The capacity to tell a joke

Reflections from work with Asperger children

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8973030
AutoresLawrence J Brown (37 Homer Street, Newton Centre, MA, USA, autor correspondente)
Ano2016
Volume97
Fascículo6
Páginas1609-1625
Data de publicação2016-07-04
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe International Journal of Psychoanalysis (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0020-7578 • E-ISSN: 1745-8315
EditoraTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1745-8315.12544
PMID27374252
OpenAlexW2471887934
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas18

The capacity to tell a joke is a highly complex interpersonal event that depends upon the maturation of certain developmental achievements which are absent or stunted in children with Asperger's Syndrome. These include the ability to know another's mind, a sense of interpersonal timing and, most notably, a capacity for abstract thinking. The author discusses Freud's () notion of joke-work, which is akin to dream-work, both of which are pathways to forming mental representations. Freud considered joke-work as a mental activity that operated on the verbal level and the author examines the preverbal dimensions that are rooted in the earliest mother/infant interactions. An extended case discussion of the psychoanalytic treatment of an Asperger boy is offered to illustrate these points and to demonstrate the activity of joke-work as a means of building mental representations

Developmental psychology · Dream · Interpersonal communication · Interpersonal relationship · Joke · Linguistics · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Psychotherapist · Child and Animal Learning Development · Child Development and Digital Technology · Counseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology