Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
Child Dev. 2010 Sep-Oct;81(5):1620-31. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01495.x.
The authors tested susceptibility to contagious yawning in 120 children, 1-6 years, to identify the time course of its emergence during development. Results indicated a substantial increase in the frequency of contagious yawning at 4 years. In a second study, the authors examined contagious yawning in 28 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), 6-15 years. Children with ASD showed diminished susceptibility to contagious yawning compared with 2 control groups matched for mental and chronological age, respectively. In addition, children diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) a milder variant of autism, were more susceptible to contagious yawning than were children diagnosed with full Autistic Disorder. The authors explore the implications of these findings for theories about the development of mimicry and emotional contagion.
作者测试了 120 名 1 至 6 岁儿童对传染性哈欠的易感性，以确定其在发育过程中出现的时间进程。结果表明，在 4 岁时，传染性哈欠的频率显著增加。在第二项研究中，作者研究了 28 名自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童的传染性哈欠，这些儿童年龄在 6 至 15 岁之间。与分别匹配心理年龄和实际年龄的两个对照组相比，患有 ASD 的儿童对传染性哈欠的易感性降低。此外，被诊断为广泛发育障碍、未特定型（PDD-NOS）的儿童比被诊断为典型自闭症的儿童更容易受到传染性哈欠的影响。作者探讨了这些发现对模仿和情感感染发展理论的意义。
