Signal and Response
Alastair Clarke

The third volume in The Pattern Recognition Theory Series examines the activity of factors governing the intensity of the internal humorous response and the function of the external signal of laughter, its capacity for data transferral and its role in social interaction. Forms of voluntary and involuntary exaggeration and attenuation of the response are presented in detail, and the potentially pre-linguistic origins of the signal, and the faculty as a whole, are considered.

The results of Clarke’s research on the causality of laughter during social interaction are also discussed, reinforcing the unified nature of formal and informal humour, with detailed tables and statistical analysis presented in the Resources section at the rear of the volume. Aspects such as certain sexually dimorphic elements of the response are isolated and arguments for their evolutionary foundations suggested.

As with all three central volumes in The Pattern Recognition Theory Series, while Signal and Response may be read in isolation, a prior knowledge of pattern recognition theory will aid both accessibility and appreciation.