Born with a fear of spiders - inherited fears & instincts
Born with a fear of spiders - inherited fears & instincts
Response to comment [from other]: [Born with a fear of spiders - inherited fears & instincts]
One study found:
Title:Some animal specific fears are more specific than
others: Evidence from attention and emotion measures..
Authors:Soares, Sandra C.1,2,3 sandra.soares@ki.se
Source:Behaviour Research & Therapy; Dec2009, Vol. 47 Issue 12, p1032-1042, 11p
Abstract: Using a visual search methodology we investigated the effect of feared
animal stimuli on attention. Our results confirmed the important role of emotion
on attention. All participants detected fear-relevant stimuli (snakes and
spiders) faster than neutral (mushrooms) ones against a background of fruits. In
addition, spider fearful participants were sensitized specifically to detect
their feared stimulus (spiders), compared to their fear-relevant but non-feared
(snakes) and neutral stimuli. However, for participants fearful of snakes there
was no significant difference in detection latencies between the feared (snakes)
and the fear-relevant but non-feared animal stimuli (spiders). The results from
the attention task were mirrored in the emotional ratings, which showed that
spider fear was highly specific, whereas snake fear was associated with a more
generalized enhanced evaluation of all negative stimuli.
Born with a fear of
spiders - inherited fears & instincts