Perspective and deception

One of the skills that help children develop humor is knowing that people have access to different mental states and that some can have false beliefs or be deceived. When parents pretend not to see a child creeping up to scare them - this is an example of a child understanding deception.

Some research shows that this knowledge is essential for children to understand jokes involving sarcasm and irony. Children typically understand irony around five. Other researchers argue that joking develops through social interaction rather than knowledge of deception.