This thesis describes a formal model of a subtype of humour, and the implementation of that model in a program that generates jokes of that subtype. Although there is a great deal of literature on humour in general, very little formal work has been done on puns, and none has been implemented. All current linguistic theories of humour are over-general and not falsifiable. Our model, which is specific, formal, implemented and evaluated, makes a significant contribution to the field. Punning riddles are our chosen subtype of verbal humour, for several reasons. They are very common, they exhibit certain regular structures and mechanisms, and they have been studied previously by linguists. Our model is based on our extensive analysis of large numbers of punning riddles, taken from children's jokebooks. The implementation of the model, JA PE (Joke Analysis and Production Engine), generates punning riddles, from a humour independent lexicon. Pun generation requires much less world knowle...

This paper is a synthesis of several sets of ideas: ideas about leaxning from precedents and exercises, ideas about learning using near misses, ideas about generalizing if-then rules, and ideas about using censors to prevent procedure misapplication.

In this paper, we discuss a model of simple question--answer punning, implemented in a program, J A P E - 1, which generates riddles from humour-- independent lexical entries. The model uses two main types of structure: schemata, which determine the relationships between key words in a joke, and templates, which produce the surface form of the joke. J A P E - 1 succeeds in generating pieces of text that are recognizably jokes, but some of them are not very good jokes. We mention some potential improvements and extensions, including post--production heuristics for ordering the jokes according to quality. 1 Humour and artificial intelligence If a suitable goal for AI research is to get a computer to do ": : : a task which, if done by a human, requires intelligence to perform," [Min63], then the production of humorous texts, including jokes and riddles, is a fit topic for AI research. As well as probing some intriguing aspects of the notion of "intelligence", it has the methodologica...

As natural language interfaces become more widespread, much research is being carried out on ways to make them more congenial. We believe that the judicious incorporation of humorous mechanisms within the user-interface of a computer system could contribute to that goal. A limited use of humour within certain facilities --- such as the signalling of errors, the reporting of the unavailability of facilities, and certain aspects of information provision --- could render a computer system more userfriendly. In particular, such a system should appear less alien, less intimidating, and less patronising. The use of humour would have to be very constrained, not simply because there are limits on what is currently possible, but also because unrestricted facetiousness would be counter-productive. This could be achieved by associating the humorous behaviour with some limited part of the interface, such as a partly-anthropomorphised intelligent agent. Past success in implementing a program genera...

Humour is a valid subject for research in artificial intelligence, as it is one of the more complex of human behaviours. Although philosophers and others have discussed humour for centuries, it is only very recently that computational work has begun in this field, so the state of the art is still rather basic. Much of the research has concentrated on humour expressed verbally, and there has been some emphasis on models based on "incongruity". Actual implementations have involved puns of very limited forms. It is not clear that computerised jokes could enhance user interfaces in the near future, but there is a role for computer modelling in testing symbolic accounts of the structure of humorous texts. A major problem is the need for a humour-processing program to have knowledge of the world, and reasoning abilities.

Abstract. This paper investigates the problem of automatic humour recognition, and provides and in-depth analysis of two of the most frequently observed features of humorous text: human-centeredness and negative polarity. Through experiments performed on two collections of humorous texts, we show that these properties of verbal humour are consistent across different data sets. 1

Computational humor will be needed in interfaces, no less than other cognitive capabilities. There are many practical settings where computational humor will add value. Among them there are: business world applications (such as advertisement, e-commerce, etc...), general computermediated communication and human-computer interaction, increase in the friendliness of natural language interfaces, educational and edutainment systems. In particular in the educational field it is an important resource for getting selective attention, help in memorizing names and situations etc. And we all know how well it works with children.

Computational humor will be needed in interfaces, no less than other cognitive capabilities. There are many practical settings where computational humor will add value. Among them there are: business world applications (such as advertisement, e-commerce, etc.), general computer-mediated communication and human-computer interaction, increase in the friendliness of natural language interfaces, educational and edutainment systems. In particular in the educational field it is an important resource for getting selective attention, help in memorizing names and situations etc. And we all know how well it works with children. Automated humor production in general is a very difficult task but we wanted to prove that some results can be achieved even in short time. We have worked at a concrete limited problem, as the core of the European Project HAHAcronym. The main goal of HAHAcronym has been the realization of an acronym ironic reanalyzer and generator as a proof of concept in a focalized but non restricted context. To implement this system some general tools have been adapted, or developed for the humorous context. Systems output has been submitted to evaluation by human subjects, with a very positive result. 1

This is a study in the theory and philosophy ofpsychotherapy. The focus is on the psychotherapeutic technique of reframing – a technique for helping clients to see their situation in a new light, from a new perspective. This technique is used in many forms of psychotherapy, especially in most forms of family and brief therapies. In this study an attempt is made to clarify the assumptions and presuppositions involved in the use ofreframing in psychotherapy. This is done through several theoretical perspectives and especially the perspective of frame theory. In order to illustrate the usefulness ofthe presented theoretical positions, examples ofthe use ofthis technique in psychotherapy are explored in the light ofthese theoretical perspectives. Some suggestions are then given on how therapists can improve their ability to use reframing. Finally, some epistemological, ontological and ethical issues involved with the use ofreframing are explored. In the concluding chapter the results ofthis study are summarized and discussed.