Question
"Why are yawns contagious? We asked a scientist" by Teresa Carey
One theory argues that when humans are tired, we stop taking deep breaths, which causes a build-up of carbon dioxide in the body, said Douglas Parham, a speech scientist at Wichita State University. A yawn might be a special kind of respiration, Parham said. It builds up oxygen quickly, while expelling carbon dioxide, even more than a deep breath. Excess carbon dioxide and other chemical changes, such as a drop in oxygen or increase in a compound called adenosine, could also act as “yawn gates,” said James Giordano, a neuroethicist and neuroscientist at Georgetown University. These chemicals send out a signal that triggers a yawn. By yawning, we compress the muscles of the face, driving oxygen-enriched blood to the brain, Giordano said. Other proposals state the purpose of yawning is to cool the brain, or to stretch internal organs like tissues and lungs, helping the body to liven up. Despite being a fundamental part of our lives, information on yawning is thin, said Thomas Scammell, a neurologist at Harvard Medical School who studies sleep. But he added that yawning is a primitive reflex among many animals that originates in the brain stem.
Because the brain stem of humans is similar to other mammals (and birds and reptiles too), it makes sense that most animals yawn, Scammell said. Indeed, birds, reptiles, mammals and some sharks can yawn — and animals with bigger brains tend to yawn longer. “That puts a little bit of support back in the theory that what yawning is really doing is changing the brain chemistry,” Giordano said, adding that scientists are still trying to investigate the reasons why. What is known is that the behavior is contagious. The likelihood of yawning increases sixfold, according to one study, after seeing someone else yawn. As for yawn contagion, Giordano said it may be related to a phenomenon called social mirroring, where organisms imitate the actions of others. Other behaviors fall into this category, such as scratching, leg crossing and laughing.
Giordano said this behavior could be linked to mirror neurons in the brain. “What these neurons are involved in is matching what we sense and feel to the way we move,” Giordano said. “So if someone is seeing me scratch my face, they would know what it feels like. You may be compelled to do it too.” Zhou-Feng Chen, director at Washington University’s Center for the Study of Itch has conducted research on social scratching in mice. When he showed a video of one mouse scratching itself to other mice, the mice began their own scratching within five seconds. And they were five times as likely to imitate the scratching relative to control animals. Chen said that when animals mimic others, they must be recognizing a useful behavior. Without thinking, they decide, “This behavior must be very useful. So, I better do it.”
Chen said this behavior could save energy and protect animals against disease. For example, since wild animals don’t live in sanitized environments and are often exposed to biting and stinging insects that could carry disease, this mimicking could be helping them to ward off infection. Social bonds, too, may be reinforced by yawning and other forms of imitative behavior may, Scammell said: “If someone flashes you a nice friendly smile, without even thinking about it, you’re likely to smile back,” he said. “It is a form of social communication, and it appears that people who are more empathetic are more likely to have this social mirroring.”
Use this excerpt from the "Why are yawns contagious? We asked a scientist" article to answer the question. Based on the information in the article, make a logical inference about why yawns are contagious. In 3–5 sentences, provide specific evidence from the text to support your inference and explain why your reasoning is logical and valid.
One theory argues that when humans are tired, we stop taking deep breaths, which causes a build-up of carbon dioxide in the body, said Douglas Parham, a speech scientist at Wichita State University. A yawn might be a special kind of respiration, Parham said. It builds up oxygen quickly, while expelling carbon dioxide, even more than a deep breath. Excess carbon dioxide and other chemical changes, such as a drop in oxygen or increase in a compound called adenosine, could also act as “yawn gates,” said James Giordano, a neuroethicist and neuroscientist at Georgetown University. These chemicals send out a signal that triggers a yawn. By yawning, we compress the muscles of the face, driving oxygen-enriched blood to the brain, Giordano said. Other proposals state the purpose of yawning is to cool the brain, or to stretch internal organs like tissues and lungs, helping the body to liven up. Despite being a fundamental part of our lives, information on yawning is thin, said Thomas Scammell, a neurologist at Harvard Medical School who studies sleep. But he added that yawning is a primitive reflex among many animals that originates in the brain stem.
Because the brain stem of humans is similar to other mammals (and birds and reptiles too), it makes sense that most animals yawn, Scammell said. Indeed, birds, reptiles, mammals and some sharks can yawn — and animals with bigger brains tend to yawn longer. “That puts a little bit of support back in the theory that what yawning is really doing is changing the brain chemistry,” Giordano said, adding that scientists are still trying to investigate the reasons why. What is known is that the behavior is contagious. The likelihood of yawning increases sixfold, according to one study, after seeing someone else yawn. As for yawn contagion, Giordano said it may be related to a phenomenon called social mirroring, where organisms imitate the actions of others. Other behaviors fall into this category, such as scratching, leg crossing and laughing.
Giordano said this behavior could be linked to mirror neurons in the brain. “What these neurons are involved in is matching what we sense and feel to the way we move,” Giordano said. “So if someone is seeing me scratch my face, they would know what it feels like. You may be compelled to do it too.” Zhou-Feng Chen, director at Washington University’s Center for the Study of Itch has conducted research on social scratching in mice. When he showed a video of one mouse scratching itself to other mice, the mice began their own scratching within five seconds. And they were five times as likely to imitate the scratching relative to control animals. Chen said that when animals mimic others, they must be recognizing a useful behavior. Without thinking, they decide, “This behavior must be very useful. So, I better do it.”
Chen said this behavior could save energy and protect animals against disease. For example, since wild animals don’t live in sanitized environments and are often exposed to biting and stinging insects that could carry disease, this mimicking could be helping them to ward off infection. Social bonds, too, may be reinforced by yawning and other forms of imitative behavior may, Scammell said: “If someone flashes you a nice friendly smile, without even thinking about it, you’re likely to smile back,” he said. “It is a form of social communication, and it appears that people who are more empathetic are more likely to have this social mirroring.”
Use this excerpt from the "Why are yawns contagious? We asked a scientist" article to answer the question. Based on the information in the article, make a logical inference about why yawns are contagious. In 3–5 sentences, provide specific evidence from the text to support your inference and explain why your reasoning is logical and valid.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
Based on the information in the article, yawns are contagious due to a phenomenon known as social mirroring, which is linked to mirror neurons in the brain. This suggests that when one person yawns, others may subconsciously imitate the action, driven by an instinct to recognize and replicate useful behaviors. The article states, "The likelihood of yawning increases sixfold after seeing someone else yawn," highlighting the strong connection between observation and the response. Additionally, Giordano mentions that this behavior could potentially promote social bonding and communication, as people who are more empathetic tend to engage in such mirroring. This reasoning is logical because it connects the biological response (yawning) to social behavior, illustrating how both aspects influence the contagious nature of yawning.