why? when u saw someone yawning, u also yawn? it's not contiguous,right?

Answer 1

it is just a natrual feeling u get when u see someone else yawn and u yawn.

Answer 2

i believe it to be only because when i yawn i immediately look around to see who else is yawning and all of the times I've looked, i see someone else yawning. but u know what else is strange too, is when I'm talking to someone on the phone and they yawn, i yawn almost at the same time. its crazy but its true.

Answer 3

Yawning is contagious in that sense.
I read somewhere that your reaction time to yawing after someone else has been linked to how empathetic/sympathetic you are. The more empathetic/sympathetic, the quicker you will yawn after someone else. Coldhearted people where found to have a delay in their yawn, or dont yawn at all after someone else.
Interesting hunh??

Answer 4

When you yawn, it affects the air pressure immediately around you; this change causes a ripple effect in the air until it reaches the persons nearest to you and then they yawn in an attempt to equalize the air pressure around them. Chain-yawning is simply an attempt to restore equalized air pressures in the immediate atmosphere.

Answer 5

Hypothesized causes of yawning

1. An indication of tiredness, stress, over-work, or boredom.
2. An action indicating psychological decompression after a state of high alert.
3. A means of expressing powerful emotions like anger, rejection, apathy or tedium.
4. Caused by low oxygen in the blood

A previous long-standing hypothesis is that yawning is caused by an excess of carbon dioxide and lack of oxygen in the blood. The brain stem detects this and triggers the yawn reflex. The mouth stretches wide and the lungs inhale deeply, bringing oxygen into the lungs and hence to the bloodstream. It is almost certain, however, that this hypothesis is not correct. One study has documented that this effect does not exist.[2]

A more recent hypothesis is that yawning is used for regulation of body temperature. Another hypothesis is that yawns are caused by the same chemicals (neurotransmitters) in the brain that affect emotions, mood, appetite and other phenomena. These chemicals include serotonin, dopamine, glutamic acid and nitric oxide. As more of these compounds are activated in the brain, the frequency of yawning increases. Conversely, a greater presence in the brain of opiate neurotransmitters such as endorphins reduces the frequency of yawning. Patients taking the serotonin reuptake inhibitor Paxil (Paroxetine HCl) have been observed yawning abnormally often. Another theory is that yawning is similar to stretching. Yawning, like stretching, increases blood pressure and heart rate while also flexing many muscles and joints. It is also theorized that yawning helps redistribute an oil-like substance which coats the lungs and aids breathing. Some have observed that if you try to stifle or prevent a yawn by clenching your jaws shut, the yawn is unsatisfying. As such, the stretching of jaw and face muscles seems to be necessary for a good yawn.

Some movements in psychotherapy such as Re-evaluation Counseling or co-counselling believe that yawning, along with laughter and crying, are means of "discharging" painful emotion, and therefore can be encouraged in order to promote physical and emotional healing.

[edit] Contagiousness

The yawn reflex is often described as contagious: if one person yawns, this will cause another person to "sympathetically" yawn.[3] The proximate cause for contagious yawning may lie with mirror neurons, i.e. neurons in the frontal cortex of certain vertebrates, which upon being exposed to a stimulus from conspecific (same species) and occasionally interspecific organisms, activates the same regions in the brain[4]. Mirror neurons have been proposed as a driving force for Imitation which lies at the root of much human learning, e.g. language acquisition. Yawning may be an offshoot of the same imitative impulse. At a distal level (in terms of evolutionary advantage), yawning might be a herd instinct.[5] Other theories suggest that the yawn serves to synchronize mood behavior among gregarious animals, similar to the howling of the wolf pack during a full moon. It signals tiredness to other members of the group in order to synchronize sleeping patterns and periods of activity. It can serve as a warning in displaying large, canine teeth. This phenomenon has been observed among various primates. The threat gesture is a way of maintaining order in the primates' social structure. The contagion of yawning is interspecific, for example a human yawning in front of a pet dog can incite the dog to yawn as well. Oddly, sometimes sympathetic yawning may be caused by simply looking at a picture of a person or animal yawning, or even seeing the word yawn.

Answer 6

when someone yawns, and another person sees it, that persons brain thinks that there is not enough oxygen in the room, so it signals the 2nd person to yawn to gain more oxygen. i know that it sounds weird, but i read that in some magazine. i think it's cool, kind of a survival thing.

Answer 7

no i just think that people are reminded about yawning when they see someone else yawn so they just want that feeling too an i felt like yawing when i heard this too! lol

Answer 8

the power of suggestion...usually someone yawns when they are feeling tired...and when one person is tired in a certain situation those that are with them in the same situation are usually tired as well further empowering the "contagious" yawn

Answer 9

yes i have. but its not contiguous

you just see someone yawn and then you feel like yawing so you yawn. i just yawned. lol

Answer 10

oh but it is. aren't you yawning now? I am.