It’s a long-held assumption that humans harbor an innate fear of snakes and spiders as an evolutionary defense mechanism against the threats such creepy crawlies may pose. Moreover, recent studies have suggested that we possess an uncanny natural capacity to preferentially attend to—i.e. identify—bite-happy beasties so as to give them the wide berths we presume they warrant.
However, researchers at the University of Queensland posit that just because we notice potential dangers, doesn’t necessarily mean we fear them. Quoth Dr. Helena Purkis:
“We showed that although everyone preferentially attends to snakes or spiders in the environment as they are potentially dangerous, only inexperienced participants display a negative response.
“If we understand the relationship between preferential attention and emotion it will help us understand how a stimulus goes from being perceived as potentially dangerous, to eliciting an emotional response and to being associated with phobia."
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