A study of humour and communicative intention following right hemisphere stroke

Abstract

This research provides further data regarding non‐literal language comprehension following right hemisphere damage (RHD). To assess the impact of RHD on the processing of non‐literal language, ten participants presenting with RHD and ten matched healthy control participants were administered tasks tapping humour appreciation and pragmatic interpretation of non‐literal language. Although the RHD participants exhibited a relatively intact ability to interpret humour from jokes, their use of pragmatic knowledge about interpersonal relationships in discourse was significantly reduced, leading to abnormalities in their understanding of communicative intentions (CI). Results imply that explicitly detailing CI in discourse facilitates RHD participants' comprehension of non‐literal language.

• Right hemisphere damage
• stroke
• communicative intention
• pragmatic impairment
• humour deficit