WEBVTT - How Contagious Yawning Works

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

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<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you should know

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<v Speaker 1>from how stuff Works dot Com? Hi, and welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, a staff writer here at

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot Com with me or two of

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<v Speaker 1>my favorite editors, Chris Palette and Candice Gibson. Are you

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<v Speaker 1>guys today doing all right? Candice? What about you? That was?

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<v Speaker 1>That was a yawn from Candice? And actually I strangely

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<v Speaker 1>feel like yawning right now, which reminds me of an

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<v Speaker 1>article I wrote once. It's called does contagious yawning Mean

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<v Speaker 1>You're nice? Are you guys familiar with this? Yeah, it's

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<v Speaker 1>pretty amazing to think that something we don't know much about,

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<v Speaker 1>like yawning, could actually be passed on because you see

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<v Speaker 1>somebody on and you have an empathetic feeling toward that person. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's kind of amazing, Candice. Yeah. And not only

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<v Speaker 1>is yawning a strange phenomenon, Empsy is pretty strange too,

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<v Speaker 1>depending on how it's expressed. And empathy, just to bring

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<v Speaker 1>you up to speed is just essentially the way that

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<v Speaker 1>you're relating to another person that shows that you're trying

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<v Speaker 1>to experience the feelings that they're experiencing, be them, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>positive or negative. UM. Empathy just shows that you're in

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<v Speaker 1>tune of what the other person is doing. You can

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<v Speaker 1>identify with them, you can put yourself in their shoes,

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<v Speaker 1>and a nutshell, perfect nutshell. That's pretty much the link

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<v Speaker 1>that people. Well, researchers have concluded that that we yawn

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<v Speaker 1>contagiously or were susceptible the contagious yawning because we feel empathy.

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<v Speaker 1>But that's pretty much where the solid explanations go. And

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<v Speaker 1>Candice is actually yawning. I can't get over it. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>just that nice. But you know, I did want to

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<v Speaker 1>tell you guys a little bit about yawning and some

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<v Speaker 1>of the theories that are floating around out there about it.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, it doesn't just mean you're what sleepy board

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<v Speaker 1>all the above, that's true. It could it could be

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<v Speaker 1>a number of things. Um. Some researchers have even gone

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<v Speaker 1>so far as to suggest that it could be a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit like your teeth or you're not your teeth,

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<v Speaker 1>your dog's tea when they he or she is baring

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<v Speaker 1>their teeth, the show anger or you know, they're being defensive.

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<v Speaker 1>They're saying, you know, maybe you are doing this you know,

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<v Speaker 1>subliminal response that you are going, you know, don't mess

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<v Speaker 1>with me. Yeah, don't mess with me exactly. And uh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, people have even said that they can yawn

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<v Speaker 1>at their dog and their dog will yawn back. So

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<v Speaker 1>maybe the maybe it's something there to that theory. So

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<v Speaker 1>have they found in studies that people yawn when their

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<v Speaker 1>dogs bear their teeth at them? Um, you know, I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't see anything suggesting that, to be honest with you,

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<v Speaker 1>but uh, but it is interesting to know what I mean. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>I think you were saying earlier that uh, it may

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<v Speaker 1>actually be linked to a fight or flight response. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>and that you know when you put it that way,

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<v Speaker 1>that it's not so uh not so strange. Sure, we

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<v Speaker 1>were talking about the African savannah, the fight, the fight

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<v Speaker 1>or flight response you mean, right, well, yeah, there's a

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<v Speaker 1>theory that um, contagious yawning. Well, since you yawn maybe

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<v Speaker 1>to make yourself more alert, which would be ful when

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<v Speaker 1>you feel fear. Yeah, it's because it carries blood to

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<v Speaker 1>your brain right now, alert exactly. And if you feel

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<v Speaker 1>fierce safe because the lions approaching and you yawned a response. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>through empathy, a fellow member of your species could pick

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<v Speaker 1>up that yawn and pass it along, and before you know,

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<v Speaker 1>if there's no one there for the lion to eat,

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<v Speaker 1>because they've all got adult, they got out of there.

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<v Speaker 1>Another theory has to do with the eyes as cues.

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<v Speaker 1>Have you guys heard about this the eyes? Have it? Actually?

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<v Speaker 1>A researcher that I read about did a study to

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<v Speaker 1>try and since the yawning his contagious, he wanted to

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<v Speaker 1>try and find a yawn that would would get everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>and the best he could do was about people who

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<v Speaker 1>when he'd cover up the mouth, um the eyes still

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<v Speaker 1>made people yawned, because he assumed that it was the big,

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<v Speaker 1>wide open mouth and the stretch that made people want

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<v Speaker 1>to yawn. But when he covered up the eyes and

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<v Speaker 1>just showed the mouth by itself, he got a slightly

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<v Speaker 1>less response. And he never could find a yawn that

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<v Speaker 1>was the perfect storm, one that would have always make

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<v Speaker 1>people yawned. So it seems like it's the eyes right

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<v Speaker 1>buy into that, because it's not like the parts of

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<v Speaker 1>your face don't work in conjunction with each other. When

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<v Speaker 1>I smile, my eyes crinkle or you know when I sneeze,

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<v Speaker 1>sign my news scrunches up. Everything sort of works in

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<v Speaker 1>conjunction with each other. So I totally buy that. And

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<v Speaker 1>another theory I buy is that people yawned because their

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<v Speaker 1>bodies aren't getting enough oxygen. And that's a quick way

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<v Speaker 1>to gulp a whole lot of air right in. It's

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<v Speaker 1>just open your mouth as well as it can go

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<v Speaker 1>and get it inside. And if others see you daring this,

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<v Speaker 1>they might take a cue that their environment isn't supplying

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<v Speaker 1>them with enough oxygen either, so they yawn just when

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<v Speaker 1>you do. Apparently, the fact that the eyes are served

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<v Speaker 1>as a cue for contagious yawning, it's supported by a

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<v Speaker 1>study of autistics or people with autism. Um that they

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<v Speaker 1>showed slides of people yawning, but they were shown just

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<v Speaker 1>the just the mouths. And apparently people with autism get

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<v Speaker 1>their cues from people's eyes. Uh, and they had no

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<v Speaker 1>action to it whatsoever. Um. Well, yeah, which is interesting,

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<v Speaker 1>and we know just sort of general science that people

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<v Speaker 1>with autism have um a little bit less of an

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<v Speaker 1>understanding of people's verbal or non verbal cues and said,

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<v Speaker 1>it's interesting that they didn't get both parts work in

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<v Speaker 1>conjunction to have an empathetic response, but that they just

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<v Speaker 1>responded to the eyes. Well, it's it's going to require

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<v Speaker 1>more study. And if you're interested in studying this for yourself,

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<v Speaker 1>you know what we suggestion as you start with does

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<v Speaker 1>contagious yawning mean you're nice? That's available on how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>works dot com. We're all gonna go take maps. For

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<v Speaker 1>more on this and thousands of other topics, visit how

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