Language
Joke Endings Task
Also called: humor comprehension, joke completion, punchline selection
Measure understanding of humor. Participants choose the funny ending of short English situations, with scores for wordplay, inference and two kinds of wrong ending.
4-6 minUntimed
Free to start: 10 free participants per account, then $0.99 per participant for academic research, or any yearly plan. Try it here first, with no account.
- Papers, 2021 to 2025
- 63
- Evidence grade
- C
- Registered clinical studies
- 1
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What it measures
Measures understanding of humor. Participants read 12 short English situations and choose the funny ending from three options: funny, straightforward and unrelated. Half use wordplay and half an unexpected inference.
Constructs
- Humor comprehension
- Pragmatic inference
- Wordplay
- Context integration
Research uses
- Language research
- Pragmatic comprehension studies
- Social cognition research
How the paradigm works
Understanding a joke involves connecting an unexpected ending to what came before. Participants read 12 original English situations and choose among three endings: an intended funny ending, a straightforward continuation and an unrelated ending. Six use wordplay and six an unexpected inference. Two practice items explain the funny ending before the scored items. A setting uses either six-item subset. Item order and answer positions are drawn from the session seed; there is no time limit.
Scores
- Funny Endings Correct%
- Percentage of choices selecting the intended funny ending.
- Higher means more intended punchlines identified
- Wordplay Correct%
- Percentage correct on jokes that turn on two meanings of a phrase.
- Informational
- Inference Correct%
- Percentage correct on jokes requiring an unexpected but coherent inference.
- Informational
- Straightforward Endingscount
- Choices of a sensible continuation without the joke.
- Informational
- Unrelated Endingscount
- Choices that do not connect to the situation.
- Informational
- Median Correct Decision Timems
- Median time to choose a funny ending, excluding answers under 100 ms.
- Informational
- Choices Under 100 mscount
- Responses made within 100 ms of the situation appearing.
- 0 expected
- Jokes Answeredcount
- Unique scored items in the most complete run.
- 12 standard, 6 for one joke type
- Other Instruction Languageflag
- 1 when English items were shown with instructions in another language.
- Review English comprehension
Use and evidence
63 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, down 16% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 329 of 582 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 22 |
| 2024 | 8 |
| 2023 | 12 |
| 2022 | 10 |
| 2021 | 11 |
| 2020 | 18 |
| 2019 | 13 |
| 2018 | 20 |
| 2017 | 17 |
| 2016 | 7 |
| 2015 | 8 |
| 2014 | 12 |
| 2013 | 7 |
| 2012 | 7 |
| 2011 | 2 |
| 2010 | 4 |
| 2009 | 3 |
| 2008 | 2 |
| 2007 | 5 |
| 2006 | 5 |
| 2005 | 4 |
| 2004 | 5 |
| 2003 | 5 |
| 2002 | 0 |
| 2001 | 2 |
| 2000 | 2 |
Use grade D
30 to 99 papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade C
At least 2 test-retest papers, 30 reliability or validity papers or 3 registered clinical studies.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 2
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 13
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 1
Measured on ConductCognition
Pooled across the studies that feed our platform norms, by device group. A figure needs 50 or more people.
No pooled figure yet.
Note on the counts: Original English jokes and endings; three alternatives; no published items or norms..
How the grades work
Use: A is 1,000 or more papers from 2021 to 2025, B 300 to 999, C 100 to 299, D 30 to 99 and E fewer than 30. Evidence: A means at least 25 papers report its test-retest reliability and at least 25 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome; B, at least 8 test-retest papers, and either 5 registered clinical studies or 150 reliability or validity papers; C, at least 2 test-retest papers, 30 reliability or validity papers or 3 registered clinical studies; D, little published measurement evidence found. The counts measure use. They include every paper that names the task in its title or abstract. Grades describe the published research on this task, not ConductCognition's version of it.
Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 8 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Items
- 12 original English situations: 6 wordplay and 6 inference jokes. A setting uses either 6-item subset.
- Endings
- 3 per situation: funny, straightforward and unrelated. All written for this task.
- Practice
- 2 separate jokes with an explanation after each answer. Feedback stays until the participant continues.
- Order
- Seeded item and answer order. No time limit; click or tap an ending.
- Languages
- English items in every session. Instructions and practice explanations in all 8 languages.
- Scores
- Percentage correct overall and by joke type, straightforward and unrelated endings chosen, and median correct decision time.
The format follows a published humor-comprehension method, with our own English jokes rather than APACS items. The score measures recognition of the intended punchlines. It does not rate personal taste in humor. Scores support research and do not diagnose. No percentile output.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: unique joke-ending choices in the most complete run, with three alternatives per item. Chance accuracy is one third. Incomplete runs and non-English instruction sessions are flagged. Fewer than half the planned items or a majority of responses under 200 ms invalidate.
Why these rules
Each joke has one intended funny ending, a straightforward ending and an unrelated ending. Accuracy is judged against one-third chance. Answer order is shuffled, so repeating a position can indicate disengagement. English wordplay requires English comprehension even when the instructions are translated.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Joke types | All 12 (standard) | All 12 (standard), 6 wordplay jokes, 6 inference jokes |
Yearly plans can change settings within these limits. Free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Need a setting this test does not have?
Devices and languages
- Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. Participant devices
- Instructions and screens: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese. Words and sentences: English.
- Available on: Every plan, including the free plan.
- No percentile. Scores and quality flags only. How norms work
- Recruiting online? See the setup guides for Prolific, Sona Systems, CloudResearch Connect and Qualtrics.
Cite and describe
Participants completed the Joke Endings Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Arcara G, Bambini V, 2016), with the standard settings (joke types: All 12). The main score was funny endings correct (percentage of choices selecting the intended funny ending).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Arcara, G., & Bambini, V. (2016). A test for the assessment of pragmatic abilities and cognitive substrates (APACS): Normative data and psychometric properties. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 70. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00070Three alternatives: funny, straightforward and unrelated. No items or norms reused.
Source papers
- Arcara and Bambini (2016): three-ending humor-comprehension format.Paradigm source, Adults who read English
Questions
How long does the Joke Endings Task take?
About 4 to 6 minutes, as listed in the test library.
What device does a participant need?
Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. The browser must be Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
What scores does it produce?
Funny Endings Correct, Wordplay Correct, Inference Correct, Straightforward Endings, Unrelated Endings, Median Correct Decision Time, Choices Under 100 ms, Jokes Answered and Other Instruction Language. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Joke Endings Task used in research?
63 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, down 16% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 329 of 582 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade D). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 8 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Joke Endings Task have?
In the published research, 2 papers report its test-retest reliability and 1 registered clinical study uses it as an outcome (evidence grade C in the ConductCognition test census).
Does it report a percentile?
No. Scores and quality flags only.
Which settings can a researcher change?
Joke types (All 12 (standard), 6 wordplay jokes, 6 inference jokes). Settings can be changed on yearly plans; free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Which languages can participants use?
The instructions and screens are in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese. The words and sentences stay in English, so sessions in other languages are flagged for review. English is on every plan, and the other languages come with yearly plans. Have a native speaker read the machine-translated text before launch.
Is this a clinical test?
No. ConductCognition is for research use only. It runs, scores and exports the test; clinical interpretation is outside the platform.
Every test: the full test list.
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