A new study states that children develop a sense of humor from the age of 18 months but can be only as funny as their parents.

Children tend to follow their parents' sense of humor and end up becoming as funny or not as their parents. "Children learn many things, including how to be funny, by imitating adults. Our research shows that a critical age for understanding humour is around the second birthday," said psychologist Dr Meredith Gattis , also lead researcher of the study.

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She explained that children as early as two years of age learn to understand humor."This finding helps us build an accurate picture of how children develop an understanding of people's minds." The research was conducted at Cardiff University's School of Psychology that is working with babies for 10 years as a part of a 'development' project.

The researchers found parents speak in a different way to their children when they crack any joke. This helps children develop a sense of humor. They studied the way children learned mimicry. "When we held a toy animal on top of our heads and giggled, most 19 to 24 month olds realised it was a joke action and copied it. By comparison, if a researcher tried to write with the wrong end of the pen and was disappointed most children realised it was a mistake and corrected them," Dr Gattis explained.

According to the researchers, a proper sense of humor helps people develop a healthy immune system, be optimistic about life and enhances self-esteem.