PENGARUH TAYANGAN HUMOR TERHADAP MEMORI JANGKA PENDEK

Abstract

Limitations in short-term memory can affect students’ ability to retain information during the learning process. Humor is assumed to create a positive emotional state that may support attention and information processing. Although several studies have reported beneficial effects of humor on memory, previous findings remain inconsistent, indicating that the relationship between humorous content and short-term memory among university students requires further investigation. This study aimed to examine differences in students’ short-term memory performance before and after exposure to humorous content. A quantitative approach with a pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design was employed. The participants were 16 active students at Universitas Muhammadiyah Bandung selected through purposive sampling. Short-term memory was assessed using a test consisting of 15 nonsense words. The intervention involved a 10-minute humorous segment from the comedy program “Lapor Pak!”. Data were analyzed using a paired-samples t-test with JASP. The results showed that students’ short-term memory scores after viewing the humorous content were higher than their scores before the intervention. These findings indicate an improvement in short-term memory performance following exposure to humorous content. Therefore, humorous content has the potential to serve as a supportive stimulus for creating a more engaging learning environment and facilitating students’ cognitive processes. However, the findings should be interpreted cautiously given the use of a single-group design without a control group.

ABSTRAK

Keterbatasan memori jangka pendek dapat memengaruhi kemampuan mahasiswa mempertahankan informasi selama proses pembelajaran. Humor diperkirakan dapat menciptakan kondisi emosional positif yang mendukung perhatian dan pemrosesan informasi. Meskipun beberapa penelitian menunjukkan manfaat humor terhadap memori, temuan sebelumnya masih belum konsisten, sehingga hubungan antara tayangan humor dan memori jangka pendek pada mahasiswa masih perlu dikaji lebih lanjut. Penelitian ini bertujuan menguji perbedaan kemampuan memori jangka pendek mahasiswa sebelum dan setelah menyaksikan tayangan humor. Penelitian menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif dengan desain pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest. Partisipan penelitian terdiri atas 16 mahasiswa aktif Universitas Muhammadiyah Bandung yang dipilih menggunakan teknik purposive sampling. Instrumen penelitian berupa tes memori jangka pendek menggunakan 15 kata tidak bermakna. Perlakuan diberikan melalui tayangan humor dari program komedi “Lapor Pak!” selama 10 menit. Data dianalisis menggunakan paired-sample t-test dengan bantuan JASP. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa skor memori jangka pendek mahasiswa setelah menyaksikan tayangan humor lebih tinggi dibandingkan sebelum tayangan diberikan. Temuan ini menunjukkan adanya peningkatan kemampuan memori jangka pendek setelah paparan tayangan humor. Dengan demikian, tayangan humor berpotensi digunakan sebagai stimulus pendukung untuk menciptakan kondisi pembelajaran yang lebih menarik dan mendukung proses kognitif mahasiswa. Namun, interpretasi temuan perlu mempertimbangkan penggunaan desain satu kelompok tanpa kelompok kontrol.