Boing Boing: Chimp yawns are contagious too

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Chimp yawns are contagious too

Yawning is contagious among chimps as well as humans. Scientists at the University of Stirling showed video of chimps yawning and grinning to other chimps, several of whom then followed suite. According to a New Scientist article, the experiment supports the notion that chimps, well, grok each other on a pretty deep level. The results of the experiment are strikingly similar to other studies on contagious yawning among humans conducted by evolutionary psychologist Gordon Gallup.

"Our data suggest that contagious yawning is a by-product of the ability to conceive of yourself and to use your experience to make inferences about comparable experiences and mental states in others," Gallup told New Scientist.

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posted by David Pescovitz at 08:28:17 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

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