Updating the cognitive model of humour perception: a potential implicit processing pathway?

The model of humour comprehension-elaboration postulates that the feeling of amusement follows serially upon humour comprehension. Yet, in clinical practice, patients with impaired humour comprehension may show typical happy facial expressions, suggesting a preservation of amusement feeling. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis of a potential implicit processing pathway to add to the explicit pathway described in the model. Twenty healthy participants and two patients with cerebral tumour (LM and JM) completed a task of humour judgment during which their face was filmed. Two independent blinded raters quantified the happy facial expressions produced. The accuracy scores for humour judgment reflected humour comprehension while the number of happy facial expressions assessed amusement feeling. Patients' results showed a case contrast. In accordance with the cognitive model of humour comprehension, JM's scores for humour comprehension were not statistically different from those of the control group; however, he presented impaired facial expressions. LM, on the contrary, showed typical happy facial expressions despite humour comprehension deficits. This profile suggests the existence of a potential implicit pathway to feelings of amusement. A revision of the cognitive model is proposed by adding a potential implicit processing pathway to the explicit one already described.