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Chimpanzees Catch Yawns From Android Head

Visual yawning signals from an inanimate robot prompted 57.1% of chimpanzees to yawn followed by other rest-related behaviors at a Spanish sanctuary.

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Chimpanzees Catch Yawns From Androids In Breakthrough For Contagious Yawning Research
Researchers programmed a humanoid robotic head with lifelike skin and facial features to yawn as humans do, and exposed 14 adult chimps to it

Overview

  • Researchers from City St George’s, University of London and Universitat de Girona tested 14 adult chimpanzees aged 10 to 33 at the Fundació Mona Primate Sanctuary in Spain.
  • The android head generated three facial expressions—yawning, gaping, and neutral—each lasting ten seconds and powered by 33 internal motors.
  • During 15-minute exposure sessions, wide-open yawns produced the strongest contagion response, partial gaping elicited a weaker reaction, and closed-mouth expressions had no effect.
  • Chimpanzees that mirrored the robot’s yawns also gathered bedding materials and lay down, behaviors typically associated with relaxation or drowsiness.
  • Published in Scientific Reports, the findings suggest that a non-biological agent can trigger contagious yawning and point to an evolutionarily ancient non-verbal communicative mechanism.