| The narrow fellow in the grass: human infants associate snakes and fear. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 19120429 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Why are snakes such a common target of fear? One current view is that snake fear is one of several innate fears that emerge spontaneously. Another is that humans have an evolved predisposition to learn to fear snakes. In the first study reported here, 9- to 10-month-old infants showed no differential spontaneous reaction to films of snakes versus other animals. In the second study, 7- to 18-month-old infants associated snakes with fear: As predicted, they looked longer at films of snakes while listening to a frightened human voice than while listening to a happy voice. In the third study, infants did not look differentially to still photos of snakes and other animals, indicating that movement is crucial to infants' association of snakes with fear. These results offer support for the view that humans have a natural tendency to selectively associate snakes with fear. |
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Authors:
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Judy S Deloache; Vanessa Lobue |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Developmental science Volume: 12 ISSN: 1467-7687 ISO Abbreviation: Dev Sci Publication Date: 2009 Jan |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2009-01-05 Completed Date: 2009-02-19 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 9814574 Medline TA: Dev Sci Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 201-7 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA. eloache@virginia.edu |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Animals Conditioning (Psychology) Discrimination Learning / physiology* Fear / psychology* Female Humans Infant Male Pattern Recognition, Visual / physiology* Snakes* Visual Perception / physiology* |
| Grant Support | |
ID/Acronym/Agency:
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HD-25271/HD/NICHD NIH HHS |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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