Snake detection theory: Difference between revisions

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== Empirical studies ==

Many empirical studies have found evidences for the theory. Primates, including humans, are able to quickly detect snakes.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ohman|first1=A.|last2=Flykt|first2=A.|last3=Esteves|first3=F.|title=Emotion drives attention: detecting the snake in the grass|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology. General|date=2001|volume=130|issue=3|pages=466–478|urlpmid=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11561921|issn=0096-3445}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Shibasaki|first1=Masahiro|last2=Kawai|first2=Nobuyuki|title=Rapid detection of snakes by Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata): an evolutionarily predisposed visual system|journal=Journal of Comparative Psychology (Washington, D.C.: 1983)|date=2009|volume=123|issue=2|pages=131–135|doi=10.1037/a0015095|urlpmid=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19450020|issn=0735-7036}}</ref>

Some studies have found that humans can detect snake images before subjective visual perception.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ohman|first1=A.|last2=Soares|first2=J. J.|title=On the automatic nature of phobic fear: conditioned electrodermal responses to masked fear-relevant stimuli|journal=Journal of Abnormal Psychology|date=1993|volume=102|issue=1|pages=121–132|urlpmid=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8436688|issn=0021-843X}}</ref> However, the pre-conscious detection of snake stimuli is still under debate by the scientific community.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Grassini|first1=Simone|last2=Holm|first2=Suvi K.|last3=Railo|first3=Henry|last4=Koivisto|first4=Mika|title=Who is afraid of the invisible snake? Subjective visual awareness modulates posterior brain activity for evolutionarily threatening stimuli|journal=Biological Psychology|date=1 December 2016|volume=121|issue=Part A|pages=53–61|doi=10.1016/j.biopsycho.2016.10.007|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030105111630309X}}</ref>

Snakes images were proved to be detected more rapidly compared to other fear-relevant stimuli: empirical evidences have shown that snakes are more rapidly detected compared to [[spiders]] - according to the Snake Detection Theory - because the [[arachnid]]s were, historically, a less relevant threat to primates.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Öhman|first1=Arne|last2=Soares|first2=Sandra C.|last3=Juth|first3=Pernilla|last4=Lindström|first4=Björn|last5=Esteves|first5=Francisco|title=Evolutionary derived modulations of attention to two common fear stimuli: Serpents and hostile humans|journal=Journal of Cognitive Psychology|date=1 February 2012|volume=24|issue=1|pages=17–32|doi=10.1080/20445911.2011.629603|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/20445911.2011.629603|issn=2044-5911}}</ref>

Snake stimuli are particularly distracting during perceptual tasks, suggesting that the brain preferentially processes snake stimuli, even when attentional processes are demanded by other targets.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Soares|first1=Sandra C.|title=The lurking snake in the grass: interference of snake stimuli in visually taxing conditions|journal=Evolutionary Psychology: An International Journal of Evolutionary Approaches to Psychology and Behavior|date=15 April 2012|volume=10|issue=2|pages=187–197|urlpmid=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22947633|issn=1474-7049}}</ref>

Snake enhanced detection was found also in young children.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=LoBue|first1=Vanessa|last2=DeLoache|first2=Judy S.|title=Detecting the Snake in the Grass: Attention to Fear-Relevant Stimuli by Adults and Young Children|journal=Psychological Science|date=1 March 2008|volume=19|issue=3|pages=284–289|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02081.x|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02081.x|language=en|issn=0956-7976}}</ref>

Brain imaging investigations have found further evidence for the theory. Support for the idea of a high visual sensitivity to snakes has been proven in primate neural activity in response to snake threats.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Van Le|first1=Quan|last2=Isbell|first2=Lynne A.|last3=Matsumoto|first3=Jumpei|last4=Nguyen|first4=Minh|last5=Hori|first5=Etsuro|last6=Maior|first6=Rafael S.|last7=Tomaz|first7=Carlos|last8=Tran|first8=Anh Hai|last9=Ono|first9=Taketoshi|last10=Nishijo|first10=Hisao|title=Pulvinar neurons reveal neurobiological evidence of past selection for rapid detection of snakes|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|date=19 November 2013|volume=110|issue=47|pages=19000–19005|doi=10.1073/pnas.1312648110|urlpmid=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24167268|issn=1091-6490}}</ref> Non-invasive electroencefalogram ([[EEG]]) studies have found an enhanced visual brain activity in response to images of snakes in humans.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Van Strien|first1=J. W.|last2=Eijlers|first2=R.|last3=Franken|first3=I. H. A.|last4=Huijding|first4=J.|title=Snake pictures draw more early attention than spider pictures in non-phobic women: evidence from event-related brain potentials|journal=Biological Psychology|date=2014|volume=96|pages=150–157|doi=10.1016/j.biopsycho.2013.12.014|urlpmid=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24374241|issn=1873-6246}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Van Strien|first1=Jan W.|last2=Franken|first2=Ingmar H. A.|last3=Huijding|first3=Jorg|title=Testing the snake-detection hypothesis: larger early posterior negativity in humans to pictures of snakes than to pictures of other reptiles, spiders and slugs|journal=Frontiers in Human Neuroscience|date=2014|volume=8|pages=691|doi=10.3389/fnhum.2014.00691|urlpmid=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25237303|issn=1662-5161}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Van Strien|first1=Jan W.|last2=Christiaans|first2=Gerwin|last3=Franken|first3=Ingmar H. A.|last4=Huijding|first4=Jorg|title=Curvilinear shapes and the snake detection hypothesis: An ERP study|journal=Psychophysiology|date=2016|volume=53|issue=2|pages=252–257|doi=10.1111/psyp.12564|urlpmid=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26481589|issn=1540-5958}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=He|first1=Hongshen|last2=Kubo|first2=Kenta|last3=Kawai|first3=Nobuyuki|title=Spiders do not evoke greater early posterior negativity in the event-related potential as snakes|journal=NeuroReport|date=10 September 2014|volume=25|issue=13|pages=1049–1053|doi=10.1097/WNR.0000000000000227|urlpmid=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25026534|issn=1473-558X}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Grassini|first1=Simone|last2=Holm|first2=Suvi K.|last3=Railo|first3=Henry|last4=Koivisto|first4=Mika|title=Who is afraid of the invisible snake? Subjective visual awareness modulates posterior brain activity for evolutionarily threatening stimuli|journal=Biological Psychology|date=2016|volume=121|issue=Pt A|pages=53–61|doi=10.1016/j.biopsycho.2016.10.007|urlpmid=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27760371|issn=1873-6246}}</ref>

== References ==