Is Yawning Contagious?
Yawning is contagious. You can "catch" a yawn. I had to stifle many yawns as I read and wrote about this phenomenon. Yawning is probably programmed into us as stated by Dr. William Broughton, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of S. Alabama Knollwood Hospital.
Yawning is not contagious from species to species. You will not see a baboon for instance yawn when he sees a human yawn. If a chimpanzee or baboon yawns another will follow. And vise versa. The only animal that had an affect on the human response was the yawn of the lion.
Observing people with their mouth wide open does not produce a yawn, but show a person with his or her mouth wide open and covered with a hand has a yawning effect. This is a visual response.
Most people will tell you that a good yawn gives them great satisfaction. Especially when it involves stretching the body along with the facial muscles. A stifled yawn is unsatisfactory and leaves us incomplete and irritated.
Not everyone exposed to yawning, whether visually or simply reading about it will be affected. A persons personality enters into the equation. People who are sensitive to another persons dilemma or problem are most likely to be contagious yawners. The level of empathy for others seems to be directly related. Yet excessive yawning may be a warning to a disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease.
This study also suggests that to yawn is to be aware of oneself. We can identify ourselves in a mirror for instance. An infant does not have that ability so the success of a contagious yawn is small. I observed older people in a nursing home. Many cannot identify themselves in the mirror. Yawning to them created no reaction. They had a rather "flat" effect.
People with schizophrenic tendencies also had no reaction to visual yawning. Schizophrenia being one of many psychotic disorders that make it impossible to deal in reality, withdrawal, delusions. A study on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) showed the higher the SPQ score the lower number of contagious yawns.
So the question remains.... Why do we yawn? The answer seems to lie in our brains. Our behavior and state of mind will make us more vulnerable to catching a yawn.
The value of preschool is often overlooked as parents consider it for its utilitarian purposes. Although most preschools do function as a daycare, the merits gained from an early education follow children throughout their entire lives. Children at this ripe age are eager to learn, excited about the buzzing world aroun...
Sleep-learning has been thought to help people with traumatic problems such as anger, depression, or bad memories. Many people could take advantage of hypnopedia to relax the stress by listening to music or words that are healing to the ear.
Many people, including Elvis Presley have or had insomnia, "Elvis Presley had serious insomnia, by his ex-wife's account, and ultimately became addicted to Placidyl, a sedative so dangerous that it's no longer on the market."2 so it’s definitely common! Nothing to be greatly cautious about, but should most definitely be addressed by a doctor or a physician. If the insomnia is high, or does not go away on its own, then immediate attention and/or treatment is necessary because you may be suffering from other life threatening diseases such as: Congestive heart disorder, diabetes, or a Chiara malformation.
Preschool isn't just a place for parents to drop off their children while they are at work for the day. It is in preschool where children learn the necessary skills needed to succeed in school and in life. With high-quality preschools and qualified teachers the possibilities are endless. It's not only the children who reap the benefits of Early Childhood Education; their parents, fellow peers, and even society feel the positive effects of quality preschool programs. Children enrolled in quality preschool programs are more likely to succeed academically and socially when they are older.
Facial expressions have been studied for years and continue to be studied now by researchers. From all the studying that has taken place on facial expressions, there have been two major viewpoints that have spawned. The first viewpoint is emotional expression, this viewpoint says that facial expressions are sporadic and come from raw emotions. The expressions only portray emotion and nothing more. The other is the behavioral ecology viewpoint; this states that the expression is not for just emotion, but the opposite. This viewpoint says that expressions are used or enhanced by the actions and expressions of those around you. This viewpoint states that it is more of a social behavior. I conducted a study that contained 10 observations of other people participating in regular actions. I waited and watched their facial expressions and what may have caused them. From this, I determined which viewpoint their facial expressions aligned with. I plan to compare the results and give some generalizations of my findings. I will also share any interesting things I may have found while observing the people. Then, I will conclude by stating my own personal opinion on the two viewpoints judging by what my results were and what I actually believe.
Polletta, F., & Jasper, J. M. (2001). Collective identity and social movements. Annual review of Sociology, 283-305.
As has been noted in your response, the experiment performed was consistent with the facial feedback hypothesis. Although our averages for the portion of the experiment based on an individual with pursed lips varied slightly, the result of those who were asked to show bared teeth were the same. While this hypothesis is most fitting, one might attempt to apply other theories to the experimentation. Consider the dual-pathway model of fear, should one attempt to apply this concept to another emotion such as happiness, what might it look like (Nevid, 2015, p. 309)? It must be noted, this theory was not created as a concept to apply to happiness, thus its name, “model of fear”. Nonetheless, according to this “feel first, think second” concept,
Paul Hawken, in the chapter “Blessed Unrest,” records the people of a new social movement, as well as their ideals, goals, and principles. He writes how they are connected, along with the diversity and differences they bring to make the social movement unique. Hawken communicates to the readers the various social, environmental, and political problems they will encounter in today’s world as well as similar problems of the past. Problems that these groups of organizations are planning to undertake with the perseverance of humanity.
In 1953, Professor Nathaniel Kleitman and Eugene Aserinsky closely observed a stage of sleep that they called Rapid Eye Movement (REM). They used an electrooculogram, which they taped to the patient’s eyelids and it recorded eye movement which became rapid during REM sleep. They also used an electromyography to measure movements of the chin and neck during sleep. Surprisingly, they found that there was little movement in the chin and neck region, which is still...
Polletta, Francesca and James Jasper. “Collective Identity and Social Movements.” Annual Review of Sociology 27.1 (2001): 283–305. Print.
Researchers classify social movements according to the type of change they seek (Aberle, 1966, Cameron, 1966, Blumer, 1969, as cited in Macionis, 2007). According to John Macionis, a social movement is when people commonly band together to create an organized activity that encourages or discourages social change (Macionis, 2008). In the case of this radical society, Hippies were typically ...
Most common causes triggering sleep apnea are health issues; some known, while others are hidden. Countless individuals have a lack of awareness or a hesitation about seeking advice when having trouble sleeping.
While quiet breathing, external intercostal muscles contract, which causes the ribcage to expand and move up. The diaphragm then contracts and moves down. The volume of the chest cavity increases, the lungs expand and the pressure inside the lungs decreases. Air then flows into the lungs in response to the pressure gradient. Inspiration (inhalation or breathing in) is accomplished by increasing the space, therefore decreasing the
One out of every three people is affected by symptoms of mild insomnia. Those restless nights of staring at the ceiling could actually have an actual cause. The real issues of insomnia are the side effects that come from the sleep deprivation. The side effects could lead to much more serious physical and mental conditions so to understand the hows and whys of insomnia, every aspect of it must be explored.
I come from a background that is very disciplined and virtually militant as well as stringent. I was trained to only rely on my partner and teammates on cases we worked on together in investigations. Also, to only rely on facts. I remember one of my past trainers used to state, "Never assume anything because the word assumes just means ‘ASS-U-ME ', designating it would make an A** OUT OF YOU AND ME," by making assumptions. So, I learned to only see black and white with no gray area. Some cases could be so deep a person authentically didn 't authentically share information at all with outsiders or what one would call civilians. There were even those times we almost were not sure if you could even trust one another. Some cases were so hazardous that my life was nearly taken from me more than once or twice, and this caused me to be closed off and maybe at times even a little cold. Not always sure but very observant of my surroundings and watchful for the faults in people. This has been drilled, trained, and bred into me for more than fifteen years. All of this while keeping a composed front and appearance. Once getting into Forensic Science, things authentically took another turn for me regarding how I perceived the world through a lens of a camera, the studying of murdered victims, blood spatter, and trace evidence. This is actually my first semester being in the middle of crowds of civilians