Is Yawning Contagious?
Summary. In this episode of the popular Discovery Channel program, the Mythbusters conduct a study to test the idea that yawning is contagious. Fifty people are asked to wait alone in a small room. In 34 cases, the participant was exposed to a “seed yawn” by the experimenter. The remaining 16 participants were not given the seed yawn. The participants were observed via hidden video camera to see if they yawn. The use of the hidden camera gives you a chance to discuss the ethical issues related to photographing or recording participants. Showing Mythbusters segments like this one is a good way to start a discussion on research approaches. Students can see the Mythbusters’ approach and then discuss which aspect of that approach they would keep or change.
Video. Mythbusters: Is Yawning Contagious? (Season 3, March 9, 2005). The full episode shows two studies of yawning. The second study is the one described here. Pause the video after Tori Belleci says “That was it. That's the last one. We're done.” The video can be seen here (as of July 2018).
Design: Two separate groups
Statistical analysis. The mythbusters report summary statistics only. They tested 50 people, with one-third of those in the control condition. The mythbusters report that 29% of the experimental group (10/34) yawned, and that 25% of the control group yawned (4/16). You could have students do a 2 x 2 chi-square test (chi-square = 0.11, p = .75). These data provide no convincing evidence that the seed yawn increased yawning.
Conclusions. The mythbusters conclude that the myth of the contagious yawn is confirmed. After seeing the final results, Jaime says “It's not dramatic, but it seems like it's pretty good to me." Adam agrees, concluding "Given how large our sample was, I'd say it's confirmed.”
Table 1. Mythbusters yawning data (derived from their summary of results).
Seed yawn No seed
No yawn 24 12
Yawn 10 4
The Excel file for this activity contains the 50 cases in random order.
Summary. In this episode of the popular Discovery Channel program, the Mythbusters conduct a study to test the idea that yawning is contagious. Fifty people are asked to wait alone in a small room. In 34 cases, the participant was exposed to a “seed yawn” by the experimenter. The remaining 16 participants were not given the seed yawn. The participants were observed via hidden video camera to see if they yawn. The use of the hidden camera gives you a chance to discuss the ethical issues related to photographing or recording participants. Showing Mythbusters segments like this one is a good way to start a discussion on research approaches. Students can see the Mythbusters’ approach and then discuss which aspect of that approach they would keep or change.
Video. Mythbusters: Is Yawning Contagious? (Season 3, March 9, 2005). The full episode shows two studies of yawning. The second study is the one described here. Pause the video after Tori Belleci says “That was it. That's the last one. We're done.” The video can be seen here (as of July 2018).
Design: Two separate groups
Statistical analysis. The mythbusters report summary statistics only. They tested 50 people, with one-third of those in the control condition. The mythbusters report that 29% of the experimental group (10/34) yawned, and that 25% of the control group yawned (4/16). You could have students do a 2 x 2 chi-square test (chi-square = 0.11, p = .75). These data provide no convincing evidence that the seed yawn increased yawning.
Conclusions. The mythbusters conclude that the myth of the contagious yawn is confirmed. After seeing the final results, Jaime says “It's not dramatic, but it seems like it's pretty good to me." Adam agrees, concluding "Given how large our sample was, I'd say it's confirmed.”
Table 1. Mythbusters yawning data (derived from their summary of results).
Seed yawn No seed
No yawn 24 12
Yawn 10 4
The Excel file for this activity contains the 50 cases in random order.