BBC Learnings · Section 9

Why does seeing someone yawn make us yawn

What do you do when you're tired, Rob? Well, I go to bed.

Level: B2 · 129 sentences

Transcript

  1. What do you do when you're tired, Rob?
  2. Well, I go to bed.
  3. Before that?
  4. I clean my teeth.
  5. But what does your body do to tell you you're tired?
  6. Right, well these days I just kind of fall asleep
  7. in front of the TV.
  8. Yes, but OK, what am I doing now?
  9. Oh yes, hang on. Yes, you set me off.
  10. Yawning. Yes, yawning is a sign that we're tired or bored.
  11. Are you tired or bored now?
  12. No, not particularly.
  13. So why did you just yawn?
  14. Well, because you did.
  15. That's the thing about yawns – they are contagious.
  16. They can spread from one person to another.
  17. And that's what we're looking at in this programme.
  18. But first, today's question.
  19. What biological function does yawning have? Essentially, why do we yawn?
  20. Is it a to take in more oxygen,
  21. b to get rid of carbon dioxide
  22. from our body, c no-one really knows?
  23. What do you think, Rob? I know this.
  24. We yawn to take in more oxygen.
  25. I'm pretty sure that's it.
  26. OK, we'll see if you're correct
  27. at the end of the programme.
  28. John Drury is a researcher from Sussex University.
  29. On the BBC Radio 4 series All In The Mind,
  30. he spoke about yawning and why it is contagious.
  31. Which animal does he mention will also
  32. catch a yawn from its owner?
  33. Yawning is actually a difficult case
  34. when it comes to these contagious behaviours.
  35. It is the most contagious behaviour.
  36. It's meant to be automatic.
  37. It's something that you can't stop.
  38. Dogs yawn when their owners yawn.
  39. Animals yawn to each other.
  40. It happens whether you want to or not.
  41. These kind of effects have been found for other kinds
  42. of behaviour so really we were trying to push
  43. it as far as we could and see
  44. if there's a cognitive element to this influence behaviour.
  45. Which animal might yawn when its owner does? Dogs.
  46. Dogs can catch a yawn from their owners.
  47. Yes, yawning is a very contagious behaviour.
  48. The use of the word behaviour here is interesting.
  49. Normally it is an uncountable noun
  50. to describe the way we act,
  51. either in a good or a bad way.
  52. We talk about, for example, dogs'
  53. or children's behaviour being good or bad.
  54. But it's also used as an uncountable noun when we're talking
  55. about a particular action that, for example,
  56. an animal makes in particular situations.
  57. These behaviours are often not conscious
  58. but are an automatic response to a situation.
  59. And the researchers were looking to see
  60. if there was a cognitive side to the behaviour,
  61. which means they were looking at the mental process,
  62. what is happening in the mind
  63. to make us yawn, particularly when someone else yawns.
  64. Let's listen again.
  65. Yawning is actually a difficult case
  66. when it comes to these contagious behaviours.
  67. It is the most contagious behaviour.
  68. It's meant to be automatic.
  69. It's something that you can't stop.
  70. Dogs yawn when their owners yawn.
  71. Animals yawn to each other.
  72. It happens whether you want to or not.
  73. These kind of effects have been found for other kinds
  74. of behaviour so really we were trying to push
  75. it as far as we could and see
  76. if there's a cognitive element to this influence behaviour.
  77. The research discovered that contagious yawning
  78. is connected with our social group
  79. and how close we feel to the people in it.
  80. Here's John Drury again.
  81. So the more that you identify with the in-group target
  82. the more likely you are to copy their behavior.
  83. What we do when we see a behavior
  84. is at some level we're making
  85. a judgment about whether the person exhibiting that behavior,
  86. whether it's an emotion or a scratching behavior or anything, is relevant.
  87. Does their behavior indicate to us how we should behave?
  88. So essentially yawning is more contagious if we identify
  89. with the person who yawns first.
  90. If we feel close to and belong
  91. in the same group as the person who exhibits the behaviour,
  92. the person who does the yawning,
  93. we are likely to yawn too.
  94. So you're less likely to yawn
  95. if a stranger yawns than if someone
  96. in your close family or circle of friends yawns.
  97. Let's listen again.
  98. So the more that you identify with the in-group target,
  99. the more likely you are to copy their behaviour.
  100. What we do when we see a behaviour
  101. is at some level we're making
  102. a judgement about whether the person exhibiting that behaviour,
  103. whether it's an emotion or a scratching behaviour or anything, is relevant.
  104. Does their behaviour indicate to us how we should behave?
  105. Right, before we review the vocabulary,
  106. let's have the answer to our quiz.
  107. Why do we yawn?
  108. Is it a to take in more oxygen?
  109. B to get rid of carbon dioxide from our body
  110. or c no one really knows.
  111. Rob, what did you say? Well,
  112. I was pretty sure it was a to take in more oxygen.
  113. There is in fact no clear biological reason
  114. for yawning that is agreed upon,
  115. so no one really knows. We've been talking about yawning,
  116. the action of opening our mouths wide open
  117. and stretching our eardrums when tired or bored.
  118. Yawning can also be contagious.
  119. This means it can pass from one person to another.
  120. And a yawn can be described as a behaviour,
  121. a particular kind of automatic action
  122. in response to a particular situation.
  123. The word cognitive is related to our mental processes,
  124. the way our minds work.
  125. If you identify with a particular group,
  126. you feel close to that group
  127. and feel that you belong in that group.
  128. And finally, to exhibit a behaviour
  129. is to actually do that particular behaviour.