2006-07-17 11:59:55 · 4 answers · asked by Adam 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Trivia
I know! I wonder the SAME THING!
Now, you want to yawn. If this describes you, then you have just "caught" a yawn. Between 40 and 60% of the population is susceptible to contagious yawns, but the reason why yawns are catching is unknown. Steven Platek, Ph.D. and a team of researchers from the Department of Psychology at the State University of New York (Albany, NY) investigated contagious yawns with a series of experiments. Their data suggest that being aware of one's own mental state ("self-recognition") and the ability to see things from another person's point of view ("mental state attribution") may make people susceptible to contagious yawns.
2006-07-17 12:01:04 · answer #1 · answered by ndtaya 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Because of our ability to be empathetic towards each other. Those that are affected by yawns are more empathetic than others that don't.
Empathy, or the ability to feel what other's are feeling, shoots a mental dart at us that tells us that we're tired when someone else yawns. Test it out in a group and see what happens. You can pick up on who is empathetic and who is the opposite.
2006-07-17 19:01:27 · answer #2 · answered by rattwagon 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because we see others breathing in our valuable air, and don't want to be cheated out of a possibly limited air supply!
2006-07-17 19:09:23 · answer #3 · answered by Brandon M 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i don't know but i think about that too.
2006-07-17 19:37:35 · answer #4 · answered by Gabriella M 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋