AI Article Synopsis
- Snakes are generally recognized as stronger fear triggers for humans and nonhuman primates compared to spiders.
- The study measured visual attention through early posterior negativity (EPN) while participants viewed images of spiders, insects, and snakes.
- Findings indicated that EPN amplitudes were significantly higher for snake images than for spider or insect images, suggesting snakes capture attention more effectively than spiders.
Article Abstract
It has been long believed that both snakes and spiders are archetypal fear stimuli for humans. Furthermore, snakes have been assumed as stronger threat cues for nonhuman primates. However, it is still unclear whether spiders hold a special status in human perception. The current study explored to what extent spider pictures draw early visual attention [as assessed with early posterior negativity (EPN)] when compared with insects similar to spiders. To measure the EPN, participants watched a random rapid serial presentation of pictures, which consisted of two conditions: spider condition (spider, wasp, bumblebee, beetle) and snake condition (snake, bird). EPN amplitudes revealed no significant difference between spider, wasp, bumblebee, and beetle pictures, whereas EPN amplitudes were significantly larger for snake pictures relative to bird pictures. In addition, EPN amplitudes were significantly larger for snake pictures relative to spider pictures. These results suggest that the early visual attentional capture of animate objects is stronger for snakes, whereas spiders do not appear to hold special early attentional value.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/WNR.0000000000000227 | DOI Listing |
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