Contagious yawning and infant imitation

Abstract

Several authors have suggested that the neonate’s presumed ability to imitate the facial expressions or gestures of adult models may be the result of ethological fixed action patterns released by sign stimuli. Contagious yawning of adults is a precedent for such a facial fixed action pattern (i.e., a yawn) triggered by a facial stimulus (i.e., an observed yawn). Contagious yawning is an easily studied pseudoimitative act which can provide insights into both the problem of infant imitation and the more general issues concerning the detection and processing of information about faces. Contagious yawning also provides a reliable classroom demonstration of released behavior that always generates student interest and participation. © 1989, The Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.