AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Other scientists believe that contagious yawning is due to a phenomenon called Non-conscious Mimicry. This has been nicknamed the chameleon effect because of one’s tendency to mimic what is around them. Therefore, if someone sees another person yawn, they suddenly have an urge to yawn themselves.

Detailed explanation-2: -Such a “chameleon effect” may manifest itself in different ways. One may notice using the idiosyncratic verbal expressions or speech inflections of a friend. Or one may notice crossing one’s arms while talking with someone else who has his or her arms crossed.

Detailed explanation-3: -Also called unintentional mirroring, the chameleon effect usually applies to people who are getting along so well, each tend to mimic each other’s body posture, hand gestures, speaking accents, among others. This was confirmed by the Chartrand and Bargh experiments.

Detailed explanation-4: -Chameleons not just use mimicry for hiding but functions in social signaling and reacts to temperature, and other conditions, such as camouflage. Also chameleons tend to show darker colors when its angry or attempt to scare others.

Detailed explanation-5: -Experts classify yawns into two types: A yawn that occurs on its own, which experts call spontaneous yawning, and a yawn that occurs after seeing someone else do it, which experts call contagious yawning. (Yep, secret’s out of the bag-yawning is indeed contagious.)