Since the last presidential election in 2004, I have been wondering why “the percentage of older persons voting for George Bush was slightly more than the national average.” How could this segment of the American population, with the wisdom and experience that age brings, not see what a joke the Bush presidency had been, up to that point? (Obviously, it has long since ceased to be a joke. Now, it just makes one gag.) Well, thanks to some recent research conducted at Washington University and reported by the Associated Press, my questions may be answered:

“Getting Jokes” May Decline with Age

A new psychology study at Washington University was no laughing matter: It found that older adults may have a harder time getting jokes because of an age-related decline in certain memory and reasoning abilities.

The research suggested that because older adults may have greater difficulty with cognitive flexibility, abstract reasoning and short-term memory, they also have greater difficulty with tests of humor comprehension.

Researchers tested about 40 healthy adults over age 65 and 40 undergraduate students with exercises in which they had to complete jokes and stories. Participants also had to choose the correct punch line for verbal jokes and select the funny ending to series of cartoon panels.

Findings were published earlier this month in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.

The research conducted by graduate student Wingyun Mak and psychology professor Brian Carpenter showed that the younger adults did 6 percent better on the verbal jokes and 14 percent better on the comic portion than did older participants, Mak said. [full text]