Itsy bitsy spider…: Infants react with increased arousal to spiders and snakes

Autor(en)
Stefanie Hoehl, Kahl Hellmer, Maria Johansson, Gustaf Gredebäck
Abstrakt

Attention biases have been reported for ancestral threats like spiders and snakes in infants, children, and adults. However, it is currently unclear whether these stimuli induce increased physiological arousal in infants. Here, 6-month-old infants were presented with pictures of spiders and flowers (Study 1, within-subjects), or snakes and fish (Study 1, within-subjects; Study 2, between-subjects). Infants' pupillary responses linked to activation of the noradrenergic system were measured. Infants reacted with increased pupillary dilation indicating arousal to spiders and snakes compared with flowers and fish. Results support the notion of an evolved preparedness for developing fear of these ancestral threats.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Klinische und Gesundheitspsychologie
Externe Organisation(en)
Max-Planck-Institut für Kognitions- und Neurowissenschaften, Uppsala University
Journal
Frontiers in Psychology
Band
8
Anzahl der Seiten
8
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01710
Publikationsdatum
10-2017
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
501005 Entwicklungspsychologie
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Psychology(all)
Link zum Portal
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/itsy-bitsy-spider-infants-react-with-increased-arousal-to-spiders-and-snakes(87f5ca09-fe45-4182-8119-b950d0dd8610).html