This article discusses how yawning in chimpanzees actually suggests a social connection between these individual animals, according to a recent study. The study was conducted in a research center at Emory University. Scientists were first led to this theory upon the realization that chimpanzees yawn more after viewing other chimps whom they know yawn, than after viewing strangers yawn. Two researchers at the center, Matthew Campbell and Frans de Waal, say that their findings support the idea that contagious yawning is in fact a sign of empathy, because the patterns they noticed in chimpanzees were similar to those they have observed in humans. The study that was carried out involved housing 23 adult chimpanzees in two different groups; the chimps in both groups were shown videos of other chimps either yawning or engaging in another activity. Results illustrate that the animals yawned 50% more often after seeing members of their group yawn than they did after seeing others yawn.
Given that humans are known to be more sensitive to members of their own social group when seeing people go through pain, scientists now wonder whether contagious yawning in human shows the same patterns as those in chimps. The only distinguishing factor may be the in-group/out-group difference from a chimp’s perspective as opposed to a human’s perspective. The recent findings on chimpanzees, however, may very well help scientists better understand empathy in humans, because these experiments make empathy a “purely behavioral” topic of study.
I greatly enjoyed this article. I highly value the author’s inclusion of the relationship between empathy in chimpanzees and empathy in humans. Drawing this sort of link allows the reader to better understand the scientific and real-world significance of conducting a test on the way in which chimpanzees’ yawn. The article was also written well and was easy to understand. I liked that explanation was generally provided following the introduction of new information or test results. Although I found the article intriguing for the most part, I felt that more statistics would have made it more interesting. While it mentioned one set of particular results from a study, the article could have been made more appealing and memorable by including more numbers and facts.
"Chimpanzees' Contagious Yawning Evidence of Empathy, Not Just Sleepiness, Study Shows." Biology News Net - Latest Biology Articles, News & Current Events. Emory University, 6 Apr. 2011. Web. 07 Apr. 2011.
posted for L. Detwiler
Elizabeth Detwiler did a fabulous job at reviewing the article about chimpanzees. I love that she highlighted the connection between chimps and humans. I think it is really important to do that, because it shows that theses studies could have an impact on us and apply to us. Although she said she wished there had been more statistics, she still managed to include a statistic in her review. Numbers always help emphasize points and put things in context. Her review was also very fluid and easy to read. It was not choppy or difficult to understand.
ReplyDeleteI was a little confused about how the experiment was actually conducted and the in-group/out-group format for the experiment. If she had spent a little more time explaining that it would have been very helpful. I would also really like to know if these findings apply to other primates other than chimpanzees. I think it would also have been interesting if she had included some more information about the origins of this research.
I was really impressed by this article, because I’m fascinated by how this study started and who thought of studying this. I also think its very interesting because the contagious yawn is known by a lot of people, but I never knew that it had to do with empathy.
John Gray
ReplyDeleteLiz did an informative critique and overview of the article she selected for her review. The first thing that she did well was that she never lingered too long on one fact in the article. She would talk about the useful attached to each point and then move on. This style made for a review that was very readable while still being informative. The next thing she did well was explaining what her article was about in an understandable way. Before I began to read her review I had not the slightest idea what it would be about or how it would pertain to humans, but after reading her article my questions were answered. Another thing Liz did well was that she described the set up of the chimps that were observed. She then described how these experiments pertained to humans the best she could.
There were a few things Liz could have done better. She could have picked a better article. I just didn’t get the connection between yawning and empathy (personally, I think it’s a load of something.) Also, while Liz explained the findings of the scientists in a very vague way. She never went into specifics and so left people who hadn’t read the article in the dust.
I found the article to be a little boring to be honest. I didn’t think what the scientists were saying held much water and for that reason I took little interest in the article. I don't think it's universally agreed upon that yawning is contagious either...
One thing that I thought was very well presented was her summary of the article. It was enough to understand what the main idea of the article was about, but not to the extent that she rewrote everything that the article said about it. Also I enjoyed her commentary of the article. It was not just the boring I liked this because, but she really went in depth with her commentary. I also liked how she gave insight on the topic. What I thought could have been good was to add in the little statistics that were written in the article. I also thought she could have explained the human part of the topic a bit more. It was a little confusing. I was very impressed by this article. It helped me open my mind up to the thought that there could be other similarities between humans and chimps. I also took pleasure in wondering whether contagious yawning in humans does show the same patterns as in chimps.
ReplyDeleteKatherine Bopp
1. I liked this article review because it successfully summarized the reasons that led scientists to believe that chimpanzee’s yawning is related to empathy. By explaining the connection to humans, Lizzie explained this in a very understandable way.
ReplyDelete2. I also liked this article review because Lizzie explained the experiments that scientists conducted in order to determine the fact that chimpanzees’ yawning is related to empathy. Because she explained the experiments that the scientists conducted, this article seems more interest and credible.
3. Finally, I liked how Lizzie explained that both chimpanzees and humans react more strongly to pain of a member of their own social groups. This draws a parallel between the animals and humans in an interesting way.
1. One aspect of this article review that I thought could be improved was an explanation on what the scientists will do with this newly gathered information, and what other information they wish to gather.
2. Another aspect of this article that I thought could be improved was an explanation on whether or not the scientists had tested this theory on any other animals, and whether or not this links the development of our brains in a new way.
1. I thought this article was extremely interesting because it shows yet another link between our minds and the minds of chimps. It is almost unbelievable that we could be so closely related to a species that seems so different.