Talk:Yawn
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Yawn was a good article candidate, but did not meet the good article criteria at the time. Once the objections listed below are addressed, the article can be renominated. You may also seek a review of the decision if you feel there was a mistake.
Date of review: 31 December 2006 |
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[edit] Failed For Good Article
This article failed good article nomination. In one editor's humble opinion, measured the six good article criteria:
1. Well written?: Parts are well written, but overall the effect is lacking and seems disjointed. Sections should be more than one sentence long. "Hypothesized causes" should be prose, but not a combination of prose and a list.
2. Factually accurate?: Several authoritative statements are made without attribution, especially in the "Hypothesized..." section.
3. Broad in coverage?: Ok.
4. Neutral point of view?: Ok.
5. Article stability? Ok.
6. Images?: Ok.
Good work so far. Kghusker 04:38, 31 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Early discussion
A lot of the structure of the article or essay seems to come from "The straight dope" article on 19-Sep-1986. Including the bits about penguins and the long held belief.
Quotations need attribution.
I have minor issues with this bit:
Yawning is a powerful non-verbal message with several possible meanings, depending on the circumstances:
- It's a not-always-so-subtle cue for attention, sympathy and a respite due to tiredness, stress, over-work or boredom.
- An action indicating psychological decompression after a state of high alert.
- A means of expressing powerful emotions like anger and rejection.
I don't think #1 is really a cue for attention in itself, and the phrase "not-always-so-subtle" sounds too much like an ironic way of saying "blatant". I think it'd be better stated as an indicator of tiredness, etc. I'll change that now. #2 is...I dunno. I'm not familiar with yawning in that context. #3 is definitely unfamiliar to me; I don't know anybody who yawns because he's angry! It may partly be a cultural thing, but if so, it should be marked as such.
Also, the idea of yawning being contagious could possibly be elaborated further. I've yawned numerous times in making this post because it's about yawning. :P
--Furrykef 19:27, 21 May 2004 (UTC)
I don't like how the first section is written in the past tense:
A long-standing theory behind yawning is that there was too much carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen in the blood. The brain stem was assumed to detect this and would trigger the yawn reflex. The mouth stretches wide and the lungs inhaled deeply, causing oxygen into the lungs and thence to the bloodstream. This is not certain however: a more recent theory is that it is a form of bodily temperature regulation.
so i've changed it
Guy
speaking of that part, i'm quite confused. i frequently experience chain yawning when air quality is poor and in a crowded room (places where logically there is less oxygen available)or when talking for a very long time without any break, and the only way to stave it off is to conciously take deep breaths. wouldn't this support the idea of it being an oxygen-deficiency problem triggered by too high a CO2-to-Oxygen ratio? note that plenty of people have the same experience as me, but otherwise i haven't seen anything scientific on it.
Is it just me, or does everyone involuntarily yawn after reading this page? --Sum0 18:57, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)
- I just had a cup of coffee and I can't freakin stop. I'll go get another cup and freak myself out with spiders, that'll wake me up. --Cuervo 16:25, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
- Seriously! I yawned at least 10 times before I finished reading.Cacophony 00:48, May 22, 2005 (UTC)
- I actually yawned while watching the animals. Ugh and I'm yawning while writing this... John C PI 09:10, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
I changed the footnote style, thinking it was a new feature of the MW update and actually good. Turns out it's pretty much the same as the old footnote style, so revert if you want. For the NeuroImage paper I think the PMID citation is a better way to go. --Chinasaur 6 July 2005 18:56 (UTC)
[edit] Medieval belief
I once read somewhere that placing one's hand over one's mouth while yawning is considered polite, but actually originates from a medieval belief that demons could actually enter one's mouth while yawning unless the mouth was covered. Has this been actual cause for the practice and does it deserve mention?
[edit] Physical Process of Yawning
I'm not satisfied with the description of what your body actually does when you yawn. Mentioned in the article are the obvious things such as strectching your mouth and face wide, inhaling and exhaling deeply...however, what's missing is the fact that yawning is involuntary and is not something you can make yourself do. I can open my mouth, stretch my facial muscles, and take a deep breat--but that's not a yawn!!! I am convinced that yawning involves other processes as well that we can't control--perhaps a widening of the trachea? I don't know. But the description of what exactly happens, physiologically, in a yawn, is unsatisfying to me, because clearly there is more to it than that, and yawning is more than simply opening wide and breathing deeply. Hmm...
- I can yawn voluntarily. Of course, I've been yawning a lot since I started reading this article. Just thinking about yawning makes me yawn. If I try to yawn, at first it is just opening my mouth wide, but then I start to feel the yawn at the back of my throat, and it becomes a yawn. There does feel like there is a widening of the trachea during a yawn, and the lungs do seem to really expand.--RLent 20:59, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Angry Yawning
In response to the comment about the disbelief that a yawn can be an indicator of anger: I learned that a dog often yawns because they are stressed. My German Shepherd yawned at me whenever I was scolding her. I imagine sometimes she could have been angry for getting in trouble just like little kids do.
[edit] Evolution
How did Yawning come about though evolution? What is the advantage of Yawning? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 199.201.168.100 (talk • contribs) .
- This page is for discussing the article, not its subject. Please ask factual questions at the Reference Desk. Thanks. --Quiddity 19:42, 20 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Facial features of the yawn
I remember reading that even when people cover their mouth when they yawn it is still contagious because what triggers others to yawn is the shape of the eyes and nose. This is also the reason why people can't make other's yawn with a fake or forced yawn, versus a genuine one. 71.250.17.62 00:56, 25 June 2006 (UTC)
picture in your head a person yawning. when i do it is def the nose and eyes all scrunched up and it makes me want to yawn. whereas remembering the sound does not. interesting —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.6.13.213 (talk • contribs) .
[edit] Yawning as Embarrassment
Embarrassment causes dogs to yawn. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kangaru99 (talk • contribs) .
[edit] Mythbusters Treatment
I yawned during most of the episode. Seriously. :-)
Me too! Mike6271 04:10, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
- Should the Mythbusters experiment be listed as a source here? I'm not sure if their methods always hold up to scientific standards. —Ocatecir Talk 05:08, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Yawning "Contagious"
Hasn't really been mentioned anywhere in the article (besides a useless link at the bottom) that when someone yawns, another person usually yawns aswell. Just wondering if someone could add it to the article, list speculated reasons as to why, etc. Code E 02:02, 10 October 2006 (UTC)
- See the paragraph which begins: "The yawn reflex is often described as contagious: if one person yawns, ...". --Quiddity 02:28, 10 October 2006 (UTC)
One of the possible hypothesis given in the article for yawning being contagious is the lack of air around the ears of the second person yawning. This doesn't hold ground as yawning is seen to be contagious even when we seee anyone yawning on TV without the person actually physically "changing the air pressure" around our ears.
[edit] Animals that yawn
Is there an article on this? I just saw a video where a snake yawns, so how deep does the yawning reflex extend in animals? Obviously insects don't yawn (etc) but there must a clear line where yawning stops. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 83.145.224.14 (talk • contribs).
[edit] An observation
While reading this article, I had an overwhelming urge to yawn.
I yawned about 5 times reading this article, and am yawning right now.
I must agree! I yawned 4 times while reading it as well! This lends me to believe that 'contagious' yawning is not visual in nature but rather cerebral, meaning that even if the subject of yawning were to come up, it triggers the body's reflex to do so.
[edit] A new yawning hypothesis
I have my own hypothesis about yawning, which is supported by comparing notes with other friends and family: It's caused by hunger, or possibly thirst. This is most evident when travelling somewhere in a car around lunchtime or dinnertime, delaying the normal meal time.
This hypothesis is also supported by observing nature: Chicks in a nest "yawn" when they are still hungry. My theory is that we yawn due to a biological throwback when our ancient parents brought food back to the "nest" and those that were hungry yawned in order to be fed.
This explains several of the odd things about yawning. For example, it explains why we open our mouths as wide as possible (to easily admit food; if it was about oxygen, even a narrow opening would be sufficient). It explains why we close our eyes tightly (to stop food being dropped into them). It explains why we feel the need to accompany the yawn with some noise (to gain attention). It explains why yawns are "contagious" (especially to others who are also hungry).
My reasons for bringing this up on the discussion page are as follows: Do I need to be a scientist, or does this hypothesis need to be scientifically tested, or does the hypothesis need to be widely accepted, prior to adding it to the main page? I'd prefer to firstly gain sufficient consensus that the hypothesis has merit rather than risk my unfounded hypothesis being simply deleted.
Ian Fieggen 22:30, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
- Interesting idea.
- As for adding it to the article, essentially it first needs to appear in a published (reference-able) place. See Wikipedia:No original research. —Quiddity 23:14, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
