Study shows that humans can acquire fears during infancy

By Staff Writer

Many children grow up anxious and fearful of certain aspects of life, no matter how threatening the situation is in reality. Some of these behaviors are caused by their upbringing and their environment.

Children who suffer from anxiety disorders may benefit from boarding schools, which are designed to help kids overcome some of their social or external fears.

However, a new study in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science reveals that some fears are part of the evolutionary development of humans. In the study, researchers measured children's responses to images of snakes and spiders - species that are commonly feared by adults.

They showed 7-month-old infants two videos side by side - one of a snake or spider and one of a non-threatening animal like an elephant - and then played a recording of either a happy voice or fearful voice. Although they showed no physical signs of fear, the babies spent more time looking at the spiders and snakes when listening to the fearful voices, which showed a bias to associate these animals with negative things.

The team also showed a group of 3-year-olds a screen of nine photographs and asked them to acknowledge the pictures in any order of their choosing. Almost every child identified snakes more quickly than images of flowers or other animals such as frogs and caterpillars. Although not every child was afraid of these creatures, most of them possessed a basic instinct to quickly pay attention to these creatures.

Researchers concluded that young children are quick to detect snakes and spiders before they have an understanding that some of these creatures are poisonous. In addition, many children have already learned to fear snakes and spiders by age 3. The study suggested that humans are not born with this fear, but they learn certain phobias during infancy.