Joly-Mascheroni R, Forster B, Llorente M, Valsera C, Gomara A, Crailsheim D, Calvo-Merino B
Centre for Clinical, Social and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, School of Health and Medical Sciences, City St George's University of London, Northampton Square, EC1V 0HB, London, UK.
Comparative Minds Research Group, Departament de Psicologia, Universitat de Girona, Plaça Sant Domènech 9, 17007, Girona, Spain.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jun 5;15(1):18002. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-98639-z.
This study explores contagious yawning in adult chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the presence of a non-biological humanoid agent, an android. Chimpanzees observed an android portraying specific facial expressions, including yawns and gapes. The results showed that adult chimpanzees exhibited across-agent yawn contagion, with a graded response: the highest contagion occurred when the android displayed a fully wide-open mouth (Yawn condition), a reduced response when the mouth was partially opened (Gape condition), and no contagion when the android's mouth was closed (Close condition). Additionally, chimpanzees engaged in behaviours associated with drowsiness, such as gathering bedding materials, constructing nests, and lying down, while observing the android yawning. This suggests that yawning by an unfamiliar model may act as a contextual cue for rest, rather than merely triggering a motor resonance response. These findings contribute to the understanding of non-human primates' susceptibility to contagiously induced behaviours, specifically yawns, even when triggered by an artificial agent. This study highlights the role of social factors in shaping yawn contagion and calls for further research on cross-species and cross-agent interactions.
本研究探讨了成年黑猩猩（Pan troglodytes）在面对一个非生物类人代理——机器人时的传染性打哈欠现象。黑猩猩观察了机器人展现的特定面部表情，包括打哈欠和张大嘴巴。结果表明，成年黑猩猩表现出跨代理的哈欠传染现象，且有分级反应：当机器人展示完全张开的嘴巴时（打哈欠状态），传染率最高；当嘴巴部分张开时（张大嘴巴状态），反应减弱；当机器人嘴巴闭合时（闭合状态），则没有传染现象。此外，黑猩猩在观察机器人打哈欠时，会做出与困倦相关的行为，比如收集铺垫材料、搭建巢穴和躺下。这表明，陌生模型的打哈欠可能作为休息的情境线索，而不仅仅是触发运动共鸣反应。这些发现有助于理解非人类灵长类动物对传染性诱导行为（特别是哈欠）的易感性，即使这种行为是由人工代理触发的。本研究强调了社会因素在塑造哈欠传染中的作用，并呼吁对跨物种和跨代理互动进行进一步研究。
