From perception of contraries to humorous incongruities

According to the cognitive approach to humour, the understanding of jokes implies the recognition of an incongruity followed by its resolution. Through our work, we aim to contribute to this strand of research by investigating the link between cognitive processes and the understanding of humour. In particular, we will explore the distinction between the three different types of contrariety (global, intermediate and additive) that has emerged from the research on the psychology of perception and is characterised by different perceptual evidence, and how it applies to the concept of incongruity. We will also discuss what a reading of humorous incongruity in terms of perceptual patterns may add to previous definitions of incongruity and how it helps to contribute to the further operationalisation thereof.