反讽是以字面义与本意相反为特点的非字面语言形式，历来受到修辞学，语言学，心理学等领域的关注。传统研究一般把反语看作一种修辞现象，但从上世纪80年代开始，反讽研究开始从修辞的角度转向了认知和语用角度。儿童反讽研究有利于加深对儿童非字面语言发展规律的认识，揭示儿童社会认知发展机制。 围绕反讽的本质，研究者提出了多个理论模型，其中最有影响力的是Kumon-Nakamura (1995) 的暗示与假装理论。该理论提出了反语的两个必要特征：暗示性和语用虚假性。根据该理论对反语特征的界定，反语类型并不仅限于反事实陈述，褒扬和设问均可用作反讽。 本研究以6，8，10岁儿童和成人为被试，采用故事情景法对被试进行问卷调查。实验的第一部分是有关反讽理解的认知研究，要求被试对说话者的含义和动机做出解释。第二部分是有关反讽理解的社会研究，要求被试评定反语的功能，即批评和幽默功能。本研究主要考察在认知和社会两种层面下，反讽类型 (褒扬句、反事实陈述和设问句），权势（平等和不平等）和年龄对儿童反讽理解所产生的影响。 主要研究结果如下：（1）反讽的意义理解随着年龄的增长而增长，其中8-10岁之间增长速度最快，10岁儿童意义理解接近成年人。年龄和类型对意义理解产生显著影响。反事实陈述是最容易理解的反讽类型。（2）话语动机的解释随着年龄的增长而增长，但10岁儿童仍然未接近成年人水平。年龄对动机理解产生显著影响。反事实陈述和褒扬句的理解要优于设问句。（3）在感知批评功能上，总体趋势是反讽的批评程度随着年龄的增长而降低，其中6岁认为反讽的批评程度最高。年龄和类型均对批评功能的感知产生显著影响。（4）幽默功能的感知随着年龄增长而增长。成年人认为反讽的幽默程度最高，六岁儿童认为反讽幽默程度最低。年龄对幽默功能感知产生显著影响。

Irony is a non-literal linguistic form whose real purpose is opposite to the literal meaning. It has been studied in distinct fields like rhetoric, linguistics and psychology. Traditional studies generally regard irony as a type of tropes. However, since 1980s researchers have shifted the focus of rhetoric to cognitive and pragmatic study. Children’s understanding of irony is conducive to strengthening the insights on children’s development of non-literal language, thus unveiling their mechanism of cognitive development. A multitude of researchers proposed several theoretical models revolving around the nature of irony. One of the most influential models is the allusional pretense theory by Kumon-Nakamura (1995), who put forward two necessary characteristics of irony, including allusion and pragmatic pretense. Based on the defining on irony in this model, the types of irony are not merely confined to counter-factual statement. Thank and rhetorical question also fall into the category of irony. This study adopts the scenario-situation method, with the participants ranging from six, eight, ten to adults. The first part of experiment is the cognitive study of irony understanding, which requires participants to judge the speaker meaning and motivation. The second part is the social study of irony understanding to examine the perception of two functions of irony, containing criticism and humor. The overall goal is to explore whether types (thank, counter-factual statement and rhetorical question), power (equal and unequal) and age exert influence on children’s understanding of irony from the cognitive-social aspects. The major findings can be concluded as follows. (1) Irony understanding of meaning improves with age. Between eight and ten-year-old, meaning understanding develops faster than any other periods. The ten-year-old’s acquisition of speaker meaning is close to that of adults. Age and type are two significant factors that influence children’s understanding of meaning. Counter-factual assertion tends to be comprehended most readily for most ages. (2) The interpretation of motivation grows with age. The ten-year-old’s interpretation is not close to that of adults. Age is a persistent significant factor. Counter-factual statement and thank are easier to interpret than rhetorical question. (3) Regarding criticism, the overall trend is that it decreases with age and the six-year-old perceive the most meanness in irony. Age and type are two factors that exert significant influence on children’s assessment of criticism. (4) In terms of humor, the major tendency is to increase with age. Adults assess irony as the most humorous while the six-year-old rate it as the least funny. Age is a persistent significant factor in deciding the degree of humor.