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Heather Nootbaar David Tues 1130

The Effect of Yawn Contagion on the Evolution of Empathy

Evolutionary theory suggests that altruistic behavior has evolved because of return-benefits for the performer. The performer needs to experience these benefits in order to have the motivation to implement such unselfish actions. It is suggested that empathy is an ideal mechanism to underlie altruism. Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. The perception of the emotional state of another activates shared representations causing a mutual emotional state in the observer. There is evidence surrounding this mechanism and its phylogenetic descent, perhaps as old as mammals and birds themselves (De Waal, 2008). Altruism is the belief in or practice of selfless concern for the well-being of others. Empathy-induced altruism acquires its strength from the emotional stake it offers one individual in the other’s welfare. There is ongoing research that suggests that the yawn contagion is related to the capacity for empathy. The yawn contagion is simply the act of yawning after witnessing another yawn, whether it is in person, on a screen, a photograph, or simply reading about it. Yawns are imitated by observers who pass their yawn along from one individual to another in a behavioral chain reaction. In many cases, it is difficult to determine empathy and altruistic actions among non-humans. But, evidence is present across species, such as primates and canids, who demonstrate this contagious yawning behavior. The sociality inherent in contagious yawning may provide a marker for empathetic responses during evolution and development and in pathology. In certain neurological and psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and autism, the patient has an impaired ability to infer the mental states of others. In such cases, yawn contagion can be used to evaluate their ability to infer or empathize with others (Provine, 2005). The dynamics of the empathy mechanism agree with predictions related to many social relationships including kin selection. The yawn contagion is an evolutionary mechanism for empathy supporting ingroup-outgroup bias across species and its impairment further corroborates these findings. Empathy allows one to rapidly relate to the emotional state of another. This is essential for social communication, organized activities and cooperation amongst individuals. Empathy may motivate altruism in primates and is visible in the similarity of facial expressions and vocalizations of both individuals involved. (De Waal, 2008). In humans, the susceptibility to yawn contagion has been related to the capacity for empathy. In relation to evolutionary biology, this phenomenon has been investigated in other non-human species. It is unclear whether this capacity for empathy is uniquely human or shared with other primates. In humans, the yawn contagion is shaped by social closeness, with closely bonded individuals showing a higher level of contagion that those of weakly bonded individuals. In a study involving gelada baboons, yawning was contagious between individuals, especially those that were socially close. This suggests that emotional proximity rather than spatial proximity is an indicator of yawn contagion (Palagi et al., 2009). Humans favor those that are similar to them, ingroup members, over those deemed different, outgroup members. This ingroup-outgroup bias is linked to instinctive human responses, such as empathy. If contagious yawning underlies empathy, it would be expected that yawning would be greater among individuals watching ingroup members yawn over outgroup members. This outcome was observed in a study involving twenty-three chimpanzees separated into two distinct groups. The chimpanzees yawned more when watching the familiar members’ yawns than those of unfamiliar individuals (Campbell and de Waal, 2011). A study of bonobos revealed their capacity to respond to yawns of conspecifics. Similar to humans, in bonobos the yawning response occurred within the first minute after the observation of the yawn. As in the chimpanzee study, the yawn contagion increased when individuals were strongly bonded (Demuru and Palagi, 2012). Contagious yawning has been documented outside of humans, in other primates, and provides a vital link as well as evidence that closely bonded or kin are more likely to demonstrate empathy. Evidence for the occurrence of contagious yawning linked to empathy is rare outside of primates and has only recently been studied on canid species, such as the domestic dog and wolf. Domestic dogs have shown the ability to yawn contagiously. However, contagious yawning in dogs has received contradictory support and alternative explanations, such as the yawn as a distress response. In order to determine if yawning is an empathetic or distress related response, a study was conducted. Twenty-five dogs observed familiar and unfamiliar humans acting out a yawn or other mouth movements. The occurrence of yawn contagion was significantly higher during the yawning rather than during other mouth movements. Also, the dogs yawned more frequently when watching the familiar model than the unfamiliar one. This demonstrated that the contagiousness of yawning in dogs is correlated with some level of emotional proximity (Romero et al. 2013). Domestic dogs have demonstrated they are skilled at reading human communication behaviors. This ability creates a challenge as to if the yawn contagion among domestic dogs is deeply rooted in their evolutionary history or as a result of domestication. In a very recent study, wolves were observed in an effort to answer this question. The results of the study showed that wolves are capable of yawn contagion, which suggest that this ability is a common ancestral trait shared by other mammals (Romero et al., 2014). Also, in support of previous research, the social bond strength between individuals affected the frequency of contagious yawning. This suggests that wolves’ predisposition to yawn contagion relates to a level of emotional proximity. The results of these various studies are consistent with the idea that the underlying mechanism of contagious yawning relates to empathetic ability and proposes that the basic building blocks of empathy may be present in a wide range of species. The absence of a response to the yawn contagion is another indication of its connection to empathy. There are various neurological and psychiatric disorders that are known to cause abnormal patterns of spontaneous yawning, but little information as to whether the neuropathology causes in impairment of contagious yawning. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder which severely affects social and communicative development, including empathy. In an effort to test the relatedness of contagious yawning to the capacity for empathy, individuals with autism spectrum disorder were studied. It was predicted that these individuals, who have impairment in empathy, would show disturbances in contagious yawning. Twenty-four children with autism spectrum disorder as well as twenty-five age equivalent typically-developing children observed video clips of either yawning or other mouth movements. The yawning video clips produced more yawns in typically-developing children than children with autism spectrum disorder (Senju et al., 2007). In a similar study, twenty-eight children with autism spectrum disorder, ages 6-15, were tested for their susceptibility to contagious yawning. The results showed a diminished susceptibility to contagious yawn compared to the control group of typically-developing children. Additionally, children diagnosed with pervasive development disorder, not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), which is a milder form of autism, were more susceptible to contagious yawning than children diagnosed with full autistic disorder (Helt and Eigsti, 2010). Since atypical development of empathy is reported in autism spectrum disorder, results support the claim that contagious yawning and the capacity of empathy share common neural and cognitive mechanisms. Similarly, patients suffering neurological and psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, have shown an impaired ability to empathize with others. Contagious yawning is one means of evaluating such disorders. People who are not clinically ill but are schizotypal, means those who are deficient in their ability to infer with what others want, know or intend to do and have other problems in thought and behavior, were found to have reduced susceptibility to contagious yawning. The Canadian psychiatrist Heinz Lehmann claimed that increases in yawning could predict recovery in schizophrenia (Provine, 2005). The impairment of contagious yawning can provide greater insight as to its connection the underlying causes of empathy and ultimate relation to altruism. Contagious yawning is a well-documented phenomenon, but remarkably little is known about its underlying mechanisms. The property of contagiousness offer an opportunity to explore neurological roots of social behavior, face detection, empathy, imitation and the possible pathology of these processes in autism and schizophrenia. Various studies have proposed it is related to the capacity of empathy. Empathy is one ideal mechanism to explain altruism, for it is the recognition of another’s feelings that activates a shared emotional state in the viewer. The absence of contagious yawning is also very useful in determining its relation to empathy. Knowing that the yawning contagion is impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorder, a disorder that impairs empathy, allows one to draw certain conclusions. Contagious yawning is reported in humans and other primates and only recently in other species, such as the domestic dog and wolves. Such studies have revealed that yawn contagion is most prevalent among individuals of close relatedness or sharing some sort of emotional connection. This result can provide further support for the question of its relatedness to empathy, as well as aid in answering other research questions. Knowing that contagious yawning is demonstrated among close individuals, it can be used as an indicator of such relationships, which may be potentially useful in other areas of research.

References

1. Campbell, M. W., & De Waal, F. B. 2011. Ingroup-outgroup bias in contagious yawning by chimpanzees supports link to empathy. PloS one, 6(4), e18283.

2. Demuru, E., & Palagi, E. 2012. In bonobos yawn contagion is higher among kin and friends. PloS one, 7(11), e49613.

3. De Waal, F. B. 2008. Putting the altruism back into altruism: the evolution of empathy. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 59, 279-300.

4. Helt, M. S., Eigsti, I. M., Snyder, P. J., & Fein, D. A. 2010. Contagious yawning in autistic and typical development. Child development, 81(5), 1620-1631.

5. Palagi, E., Leone, A., Mancini, G., & Ferrari, P. F. 2009. Contagious yawning in gelada baboons as a possible expression of empathy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(46), 19262-19267.

6. Provine, R. R. 2005. Yawning: the yawn is primal, unstoppable and contagious, revealing the evolutionary and neural basis of empathy and unconscious behavior. American scientist, 532-539.

7. Romero, T., Ito, M., Saito, A., & Hasegawa, T. 2014. Social Modulation of Contagious Yawning in Wolves. PloS one, 9(8), e105963.

8. Romero, T., Konno, A., & Hasegawa, T. 2013. Familiarity bias and physiological responses in contagious yawning by dogs support link to empathy. PloS one, 8(8), e71365.

9. Senju, A., Maeda, M., Kikuchi, Y., Hasegawa, T., Tojo, Y., & Osanai, H. 2007. Absence of contagious yawning in children with autism spectrum disorder. Biology letters, 3(6), 706-708.

Assignment due 10/1:

Article address: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yawn

Article suggestions: 1. There is research that suggests that the occurrence of contagious yawning is linked to empathy. Until recently, it has only been observed in humans and primates. Research shows that domestic dogs have demonstrated this ability when exposed to human yawns. 2. A recent study has shown that wolves are also capable of contagious yawn. This research could propose that this ability is a mammalian ancestral trait. 3. This new research suggests a common mechanism for this yawn contagion and its relation to the capacity for empathy. Due to the fact that this yawn contagion is found among other animals, it suggests that empathy may be present in a wide range of species.

Article addition: Dogs demonstrate contagious yawning when exposed to human yawning. Dogs are very adept at reading human communication actions, so it is unclear if this phenomenon is rooted in evolutionary history or a result of domestication.

Citation: Romero, T., Ito, M., Saito, A., & Hasegawa, T. (2014). Social Modulation of Contagious Yawning in Wolves. PloS one, 9(8), e105963.

EEOB 3310 Heather Nootbaar

Annotated Bibliography

1. De Waal, F. B. (2008). Putting the altruism back into altruism: the evolution of empathy. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 59, 279-300.

This article discusses the evolution of empathy and altruism. In order to determine the roots of altruistic behaviors, empathy was used because it is an ideal mechanism. There is evidence that this mechanism is phylogenetically ancient. The perception of the emotional state of another activates a shared representation, which causes the observer a similar emotional state. It is important to understand the concept of empathy and its origins in order to see how it applies to humans and other animals, as well as if it is evolutionarily significant.

2. Provine, R. R. (2005). Yawning: the yawn is primal, unstoppable and contagious, revealing the evolutionary and neural basis of empathy and unconscious behavior. American scientist, 532-539.

This article is all about the yawn. It discusses various types, but most importantly, it brings up the idea that it can be very helpful in revealing evolutionary questions. The article addresses the yawns roots in sociality. For example, the idea that the underlying mechanism of the contagious response is likely involved with a neurological detector; but it not involved in the conscious desire to replicate the act. The article also touches on the idea that yawning’s evolutionary history can be seen in its occurrences around the animal kingdom, considering most vertebrates yawn. But, contagious yawning has only really been observed in primates and humans. The observed disappearance of yawning in some neurological and psychiatric disorder also suggests that contagious yawning is a measure of sociality.

3. Romero, T., Ito, M., Saito, A., & Hasegawa, T. (2014). Social Modulation of Contagious Yawning in Wolves. PloS one, 9(8), e105963.

This article expands upon the idea that contagious yawn is linked to empathy. This evidence is a tool that can be used to examine the root of empathy in animal evolution. Many studies have found a weak link to yawn and empathy outside of primates. But recently, it was found that domestic dogs exhibit this ability when exposed to human yawns. To understand if the reasoning behind their ability was linked to the evolutionary history of mammals or evolved as a result of domestication, researchers took a look at wolves. They found that wolves are capable of yawn contagion, which suggests that the ability is a common ancestral trait shared by other mammals.

4. Palagi, E., Leone, A., Mancini, G., & Ferrari, P. F. (2009). Contagious yawning in gelada baboons as a possible expression of empathy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(46), 19262-19267.

This article also expands upon the idea of empathy and if it is uniquely human or shared with other primates. In this study, baboons were susceptible to the yawning contagion, especially with those they were socially close to. This is unique in the fact that emotional proximity rather than spatial proximity was what caused the yawn contagion. These findings revealed that there are emotional connections between individuals and through this phenomenon the baboons could be another building block in for actual empathy.

5. Campbell, M. W., & De Waal, F. B. (2011). Ingroup-outgroup bias in contagious yawning by chimpanzees supports link to empathy. PloS one, 6(4), e18283.

This article surrounded the study of ingroup-outgroup bias among chimpanzees. They used the idea that contagious yawning is linked to empathy. They studied 23 chimpanzees and if empathy does underlie contagious yawning they expected to see ingroup-outgroup bias by yawning more in response to watching ingroup member yawn than outgroup. The results provided further support that contagious yawning is a measure of empathy, which may be very useful for evolutionary biologists.