PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kenneth Calman
TI  - A study of storytelling, humour and learning in medicine
AID  - 10.7861/clinmedicine.1-3-227
DP  - 2001 May 01
TA  - Clinical Medicine
PG  - 227--229
VI  - 1
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/1/3/227.short
4100  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/1/3/227.full
SO  - Clin Med2001 May 01; 1
AB  - Story telling is a fundamental part of clinical practice. It provides the mechanism by which doctors and patients communicate and understand the meaning of illness and possible ways of dealing with it. Humour is a particular aspect of story telling and, while there are some negative aspects, generally does have a therapeutic benefit. The physiological effects of laughter are considerable. Both story telling and humour are important for learning and are complementary to the more formal learning from text books and lectures. Stories assist in the development of emotional knowledge. The hypothesis of the contagious theory of behaviour change is presented as a way in which ideas are transmitted from one person to another