研究生英语阅读教程Unit11课件.ppt

Unit Eleven;Questions;Text; In his book Beyond Laughter, psychiatrist Martin Grotjahn says that the earlier infants begin to smile and laugh, the more advanced is their development. Studies revealed that children who did not develop these responses (because they lacked an intimate, loving relationship) “developed a schizophrenic psychosis in later life, or simply gave up and died.” Between the age of six months and one year, babies learn to laugh for the essentially the same reason they will laugh throughout their lives, says Dr. Jacob Levine, associate professor of psychology at Yale University. Dr. Levine says people laugh to express mastery over an anxiety. Picture what happens when parents toss children into the air. The children will probably laugh—but not the first time. In spite of their enjoyment of “flying”, they are too anxious to laugh. How do they know Mommy or Daddy will catch them? Once the children realize they will be caught, they are free to enjoy the game. But more importantly, says Dr. Levine, the children laugh because they have mastered an anxiety.; Adult laughter is more subtle, but we also laugh at what we used to fear. The feeling of achievement, or lack of it, remains a crucial factor. Giving a first dinner party is an anxious event for newlyweds. Will the food be good? Will the guests get along? Will they be good hosts? All goes well; the party is over. Now they laugh freely. Their pleasure from having proved their success is the foundation for their pleasure in recalling the evening’s activities. They couldn’t enjoy the second pleasure without the first, more important one—their mastery of anxiety. Laughter is a social response triggered by cues. Scientists have not determined a brain center for laughter, and they are perplexed by patients with certain types of brain damage who go into laughing fits for no apparent reason. The rest of us require company, and a reason to laugh. ;