025170204

© Artemyeva T.V., 2025

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Tatiana V. Artemyeva, Candidate of Science (Psychology), Leading Research Associate, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Pedagogy of Special Education, Institute of Psychology and Education, Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Kazan, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0040-1301, e-mail: artetanya@yandex.ru

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